File:Preserved Grey-Green bus 115 (F115 PHM) 1988 Volvo Citybus Alexander RV, 2003 North Weald bus rally.jpg

Summary

Preserved <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Grey_Green_(bus_company)" title="Category:Grey Green (bus company)">Grey-Green</a> bus 115 (reg. F115 PHM), a 1988 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_Buses" class="extiw" title="en:Volvo Buses">Volvo</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_B10M" class="extiw" title="en:Volvo B10M">Citybus</a> double-decker with dual-door <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Alexander_Coachbuilders" class="extiw" title="en:Walter Alexander Coachbuilders">Alexander</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_RV" class="extiw" title="en:Alexander RV">RV</a> bodywork, pictured at the <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:2003_North_Weald_bus_rally" title="Category:2003 North Weald bus rally">2003 North Weald bus rally</a> having just been repainted by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Transport_Museum" class="extiw" title="w:London Transport Museum">London Transport Museum</a> into its original Grey-Green guise.

The bus was the first of a batch of 30 such vehicles bought by the Cowie Group owned Grey-Green company for use on the flagship <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Buses_route_24" class="extiw" title="w:London Buses route 24">London Buses route 24</a>. They were to be the first buses to run in central London not wearing the traditional red colour which had been used on London buses since 1933 with the formation of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Transport" class="extiw" title="w:London Transport">London Transport</a>, as Grey-Green had won the contract to operate route 24 as part of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privatisation_of_London_bus_services" class="extiw" title="en:Privatisation of London bus services">deregulation of London Bus services</a>.

The fleet were duly numbered 115-144, registered F115-144 PHM, and entered service in this grey, green and orange livery. The route was operated out of their London coach base in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamford_Hill" class="extiw" title="w:Stamford Hill">Stamford Hill</a>, beginning on 5 November 1988.

By 1994 Grey-Green had gained more route tenders necessitating an expanded fleet, including another running into central London, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Buses_route_188" class="extiw" title="w:London Buses route 188">London Buses route 188</a>. The Cowie Group's London fleet also expanded massively in 1994 when they purchased the Leaside and South London divisions of London Buses Ltd as the the privatisation process begun in the 1980s finally concluded. The subsequent wholesale rebranding of Cowie as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arriva" class="extiw" title="w:Arriva">Arriva</a> (announced in 1997) saw many changes in their London fleets in terms of both liveries and operator names in the next year or two.

Pre-empting this however, 155 was one of 7 of the batch which were repainted into allover red, for use on a long term <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakerloo_Line" class="extiw" title="w:Bakerloo Line">Bakerloo Line</a> replacement bus service between Oxford Circus and Elephant and Castle.

With Grey-Green having been renamed Arriva London North East in January 1998, by June 1998 bus 155 had been repainted into Arriva's corporate London red livery for operation on route 188. A year later it was transferred to the Wood Green (code WN) garage of Arriva London North (the new name for Leaside), and was brought into the traditional London system of assigning class numbers, becoming VA155 in the VA-class.

By 2003, with the move to low-floor buses for London contracts, the VA class was being disposed of. Most went on to see further service in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool" class="extiw" title="w:Liverpool">Liverpool</a> with Fleetlink, however 115 was loaned to the London Transport Museum, who repainted it at their Acton depot.

Licensing

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.