Barnstorming in Barnet

On this adventure, I ride various TfL routes in North London, mainly in and around the Borough of Barnet, starting with diesels and working my way through hybrids to the latest electrics.

First Bus DE20197 of Edgware (BT) Garage at Barnet The Spires prior to my trip on it to Brent Cross Shopping Centre.

The route is mainly operated with DLE and DME Enviro200 MMCs, but a few older “classic” versions help out.

Route 326: Barnet - Brent Cross

Day 1 began at Barnet The Spires terminus, which was almost deserted at the end of the morning peak. My first ride was on First Bus Route 326 to Brent Cross, my target one of the few remaining older Enviro200s which support the majority Enviro200MMC allocation. LVF showed only 2 of the required vehicles were out, although 3 or 4 is not uncommon on the route. Fortunately, the second departure after I arrived was DE20197 of Edgware (BT) Garage so I duly jumped aboard.

A relative quiet run at first, although we became busier as we progressed. Whilst linking some major objectives, the 326 also has some significant “back street” freehold sections with a long “Hail & Ride” stretch. Making our way down Barnet Hill past High Barnet Station, we turned off on the double run along Mays Lane to serve the Dollis Valley Estate, an exercise which deposited and picked up precisely no-one on this trip. Returning to the main road, we turned off at the Everyman Cinema along Station Road to New Barnet to perform the dog leg along East Barnet Road and Longmore Avenue, re-emerging onto the Great North Road only a little further south than when we had left it 10 mins or so previously.

At Whetstone, we turned right past Totteridge & Whetstone Station, before turning off onto the lengthy “Hail & Ride” section at Longland Drive. We served the nether regions of Woodside Park and West Finchley, not covered by other services, before regaining the main road at Finchley Central Station, where we had a short pause due to early running on the padded timetable. However, we soon got going again and continued via Hendon Lane and across the Great North Way into Hendon, serving Middlesex University and the Town Hall. Onto the A41 dual carriageway down to Hendon Central Station, before coming off at the North Circular flyover and making our way into the Bus Station at Brent Cross Shopping Centre. This holds the distinction of being the UK’s first out-of-town shopping centre, opened in 1976, which was accompanied by the extension or diversion of various bus routes to serve it. A 65 min journey from start to finish.

The 326 was a later addition to the network serving Brent Cross, coming in 1991 between that point and New Barnet, but with a M-S shopping hours and garage journeys extension to Potters Bar. It used SR class midibuses, although these were replaced by MW types within a couple of years. In 1998, the northern terminus was changed to Barnet The Spires, with first DMS and then DL type Darts taking over. The contract passed to Thorpes in 2005 using their Darts, until they were bought out by Metroline 2 years later, who used DML Darts for a while, before conversion to DE type Enviro200s. London United / RATP won the contract in 2008 using their DEs, although DLE/DME Enviro200MMCs were later added to the mix. In February 2025, RATP’s London operations were taken over by current operator First Bus.

Metroline VW1038 of Harrow Weald (HD) Garage in the rain at Harrow Weald Oxhey Lane after riding it here from Brent Cross.

The 182 is mainly operated with VWH type hybrids, but a handful of diesels help out, this being one of three VWs on the route the day I travelled.

Route 182: Brent Cross - Harrow Weald

At Brent Cross, I took a short break before continuing my rides on Route 182. This service is operated by Metroline from Harrow Weald (HD) Garage, mainly using VWH class hybrids, but a few VW diesels assist. There were a trio of the latter out to play on the day I travelled, with VW1038 being the next to arrive. When it left after the layover, I was at the head of the queue to board.

Not a particularly fast run, but we made reasonable progress as we departed the shopping centre, crossing the bridge over the North Circ and swinging round to Staples Corner. We then avoided a traffic jam on the A406 by taking the parallel suburban routeing via Crest Road and Tanfield Avenue to Neasden. After ascending Blackbird Hill, we made our way past Wembley Park Station and the nearby Stadium, before reaching the Town Centre and a crawl up to Wembley Central, where we lost most of our passengers. A quieter and quicker run from here on to Sudbury, followed by the long haul up to Harrow, the housing giving way to the short green stretch past Harrow School Playing Fields with views of Harrow Hill in the background. After serving Northwick Park Hospital, we continued into Harrow Town Centre, calling at the Bus Station, then around Greenhill Way the back way up to Harrow & Wealdstone Station. As we paused here for a couple of minutes, I noted the mural near the Bus Stop in memory of the 112 victims of the Wealdstone train crash in 1952 and in gratitude to the services and volunteers who saved many others.

We soon continued along Wealdstone High Street and up to HD Garage, although there was no driver change on this occasion. By now almost empty, just a handful of us were left for the final section to the roundabout and left along the Uxbridge Road to the terminus at Oxhey Lane, a somewhat “middle of nowhere” destination, adjacent to the playing fields. It had taken us 1h20m in all from end to end.

The number 182 was originally used for a Tram Replacement route between Cannon Street and Woolwich the long way round from 1952 to 1968, but was re-used in 1970 for a service between Watford Junction and Wembley via Harrow in lieu of parts of the 158 and 18. However, the following year, it lost the Watford Junction - Harrow Weald section to the 258. It was OPO from the start, initially with MB operation, although in common with many such routes, it was upgraded to DMS double deck in 1974. When Brent Cross Shopping Centre opened in 1976, the 182 was one of the routes extended to serve it, during M-S shopping hours only at first, although in later years becoming Daily. There was a further extension to Finchley Manor Cottage Tavern which lasted from 1978-82, with Ms replacing DMSs in 1980.

Low floor conversion came in 1999 with TA types, together with the short extension from HD Garage to Oxhey Lane, replacing withdrawn route H15 on this section. During the noughties, VPs gradually became the standard type, continuing to appear for a while even after hybrid conversion to VWH in 2016. In recent years, VWs have supplemented the main allocation, bring us full circle to the start of this story.

Part Route 340: Harrow Weald - Edgware

From Oxhey Lane, I took a walk back along the Uxbridge Road to the Harrow Weald roundabout, where I transferred to the 340 for a positioning run to Edgware. The 20 min journey was aboard VHR45206, one of the small number of Volvo B5LH Wright SRM types. These share the route with VH and ADH classes, which is operated by First Bus from Edgware (BT) Garage and which I had ridden in full earlier in the year.

First Bus Enviro200 DE20196 of Canons Park (CP) Outstation at Queensbury Morrison’s after I arrived on it from Edgware.

This was one of two of the type on the route that day, the remaining vehicles being DLE class Enviro200 MMCs.

Route 288: Edgware - Broadfields - Queensbury - Edgware

At Edgware Station, I was expecting a simple run on my next route, the short local 288, which I have been on several times with no problems. The reason for this choice was that one or two Enviro200s often support the usual Enviro200MMC allocation and there were two DEs out on this day which I wanted to sample. Unfortunately, roadworks with temporary lights on the A5 south of Station Road were causing lengthy delays and playing havoc with timekeeping.

The trip began innocently enough, as I joined First Bus DE20192 of Canons Park (CP) Outstation at Edgware Bus Station on its short northbound run to Broadfields. Along Edgwarebury Lane and across the A41 into Broadfields Avenue. A few stops in, we received an instruction from the controller to halt for 5 mins, before continuing around the terminal loop into Glengall Road and back the way we had come. Arrival back at the Bus Station was after a lengthy 30 min perambulation, at which point the driver received another instruction to terminate short at Burnt Oak due to late running - which had been made worse by the previous order to hang around! This was unusual in itself because Burnt Oak is off the line of route and would hardly save much time, as the traffic queue up to the roadworks was considerably longer and slower moving from that direction than from Camrose Avenue on the normal line of route.

So, I alighted to await a Queensbury working, eventually joining fellow Enviro200 DE20196 after a considerable wait. It seemed that virtually 50% of the service was being turned using the Burnt Oak option, but this was not exactly having much effect on getting vehicles back on time. Nevertheless, we made it through the roadworks southbound with only a few minutes delay and then had a straight run along Camrose Avenue, down to Queensbury Station and then on to the terminus at Morrisons. 22 mins from Edgware.

After the long service gaps, I was surprised that we joined a DLE on the stand and I was interested to see which would leave first. Actually, neither, as DE20192 (the bus I had ridden earlier on the Broadfields leg) zoomed up “out of service” and stopped ahead of the other two buses to form the next departure. I hopped on and we made very good progress on the return run, making it through the roadworks with a minimum of delay and taking just 18 mins back to Edgware Station. An interesting if fraught combination of rides on what is normally a fairly straightforward service in terms of operation.

The 288 began in 1972 as a short Edgware & Broadfields circular route with SMS operation, after much local lobbying for a bus service to the estate. It was upgraded to M double deck in 1980 and then reverted to single deck with DT Darts in 1990. Conversion to DR Darts in 1993 was accompanied with the extension from Edgware to Queensbury to replace this section of the 107. Low floor operation came in 2002 with DLD types, although the odd M continued to appear.

Arriva took the contract in 2006, with Cadets and other single deck types allocated, although the odd double decker was not unknown. RATP became the operator in 2018 with DLE/DME Enviro200MMCs, with a few DEs later joining in. The 288 passed to First Bus with other RATP London routes in Feburary 2025.

Back at Edgware, I transferred to the Northern Line for the journey home at the end of the first part of my Barnet odyssey.

First Bus Volvo B5LH MCV eVoSeti VMH45326 of Westbourne Park (X) Garage on stand in Vauxhall Bridge Road at Victoria, before I travelled aboard on Route 13 to North Finchley.

This type is unique within the First London fleet to this garage and normally form the main allocation on this route, although a few Enviro400 ADH class hybrids often assist.

Route 13: Victoria - North Finchley

Day 2 and I resumed my bus rides after travelling to Central London, emerging from the Underground at Victoria Station. Next on my list to tackle was trunk route 13, which (despite covering many of the same roads as its “number-sake”) is really the former 82, which was gratuitously re-numbered in 2017. This was part of a bizarre plot twist, in which TfL wished to withdraw the existing 13 between Aldwych and Golders Green, taking the view that the 82 covered most of it. Due to the public outcry which resulted, in a somewhat cynical move, TfL “withdrew” the 82 instead and retained the 13, which was rerouted to Victoria at one end and extended to North Finchley at the other, thus covering the same roads as the former 82!

The current 13 is operated by First Bus, who took over the London operations of RATP Group in February 2025. Westbourne Park (X) Garage runs the route, mostly using a batch of VMH class hybrids, which are unique to this garage with First and appear mainly on this service, although a few ADHs frequently help out. There were three of the latter out on the day I travelled, but as they were all at the other end of the route, I had to be content with one of the predominant Volvos.

VMH45326 was the next to make its way from the Vauxhall Bridge Road stand around the block to the first pick up stop in Wilton Road, where I boarded with the throng. After negotiating a little bit of congestion on the Victoria one-way system, we broke free and made our way alongside the back garden of Buckingham Palace up to Hyde Park Corner, before crossing the roundabout into Park Lane. The former free flow of traffic has been disrupted here by the addition of a cycle lane, although with one of the two remaining lanes designated as a Bus Lane, we weren’t delayed too much. Why the more obvious expedient of routeing the cycle lane through Hyde Park was not taken eludes me - this would surely be more pleasant for the cyclists and retain the previous road capacity for other vehicles.

At Marble Arch, we made the shortcut across the roundabout which is restricted to buses, turning eastbound along a short stretch of Oxford Street, before swinging left along Baker Street. Once across the Marylebone Road, we didn’t quite reach the Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221B, as due to a road closure, we were sent on a small diversion via Melcombe Street and Gloucester Place. Having made reasonable time up to this point, we settled into a frustratingly slow trundle along relatively empty roads due to timetable padding, passing alongside Regents Park and Lords Cricket Ground, then through St John’s Wood and Swiss Cottage to the Finchley Road. After parting company with the A41 at Hendon Way, we continued through Childs Hill to Golders Green, where we had a protracted wait at the station for a driver changeover, which took a good 5 minutes.

Finally, we got moving again, making our way through Temple Fortune and across the North Circ at Henlys Corner, passing on our left the statue “La Delivrance”, a bronze female figure holding a sword, known locally as “The Naked Lady” and commissioned in the 1920s by Finchley Council as a memorial to commemorate WW1. A little further on, we passed the urban farm at Fitzalan Road, where trolleybuses used to perform a battery reversal when turning short at “Holly Park” - not an actual place or a district, but the name of the road opposite. Clearly, the use of obscure names for bus terminals is nothing new in London!

Continuing up the hill we arrived at Finchley Central Station, where most of our passengers alighted, before the final stretch along the High Road to North Finchley. We terminated at the “Bus Station” after a lengthy 1h25m run - a good 10 mins longer than necessary but still 5 mins quicker than the schedule allowed.

The 13 once operated from London Bridge to Hendon, but was cut back at both ends, so that by the 1970s, it had settled down to its Aldwych - Golders Green rump. At the time, it was crew operated with RM/RML types, although in due course the evening and Sunday service became OPO with Ms and Ts at different times, In 1993, the route transferred to BTS using RMLs in an orange livery with yellow relief, although by the end of the decade the route went to Metroline, who still used RMLs but with OPO TPs evenings and Sundays. However, Routemasters persisted, with London Sovereign winning the tender in 2001 using refurbished RMs daily.

Full OPO came to the route in 2005 with SLE class Scania Omnidekkas, still with London Sovereign who were now part of Transdev, although later taken over by the RATP Group. By the mid 2010s, the predominant type was VH class hybrids, until these were replaced in turn by the current VMHs.

Metroline Volvo Hybrid VWH1418 arrives at North Finchley Bus Station before I joined it for its return trip home to Willesden (AC) Garage.

This is one of the small batch of older Volvo Hybrids at Willesden, which bear a close resemblance to their diesel VW cousins.

Route 460: North Finchley - Willesden Garage

North Finchley’s modern Bus Station is a bit of a con - the automatic sliding doors open to reveal a single bus stop in a dark and dank interior, serving various routes. Some services depart from a second stop outside on the road. At one time, the site was occupied by a Trolleybus terminus, later converted to buses, which covered a larger area with more stops. Known locally as “Tally Ho Corner”, the name is said to originate from the presence of stables for the Tally Ho coaching companies on the London to Birmingham route in the early 19th Century (a “tally ho” being the nickname for a fast horse drawn coach). An adjacent pub retains the Tally Ho name and some TfL buses display “TALLY HO!” as a qualifier to the “North Finchley” destination.

My next route was the 460, which I last rode back in November 2019 on one of Metroline’s last few VPs, before they finished in TfL service the following month. Hybrids now form the allocation and I had VWH1418, one of the small batch of older examples at Willesden (AC) Garage, which bear a strong visual similarity to the VW diesels, rather than the later members of the class with their updated bodywork. After leaving the Bus Station, we almost immediately passed the site of the former Finchley (FY) Garage, which housed in turn trams, trolleybuses then buses, before eventual closure in 1993. The garage was demolished in the late 90s, with a retail development now occupying the site.

Continuing back down the main road, I retraced my steps through Finchley Central, Henlys Corner and Temple Fortune to Golders Green. Continuing down to Childs Hill, we finally parted company with the 13 and turned into Cricklewood Lane. Passing under the railway bridge near Cricklewood Station, we crossed the Edgware Road at “The Crown”, continuing through Willesden Green. On the section west of here, the road was reduced to one lane due to roadworks, protected by temporary lights. These seemed to be malfunctioning and turning green in both directions at the same time, as traffic from each way was meeting in the middle and trying to squeeze past one another! Luckily, no buses were involved and we navigated the section without a problem. Arrival at the home garage was after a 45 min run.

The 460 began only in 2003 as a localisation of the northern section of the 260 between North Finchley and Willesden Garage. Always a Metroline route, it has been operated by TP, SEL, VP and VWH types over the years.

Metroline have been converting Route 98 at Willesden (AC) Garage to electric operation using Wright StreetDeck Electroliners, like WDE3114, seen beside the charging points outside the garage.

These buses were ordered against contract renewals on routes at other garages, but have been diverted here due to awaiting charging facilities on their intended services.

Route 98: Willesden Garage - Holborn

At Willesden Garage, I switched to another Metroline route operated by the same shed, the 98. This has recently been retained on retender on the basis of new electrics. However, as has been the case with other operators, pending the delivery of the planned vehicles, existing electrics have been retrieved from storage where they have been awaiting the installation of suitable charging equipment at their intended garages. In this case, Wright StreetDeck Electroliners have gone to Willesden and were forming about two thirds of the 98 allocation when I visited, the balance being made up by VWHs.

WDE3114 was the next electric to come out of the garage yard, so I jumped on the smart new bus for the journey to Holborn. The usual modern interior features of high backed seating, wood effect flooring, USB ports and new style info screens greeted me. One slight issue was that the size of the lettering on the “Next Stop” display was too large, often leading to the end of the wording being cut off, particularly on longer names. Apart from that, a smooth silky ride with rapid acceleration where traffic conditions permitted.

We made our way from the garage, back through Willesden Green, the roadworks not causing any delay in this direction, the earlier traffic having dissipated. Then onto Willesden Lane, making good progress through to the main Edgware Road at Kilburn, where we turned right. After a busy patch through Kilburn High Road, we had a pleasantly rapid run via Maida Vale down to Edgware Road Station and, after a short hiatus at the A40 intersection, we resumed normal progress down to Marble Arch. Turning onto Oxford Street, we had an unusually easy run past Selfridges and Bond Street, across the Oxford Circus junction and along to Tottenham Court Road. The number of bus routes serving this stretch has reduced over the years, producing less of a “bus wall” than previously and probably helping to speed up the remaining services, although plans are afoot once again to pedestrianise Oxford Street, which are likely to result in curtailments and diversions for buses.

From TCR, it was only a short hop through Bloomsbury to our final destination of Holborn, Red Lion Square, where I alighted after a run of a couple of minutes over the hour, not a bad effort for the time of day.

Originally, the 98 was the number of a route between Hounslow & Uxbridge via Hayes, but in 1990, it was diverted to Hayes End and became the H98.

The current version of the 98 was another that came from splitting a longer route, in this case the 8, when the western section between Willesden Garage & Holborn assumed the new number in 1992. Originally crew operated with RMLs on M-S daytimes, it had an unusual mix of M double deckers and Lance single deckers on eves and Suns. OPO came in 2004 using VPs. There was a shortlived rerouteing to Russell Square at the eastern end from 2014-16, replacing a section of the 7, but in 2016 this section went to the 10 and the 98 reverted to Holborn. At the same time, the route was converted to hybrids using VWHs, with a few experimental BYD electrics also appearing for a while. Electrics have now returned for a second stint with the advent of the WDEs in 2025.

Metroline have been taking delivery of longer Wright GB Kite Electroliners for Route 153. WSEL3135 of Holloway (HT) Garage has just arrived at Finsbury Park Interchange.

Metroline took over the contract for the route from Go Ahead in February 2025, initially using the shorter WSE version intended for the C11, until these buses became available.

Route 153: Liverpool Street - Finsbury Park

From Red Lion Square, I made my way to nearby Holborn Station and a quick trip on the Central Line to Liverpool Street, where my final route of the day, the 153, commenced. This service passed from Go Ahead to Metroline earlier in 2025 and was intended for the longer version of the Wright GB Kite Electroliner single deckers. However, pending their delivery to Holloway (HT) Garage, the shorter version of the class obtained for the C11 was used initially. In recent weeks, as the WSELs have finally entered service on the 153, the WSEs have begun transferring across to the C11.

At Liverpool Street Bus Station, I boarded WSEL3135, the next to depart, for my first ride on the class. My first impression was of a reasonably well laid out interior with all the modern features, although the new style info screen was showing only the route number and ultimate destination rather than the next stop, although the verbal announcements were describing these correctly.

A quiet run at first, with single digit passengers, as we proceeded along London Wall to Moorgate, before continuing via the Barbican estate to Goswell Road and Clerkenwell Road. At St John Street, we joined the original section of route which once continued the short distance south to Smithfield and has always seemed to be a bit of a backwater. Reaching The Angel Islington, we obtained a few more passengers and paused for a couple of minutes to await our scheduled time.

The next part of the route traverses the back streets of Barnsbury and is unique to the 153, with lots of right and left turns, but was reasonably well used with people on and off throughout. Eventually, we regained the main Holloway Road, continuing past the station of that name up to the Nag’s Head junction, where we turned right. Most alighted here and we were nearly empty as we travelled over the one-way system to our objective of Finsbury Park Station. A touch over 50 mins for the journey.

The 153 began in 1984 as double deck M operation between Archway & Islington via Barnsbury, restoring a service to the latter area after much local pressure. Within months, the service was extended to Tottenham Court Road via route 19. However, in 1987, the route reverted to its original terminals when London Country North West took the contract using Iveco minibuses. This was also destined to be shortlived, as the route passed to London Buses the following year using OV minibuses from Victoria Basement (VB).

In 1992, the route received a southbound extension to Smithfield, taking over this leg of the 279 and passed to Capital Citybus using Mercedes Benz midibuses. The next operator change came in 2001, when Hackney Community Transport (HCT) took the route with Dart SLF types, later replaced by Enviro200s. At this time, the route was diverted from St John Street away from Smithfield to the more useful traffic objective of Liverpool Street Station. The next operator switch came in 2018, when Go Ahead London assumed control with SEe Enviro200EV types. This continued until Metroline became the latest and 7th operator in February 2025.

At Finsbury Park Interchange, I switched to the Great Northern train for the trip home.

Watton

And Finally… Back in November 2019, I took my final ride aboard a Metroline VP on the 460. VP534 is seen at dusk at North Finchley Bus Station after that trip.

This was just one of three VPs left at Willesden Garage at the time which, together with a single remaining example at Harrow Weald Garage, were withdrawn in December of that year.