NCP-Challenger
Encyclopedia
London Buses
London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London that manages bus services within Greater London, UK. Buses are required to carry similar red colour schemes and conform to the same fare scheme...
. It was founded by Matt Larkin on 12 November 2005.
NSL was based in Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, and was owned by NSL Services Group
NSL Services Group
NSL Services Group , was formed in Spring 2007 by the demerger of NCP into two separate Businesses, and provides parking enforcement, bus and coach operations, city centre CCTV monitoring, back office processing, "iconic" streetscape consultancy and debt recovery...
, which emerged from the car park operator National Car Parks
National Car Parks
National Car Parks is the United Kingdom’s largest private car park operator, with over 200,000 spaces across more than 700 locations in towns and cities, railway stations and at airports....
as NCP Services in 2007.
On 13 November 2009, NSL Buses was bought by the former Transdev London
Transdev London
London United is one of many operators of London Buses and is owned by the RATP Group, an international public transport operator owned by the government of France...
, which today is transferred to London United Busways.
History
The company started operating TfL bus routes as NCP Challenger on 12 November 2005. They had obtained the contracts for routes 33London Buses route 33
London Buses route 33 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Transdev London.-History:...
and 419, both were previously contracted to London United. A depot was established at Twickenham
Twickenham
Twickenham is a large suburban town southwest of central London. It is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan...
Trading Estate (off Rugby Road), and a number of London United staff filled the management positions.
Route 493 was added from 31 March 2007, having been operated by Armchair (now Metroline
Metroline
Metroline, owned by ComfortDelGro Corporation of Singapore, is one of many companies operating bus services in London under the management of London Buses.-Company history:...
) on a nine month emergency short term contract.
A second depot was opened at Park Royal
Park Royal
Park Royal is an area in northwest London, UK. It is the largest industrial and business park in London, occupying about , and is promoted commercially by the Park Royal Partnership...
in North West London after winning the contracts to run routes 272, 440 and E11. Both 272 and 440 were transferred from London United (now Transdev London
Transdev London
London United is one of many operators of London Buses and is owned by the RATP Group, an international public transport operator owned by the government of France...
), and the E11 was transferred from First London
First London
.First London is one of many operators of London Buses and owned by First Group. They did also run the Tramlink network, in a partnership with Tramtrack Croydon before June 2008. Their registered office is at Paddington station in London...
. NCP Challenger started operation of all three routes on 26 May 2007.
On 28 February 2009, route 283 has been operated from the Park Royal depot, having been previously operated by Transdev London
Transdev London
London United is one of many operators of London Buses and is owned by the RATP Group, an international public transport operator owned by the government of France...
.
In April 2009, NCP Challenger was rebranded NSL Buses, due to NCP Services Group being rebranded as NSL Services Group.
During the introduction of the new name, NSL was rebranding their bus fleet to replace the old NCP-Challenger logo with the new NSL ones.
On 13 November 2009, NSL buses was sold to Transdev London Sovereign
Transdev London Sovereign
London Sovereign is one of the many operators of London Buses, owned by Transdev. Since Transdev sold London United to RATP, it is Transdev's only remaining London bus company....
.
Overview
NSL Buses operated 7 routes on contract to TfL, and all were operated by single-decker buses.NSL was using Enviro200 Dart, Optare Versa
Optare Versa
The Optare Versa is a midibus built by Optare in its Leeds factory. It was officially launched in Britain at the Euro Bus Expo 2006 at the NEC, Birmingham, on 7 November 2006, with the first order of 25 buses being placed by Stagecoach on the same day....
, and Plaxton Pointer 2 buses.
Park Royal
This garage can hold approximately 50 buses, and runs London bus routes 272, 283, 440 and E11.History
Park Royal (PK) garage was opened on 26 May 2007, on the site of the former MetrolineMetroline
Metroline, owned by ComfortDelGro Corporation of Singapore, is one of many companies operating bus services in London under the management of London Buses.-Company history:...
Garage in Atlas Road, Harlesden
Harlesden
Harlesden is an area in the London Borough of Brent, northwest London, UK. Its main focal point is the Jubilee Clock which commemorates Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee....
, which had been closed in 2005.
The garage is actually located in a 3 places boundary, which are Park Royal
Park Royal
Park Royal is an area in northwest London, UK. It is the largest industrial and business park in London, occupying about , and is promoted commercially by the Park Royal Partnership...
, North Acton
North Acton
North Acton is a place in West London, UK. It is part of Acton and on the edge of the industrial district of Park Royal. It is located in the London Borough of Ealing.-Commercial activity:...
and Old Oak Common
Old Oak Common
Old Oak Common is an area of London between Harlesden and Acton known for its railway depots, particularly Old Oak Common TMD. Further south lies an open area, Wormwood Scrubs Park, and Wormwood Scrubs prison...
.
Bus types in use
- Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.2m for route 272 and 440 (ADL)
- Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 8.9m for route E11. (ADS).
- Optare VersaOptare VersaThe Optare Versa is a midibus built by Optare in its Leeds factory. It was officially launched in Britain at the Euro Bus Expo 2006 at the NEC, Birmingham, on 7 November 2006, with the first order of 25 buses being placed by Stagecoach on the same day....
10.4m (OVL) for route 283
Twickenham
This garage is located on TwickenhamTwickenham
Twickenham is a large suburban town southwest of central London. It is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan...
Trading Estate, off Rugby Road. The garage holds approximately 45 buses, and runs London bus routes 33
London Buses route 33
London Buses route 33 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Transdev London.-History:...
, 419 and 493.
History
Their Twickenham Garage (NC) was the company's first garage, opened on 12 November 2005, to operate routes 33 and 419, and later the 493.Bus types in use
- Dennis Dart SLF 10.2m / Plaxton Pointer 2 (NCP) for routes 33/419
- Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart 10.2m (ADL) for route 493