SV Fleet News

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SV Fleet News

18 fleet news items added in 2007.

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20/12/07	The former ERU Volvo demountables are now in general haulage use from Acton. All 5 have been repainted in standard white/blue livery.
12/12/07	Among the many Travel London service vehicles now allocated fleetnumbers in the 89xx series is a Citroen Berlingo formerly operated by Metroline. Reports confirming the details of the 17 newly added vehicles (plus whether the new numbers are carried) would be appreciated. Elsewhere, London General have a new Transit van for their Merton garage engineers.
02/12/07	All 10 of the new ERU trucks have now been reported but we could do with more observations so determine the final allocations. No sign yet of any more new lorries at Acton, and the normal additions of Ford and Vauxhall vans continues unabated. Interestingly, vehicles are still being given Metronet logos.
08/11/07	New Iveco EuroCargo lorry 2602 is now in stock (although we are not sure if it is a dropside or a demountable), and is the first of several due before the introduction of the London Low Emission Zone (LEZ) in February 2008.
25/10/07	Fleet additions continue to be made, and the first reports of vehicles in the 64xx range have just been received.
22/10/07	All but one (2598) of the new ERU trucks has now been reported but it would appear that the allocations have not yet settled down.
28/09/07	LBSL Honda LB07DJK has now become 6298H, so the batch must now be (at least) 14 strong, and LB07EYC and LG57YJM must be either 6303H or 6308H. Any advances on this?
27/09/07	The ERU trucks at Vauxhall (at least) retain their 07 registrations. With the Honda Civic cars, more fleetnumbers have been added and it appears that the batch totals 13, numbered 6299H to 6311H. Unreported 6303H and 6308H are presumably carried by LB07DJK and LB07EYC, order unknown. Having said that, at least one 57 reg example has recently been reported!
23/09/07	The first six ERU Rescue Tenders are now in service running from Acton, Camden and Vauxhall. Those at Camden are registered in the '57 series. It remains to be seen if the other examples have surrended their '07 marks.
20/09/07	Amongst various fleet additions made recently is the first '57 registered SV. Reports of the allocations (and fleetnumbers) of the new LBSL Honda cars would be appreciated.
05/08/07	Feltham Coachworks box truck demountable body DB24 has now been returned from rebuild to a dropside with crew cab. It is presumably still only mountable on larger Iveco lorries 2554F and 2555F.
03/08/07	There have been some interesting developments in the central fleet over the past month or so. The first of the Mercedes-Benz Atego rescue trucks for the ERU have been delivered, with at least four parked in the yard at Acton. There are two variants, with different sized crew cabs, and a total of 10 are on order. When the new trucks are commissioned, the existing ERU fleet of Mercedes-Benz Varios will be sold off, and the Volvo demountables transferred to the general haulage fleet. This is likely to result in the demise of elderly Mercedes-Benz demountables 2509M, 2534M and 2540M, plus perhaps the even older 2487M and 2490M or the early Super Cargo lorries. The Honda Civic hybrid cars for LBSL are continuing to enter service. With Vauxhall Zafiras as well as Ford Focus estates being seen returned to Acton, it may be that as many as 24 Hondas are on order, to replace both of the earlier batches. One of the new cars has been noted with a fleetnumber applied (6300H on LB07ECN) but the remainder do not (yet?) have this feature. These vehicles will no doubt become a common sight at bus stations around London and reports of allocations would be welcomed. Of the recent batch of VW Transporter vans, vehicles 6169-6181 and 6183-6187VW have been reported. It seems likely that 6182 will be a similar vehicle, plus perhaps 6188 to make a batch of 20. Since then, deliveries have reverted to the usual Ford and Vauxhall mix, although it is interesting to note that medium-sized vans from the latter make are rarely used. The Vivaro and Movano models would seem to be suitable alternatives to the Ford Transit, but the recent Vauxhalls have all been either Astras or Combos. One new model to enter service recently was the Ford S-Max car (in the form of 6221F). This vehicle, which resembles a scaled-up C-Max, has replaced unique Land Rover Freelander 5215LR. A couple of livery variations have been observed recently. Firstly, at least one Ford Focus estate with Metronet carries the normal blue skirt on a silver base colour. Secondly, a handful of Ford Transit vans have been seen in plain white with Tube Lines logos carrying additional lettering for the Jubilee Line Signal Dept. The addition of departmental lettering would be a welcome return. The owned fleet has been suplemented by hires for at least the last few years. At the end of last month, 4 vehicles were noted in the yard at Acton including a red Atkinson dustcart, a white Hino grab-loader and a yellow DAF mini-dustcart. The fourth vehicle was an unmarked Iveco Eurocargo dropside lorry registered YJ56USY. This was notable for being in almost LUL livery (white cab, blue body), and for having a curiously tall headboard and air-dam on the cab roof. Other vehicles present at the time including an Iveco Daily van lettered for the CrossRail project and several British Transport Police Ford Transit Connect vans. The three oldest SVs (2474M, 2487M and 2490M) were also in evidence.
27/07/07	At least four of the long-awaited Atego ERU trucks have now arrived at Acton and are parked in the yard. Livery is white and blue cab with a red front panel and a yellow reflective stripe along the sides. The bodywork (which closely resembles the LFB FRU vehicles) is mainly roller shutters in unpainted metal. Also arriving in the last week have been a batch of Honda Civic hybrid saloon cars for London Buses. These carry a maroon livery (with LBSL orange squares) and have light bars, and they are in the process of replacing the Ford Focus estate cars dating from winter 2001.
12/05/07	As a departure from the usual use of Ford Transit vans, Metronet has been taking delivery of a batch of VW Transporter vans over the past few weeks. The exact total is not known but the numbers seen (6169-6187VW) suggest there may be as many as 20. No sign yet of the new ERU lorries. Many additions have been made to the records for the bus company fleets, but it should be noted that many of these will have been in service for some time. Their appearance results from LOTS managing to obtain some information from the companies involved ahead of the publication of SUP24C. A few cars have been seen around town in what looks like Transport for London livery but with prominent contractors names. It is not yet clear if these vehicles will be appropriate for inclusion here but, in the meantime, any reports or photographs would be welcomed.
22/04/07	Fleet additions continue pretty much as per usual with just a few oddities including a pair of MB Sprinters and some VW Transporters for Metronet. Fleetnumbers have reached 6227. Following the receipt of some official fleet information, I have been updating the records, with vehicles 5701-5900 done so far.
16/03/07	More details of 2591 are that it is an Actros 2644 3-axle artic unit with large Palfinger crane. Some photos will be published shortly. Interesting news is that 10 Mercedes-Benz Atego lorries have been ordered for the Emergency Response Unit. These will feature fixed bodywork similar to the FRU-series of London Fire Brigade vehicles and will replace the current Vario and Volvo FL6 trucks. Delivery is expected to run from May to September, after which the Volvos will be transferred to general duties while the Varios will be disposed of.
02/02/07	The new Mercedes lorry is 2591, further details awaited. After a slight lull, the intake of leased vehicles appears to have picked up again. The next batch of additions (to be entered over the weekend) include numbers as high as 6153F!
14/01/07	The new Merc at Acton is still parked at the back of the lorry yard (ie Bollo Lane side) but appears to be a 3-axle artic tractor unit, with crane as previously mentioned. Further details (such as model and fleetnumber) are awaited, as are the first pictures!

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