Saturday 14th November 2009 saw the next phase in the conversion of London’s network of articulated bus routes back to conventional operation. Overnight it was the turn of route 38 (Victoria-Clapton Pond) operated by Arriva London, that saw the fleet allocation of forty-seven Mercedes-Benz Citaro G 18.0m single-deckers withdrawn from service out of Ash Grove Garage. In their place came a mixture of sixty-two Wrightbus Gemini 2 DL (diesel) integral 10.4m DW 201-262 and eighteen Alexander Dennis Trident Enviro400 10.1m double-deckers T 66-83 all operated out of Clapton Garage.

Significantly the day was also the annual Lord Mayor’s Show with a large parade that passed through the City of London. It was back in the days of Ken Livingstone’s Mayoral reign that around 300 Mercedes-Benz Citaro G 18.0m articulated single-deckers were introduced onto thirteen bus routes much to the chagrin of many people. The routes were run by Arriva (29,38,73,149), East London/Selkent (25,453), First London (18,207), London Central (12,436) and London General (Red Arrow 507,521 then later the 453). All were operated with the Mercedes-Benz Citaro G type. Over time there was much opposition to these vehicles with some in high places and the media making waves for their removal. With the election of Boris Johnson in place of Ken Livingstone it soon became apparent that the day of the articulated bus in London was doomed. The first to receive the chop were the two Red Arrow routes (507,521), when on the 1st September the twenty-eight artics were replaced by fifty Mercedes-Benz Citaro 12.0m rigid versions. The intention of Boris is to see the artic off of London’s streets, the 18 and 149 during 2010, the remainder by the end of 2011.

However, what might you ask does the significance of the London articulated bus have in this area. Well cast your minds back exactly thirteen years ago to November 1996 when a very small allocation of Volvo B10MA-55 / Plaxton Premiere Interurban AC71F articulated vehicles turned up at the Stagecoach Stonegravels depot. These were later placed into service for a while from Chesterfield on the Stagecoach Express 909 service that ran from Sheffield to Grimsby and Hull via Doncaster. Then cast the mind even further back to the late 1970s, and just over the border when Sheffield played host to such creatures in the shape of MAN and Leyland DAB types. Indeed an earlier London connection occurred in 1992 when one of the Mainline fleet DABs was placed on loan to London Buses to assess their use in the London area. Of course all these Yorkshire-based vehicles are no longer with us, but one does not have to travel too far to experience the ride on one of these interesting types of vehicle. To the south of us over the border in Nottinghamshire a small fleet of artics operate on one of the University routes through Nottingham city.

1. The first type of articulated bus (unless anyone else knows otherwise), to be operated in service in Sheffield was the MAN SG192R with MAN/Goppel AB63D bodywork. Special dispensation was granted by the then Minister of Transport to the South Yorkshire PTE to operate five such vehicles from the late 1970s on their ‘City Clipper’ service. They were allocated fleet numbers 2001-2005, although the last one 2005 remained as a demonstrator with MAN-VW who were based at Swindon. These were the first such vehicles to be allowed to operate in service in the United Kingdom, although licensing difficulties meant that they had to run without fares being charged. Here 2005 was on loan in April 1982 for evaluation by the then National Bus Company subsidiary City of Oxford and operated on the service from the city centre to the housing estates at Blackbird Leys.

2. Next up was the Leyland DAB with AB60D bodywork that were introduced by the South Yorkshire PTE in the early 1980s. Fleet number 2008 passed along Sheaf Street beside the main railway station whilst operated on the 500 city centre service.

3. The final articulated type operated by the South Yorkshire PTE was a modified version of the Leyland DAB built on 1985 with slightly revised AB61D bodies. However, the last three in the fleet were classified ADP67D with revised seating and only two instead of three entrance/exit doors. 2007 in a revised livery passed by the site of the major Interchange facility.

4. In order to evaluate the viability of articulated bus operation in the Capital, London Buses Limited took Mainline Leyland DAB 2001 on loan during April 1992. In full Mainline livery but with the addition of the London roundel and the Selkent subsidiary name and Kentish Hops logo, the bus was placed into service and operated over part of route 180 in South East London. The authorities back then deemed that the bus could not enter the central London area, thus it was observed on this occasion at Greenwich as it ran between Woolwich and Plumstead.

5. The offside of 2001 is seen here in February 1998 when back in the hands of the Mainline operation at the Meadowhall Interchange. To the rear of the vehicle one can make out the distinctive lines of the Tinsley Viaduct.

6. As a comparison shot to the nearside of 2001 on loan in London, 2011 is seen at Meadowhall, this time with the former iconic cooling ‘twin towers’ to the left of the picture. Note the fact that this along with two others only had a two-door arrangement in the front portion of the vehicle, there being no entrance/exit in the trailer part. The vehicle also featured coach style seating.

7. Then back in November 1996 almost exactly thirteen years to the day the first articulated Volvo B10M / Plaxton coach turned up at Stonegravels. Here fleet number 670 pulled around the circulating road outside the main garage building a few days before the arrival of sister vehicles and showed off the concertina affect of the ‘bit in the middle’. They were then placed into service on the Stagecoach Express 909 route.

8. Subsequently the operation of the service was transferred, the coaches re-allocated and worked from the other end of the route. Alternative vehicles were two Volvo B10M / Jonckheere Modulo coaches such as number 96 seen here from the pedestrian footway above the road network in the centre in July 1999 as it headed towards journey’s end at Sheffield Interchange.

9. Already with the destination programmed for the return journey number 97 shows off the nearside aspect of the Jonckheere design as it pulled into Sheffield Interchange in July 1999 with yet another local icon in the shape of the flats on the hill behind the bus and railway stations. These and the Plaxton bodied versions were all two-door design.

10. A small fleet of Scania L94 UA / Wrightbus Solar Fusion articulated buses was acquired by Nottingham City Transport in 2001. Used initially on local services, they were later replaced by conventional double-deckers. However, one is seen here when used on the 58 service out to Mapperley, 702 shown here as it passed down Mansfield Road bound for the city centre in June 2002.

11. Since then other employment has been found for the vehicles, notably on the highly used Nottingham University services. Number 703 in a revised livery was seen as it passed south down Maid Marian Way in 2009.

12. The nearside triple-door aspect of Arriva London’s Mercedes-Benz Citaro G MA 92 is seen in July 2007 on route 38 bound for Victoria Station as it passed through Hyde Park Corner. No doubt there were plenty of photographers out to record the new fleet of double-deckers that were placed into service on the route.

13. And finally a similar type but showing the offside aspect of MA 49 on the 73 at Marble Arch on the same day as it entered the western end of Oxford Street. By the end of 2011 should the current London Mayor’s plans be completed, then this along with the remaining articulated buses will be but a memory in our minds.

14. [Added 17 November 2009] An additional vehicle amongst the Scania/Wright articulated buses on the Nottingham Unilink route 4 service is this all-Scania N94UA version. Recently acquired from Lothian Buses (Edinburgh), it was originally a demonstrator first registered in January 2004. Now number 700 in the Nottingham City Transport fleet.

David Gambles adds: One of the ex South Yorkshire Leyland DAB vehicles survives at the site of the Winkleigh Transport Collection in Devon. It is registered FWA 450V (Chassis number 7934122) and is owned by D. Chambers of Exeter.

It is parked outside in one of the wooded areas of the site and no work appears to have been carried on the vehicle during the three visits I have made to the site between 2006 and 2008.

. . . and another photograph from Tony Wilson: SYPTE 2009 as was and captured when later operated by Hamsphire Bus (post NBC days), at Southampton in June 1988. (Picture slightly out of focus on the right hand side).

. . . and yet another from Tony Wilson: Another one found of '292', this time north of the border with McGills of Barrhead, taken in Glasgow in August 1991.

More from David Gambles (27 November 2009): I've been delving back through my old photos and found a couple taken in May 1997 at the Metro Centre Rally Gateshead showing how not to reverse a bendy bus or in this case coach.
The driver of N562 SJF reversed out of a parking bay but in doing so jack knifed the vehicle because the rear section travelled the wrong way. There was another coach parked to the right of the articulated vehicle and the driver needed to reverse further back in order to clear this before driving away. He eventually shunted back and forth and managed to squeeze out of the situation. Moral of the story, reverse these vehicles like you would an articulated lorry, giving opposite lock in order to point the trailer in the right direction.
I've only ever driven one articulated bus and remember turning hard right and looking in my offside mirror and all I could see was the offside of the trailer unit - no view of the road whatsoever! I guess it's something you would get used to if you drove them day in day out.