Prepared on Notepad by Ian Smith,
This page created 6th November 2017.

Part7: 2010-2011

Refurbishment, repainting, or storage

The early part of 2010 saw large movements of PVLs, as contracts changed and the EVLs, AVLs, and PDLs disappeared. There was an excess of PVLs too, and large numbers went into store at Belvedere, the old East Thames Buses site.

Putney

Putney, having lost most of its EVLs, needed a handful of PVLs for the 74. PVL149, 273, 275, 277, 278 made the move in March and April 2010 and settled in. But the 74 was destined for WVLs as they became available, and most of the PVLs moved on. Then another bunch arrived to allow the WVLs to be refurbished.

GarageRoute noRoute
AF (Putney)74Baker Street - Marble Arch - Hyde Park Corner - South Kensington - Earls Court - Fulham - Putney Bridge - Putney Garage

PVL149 on 74, South Kensington PVL277 on 74, South Kensington

Quite by chance I saw two of Putneys PVLs on the 74 at South Kensington in September 2010, PVL149 heading for Marble Arch and PVL277 to Baker Street Station.

The 185, with VPs, moves to Camberwell

Ex-East Thames Buses VP1-15 moved in May 2010 to Camberwell, which was a much more sensible base for the 185 than Belvedere (Victoria - Lewisham). The VPs started to appear on other Camberwell routes.

Refurb cover and sales

In June/July a programme of refurbishment for WVLs began, and surplus PVLs were moved around to cover. More went as trainers to Camberwell, or into the Commercial Services fleet. WVL/VWL refurbs at Belvedere brought PVLs onto the 180, and even the 486 (province of the E-class of EnviroTridents). The withdrawn and stored PVLs at Belvedere went elsewhere. Some went to Solent Blue Line, others to JP Travel in Greater Manchester, and Weardale Motor Services.

GarageRoute noRoute
BV(Belvedere)180Lewisham - Greenwich - Woolwich - Abbey Wood - Belvedere

PVL362 on 180, Lewisham

PVL362 brought my wife and I to Lewisham in December 2015, during the period when Lewisham bus station was destroyed for office development and buses were banished to back street stops. This was a Bexleyheath bus, on loan to Belvedere - a common occurence.

Re-hires for Olympic Shuttles

Five PVLs that had been sent off-lease earlier in the summer were taken on new leases in September for use on a new 851 service between Stratford and the Ol*****c Park. They operated from the old Blue Triangle base at Rainham. Other PVLs in the commercial services fleet also moved to Rainham, presumably for contracts relating to the construction and fitting-out work that was proceeding apace, and also for new schools services in the East End.

Bexleyheath gets new WVLs

New WVLs came to the Bexleyheath area in January 2011, displacing some of the oldest PVLs from the 422 and 229. The PVLs went into store, at Rainham initially.

2011: wholesale dispersal

In March 2011 twenty-seven early PVLs were loaned to Go-Ahead North-East at Percy Main, to cover for the Tyne & Wear Metro during rail replacement. They found favour there, and did not return, being officially adopted and converted to single doorway. Others followed in May. Another few went to Konect Bus in Norfolk.

Sizeable numbers of younger PVLs went to Plymouth Citybus and Go South Coast. Many were returned to their lessors, at the end of ten-year leases, and re-appeared all over the country. They were being replaced by the "Enviro" generation of cleaner double-deckers.

Late delivery of E's to replace the bendy-buses on the 453 in September brought about the loan of sixteen of Camberwell's newly-refurbished PVLs to Mandela Way for nearly a month. Incidentally, refurbishments of PVLs at Eastleigh brought repaints into existing livery including charcoal skirts and yellow coach-lines, despite new deliveries being in TfL's mandated all-red.

Part 8: 2012


President Index. 2007-9. 2012. PVL histories. PVL photos.