Route E2

Route E2
4 September 2010

During the late 1960s London Transport launched an experimental series of Flat Fare bus routes around London. Quite why it was deemed necessary to differentiate them from other services I am not too sure, but they were, the affected routes being renumbered into a new series with letter prefixes to denote the general area. Three of the routes were in the Ealing area and consequently became the E1, E2 and E3 from 1968, although the E3 did not serve Ealing itself. Since that time the routes have enjoyed a remarkable degree of stability. The E2 replaced the 97, running from Brentford via Northfields and Ealing to Greenford. The 97 had had a Sunday extension to Ruislip but this was absorbed into the new daily route 273 (now E7).

Since then the E2 has been unchanged except that the Brentford Terminal was moved from the traditional County Court stand to Armchair’s depot in Commerce Way/Road when that firm took over from Centrewest (the former London Buses subsidiary) in 1997.

The route has become one of the latest to convert from single to double deck operation, albeit with a reduction on frequency from 10 to 8 buses per hour during the day on Mondays to Saturdays and 6 to 5 during evenings and Sundays. New TE class Enviro400s were on ordered but came late, so initially the route was operated using older TP class buses spare from elsewhere. However, the TPs have now, as intended, been swept away by new Enviro400 bodied Tridents, and TE989 (LK59 DZO) negotiates the roundabout at the junction of Scotch Common, Kent Gardens and Pitshanger Lane, Ealing, on Friday 16 October 2009.

Photo © John Bennett.

Although the Darts that were replaced have gone, single deck buses are apparently still quite common, and so I have included this photograph of Enviro200Dart DE998 (LK09 ENL) on 18 August 2009, part of a batch bought concurrently for part of the E8.

Metroline are however once again playing one of their favourite games – busical chairs! New contracts on routes at Cricklewood were vague as to whether existing or new buses would be used, and instead Metroline are buying more new buses for the E2, and the TEs will move to Cricklewood to join the sizeable fleet of the type already there. The E2 is getting new VW class Volvo B9TLs – some of these buses are already at Brentford garage for route 237, and may appear on the E2 from time to time. They will be featured here once the new buses are in service and a suitable photograph is made available!

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Chronologically 151 296

Numerically D6 E6
See also routes E1, E3, E7, E8

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