Ministry of Transport, Mill Hill and Borehamwood

It’s that annual occasion that every UK Motorist dreads – the day when the car has to go for its MOT test. The idea behind the test is simple – detect faults so that they can be rectified and thus enhance road safety. What this invariably means for the motorist is an annual repair bill. My car was due in for its test on Tuesday so I booked it in with my maintenance people and dropped it off at their Mill Hill workshop. I usually drop it at the Finchley branch but I’d decided to take the day off and use the opportunity to do some transport photography around Mill Hill and Borehamwood. It proved to be a glorious autumn day and my decision was full justified.

Lets look at some shots from Borehamwood first…

Passengers from my train climb the footbridge steps at Elstree & Borehamwood station as a fast services passes through.

Lots of Commuters cycle to the station and leave their bikes there for the day. It looks like one of them has taken their child to work too

Borehamwood is right on the outer limit of Transport for London’s area and there are only two bus services on which the Oyster card is valid – the 292 and the 107. Here, Metroline TE828 makes its way along the High Street past one of many banners celebrating the work of Elstree Studios – in this case, Star Wars.

Further proof that we are beyond the fringe of London’s urban sprawl – Here, the ambulances belong to the East of England Ambulance Service.

The nature of the bridges at Elstree & Borehamwood station makes photography of southbound trains the only realistic option. Here a service from Nottingham speeds through on route to St.Pancras. Most of the East Midlands trains services on the line are formed of these 4 / 5 car ‘Meridian’ units, often working in pairs.

Borehamwood is very much Sullivan Buses territory. Most of their vehicles are painted in red as the company operates some Transport for London routes and regularly undertakes rail replacement services for London Underground. Here is one of their Plaxton bodied Dennis Dart’s crossing over the railway with the 306 Borehamwood to Watford service – Looking every bit like a London bus, this is not a TfL route so Oyster Card not valid.

First Capital Connect operate a fast service from Bedford to Brighton via the City of London. These services are operated by Class 377 units as shown in this photograph – This is the 10:40 service and will arrive in Brighton at 12:55.

Local stopping services on the Midland mainline are operated using Class 319 units in a variety of liveries – here is 319364 advertising Thameslink services with a green and white Southern unit behind.

Uno (University Bus) operate the 615 route from Hatfield to Stanmore. Originally the service was provided using 12 metre Mercedes-Benz Citaro vehicles but now there are 4 of these brand new Wright Streetlite vehcles operating the route – presumably the passenger loading didn’t justify the larger vehicles. The ‘Pink’ branding is normally used for St. Albans local routes so presumably these vehicles can also fill in on those duties alongside Uno’s Optare Solo’s.

The Midland mainline has always carried its fair share of freight to and from London. In the past it was one of the main routes delivering coal to the capital from the east midlands coalfields. Nowadays, the most common commodity is aggregates for the construction industry. Here Class 66, 66613 of the Freightliner fleet heads north with a train of empty aggregates hoppers. The climb through Elstree and the tunnels under Scratchwood, is deceptively steep – hence the grey clag above the train. Built by EMD in London, Ontario, Canada, there are now over 400 of these loco’s working in the UK and they are also finding buyers in Europe.

And now some shots from Mill Hill…

Morning in Mill Hill and a Corbel coach heads to its next duty after performing a school run. A number of London coach operators make their businesses viable by taking on schools contract work. Corbel’s Pink and Black livery is unmistakeable

An Arriva The Shires Wright Cadet bodied DAF on the 303 route collects passengers at Mill Hill Broadway station before setting off on its journey to Edgware. Compared with Boreham wood above, all bus services in Mill Hill are operated for TfL.

Mill Hill Broadway bus station has an overall roof provided by the M1 Motorway which passes through the area on stilts alongside the pre-existing Midland mainline railway. Another example of vehicles working the 303 – This Plaxton bodied Dennis Dart is 14 years old which is ancient in London bus terms nowadays. Behind are vehicles on the 302 and 114 routes.

Mill Hill Broadway is the main shopping street in the area – it is sandwiched between the railway and M1 motorway at one end and the A1 Barnet Bypass at the other.

A London Ambulance Service vehicle negotiates heavy traffic on Mill Hill Circus (on the Barnet Bypass) at the eastern end of Mill Hill Broadway on an emergency call. It was a busy afternoon for the ambulance crews – 4 different vehicles on emergency runs passed through this roundabout in around 30 minutes

Cross over the A1 and to the East you enter an area of genteel housing estates, posh schools and open fields. DE57 (an ADL Enviro 200 vehicle) of London Sovereign descends Lawrence Street towards Mill Hill Circus past St. Josephs Missionary College on the 251 route. The college is no longer a missionary school and is currently up for sale.

A walk up Hammers Lane brings you to the Three Hammers pub which stands on a triangular green beside The Ridgway in Mill Hill Village. The climb is steep and the 240 bus grinds its way to the top or, in this case, tests its brakes on the way down. Metroline VPL200, a Plaxton bodied Volvo, picks up a solitary passenger in a typical suburban London bus scene.

Now wasn’t that much more pleasant than going back to work and worrying about the MOT all day? Ahh – That’s better as Nancy would say…

Views From The Bus

A visit to Patti’s ‘Nylon Daze’ blog revealed a post of images taken from a bus window. I thought – Hey… That’s my territory So I decided that maybe a few of my inside and out shots from buses could be of interest as a response and provide a contrast with the view from Public Transport in New York. Thanks for the idea Patti

Down by Victoria Station, a Police Community Support Officer talks to a group of colleagues. The hand gestures look a bit like a fighter ace demonstrating a dog-fighting manoeuvre!

Passengers and the conductor on the lower deck of a Routemaster on Fleet Street

A rather nice motor on the Finchley Road

Inside a Renault Agora in Perpignan

Young Ladies onboard a Renault Agora in Canet-en-Roussillon

Police Officers question suspects in a car park in Guildford – from a passing Routemaster

The Wingate and Finchley team and board members en-route to a cup final game – that’s our Manager standing in the aisle

A Full and Frank discussion at Crouch End!

All Mod Cons on a Greenline Van Hool coach in Notting Hill Gate

Almost bedtime – a night journey through Kentish Town

Weekly Photo Challenge: Together

In the event of a major medical emergency the London Ambulance Service normally dispatches two units.   A Fast Response Unit (FRU) and an Ambulance.   The thinking is that a smaller vehicle will make better time to the scene, providing medical assistance sooner.  A bonus is that, when the Ambulance arrives, there is a third medically trained person at the scene.   This is why you often see these units together at an incident.*

In London the FRU’s are a mix of estate cars and motorcycles, normally referred to as Paramedics.   There are also Cycle Response Units (CRU) in Inner London where the traffic is heaviest and there are also a number of large parks making normal road access difficult.

FRU and Ambulance attending a collapsed person at a local supermarket

Attending an Incident at Wingate & Finchley FC.

There’s a bit of a story behind this shot… A player collapsed on the pitch and the Ambulance was summoned.  The Paramedic and Ambulance arrived within a couple of minutes of each other and tended the player in the dressing room – it turned out that he had a bad case of concussion.   However, when it came to time to transfer him to Hospital the Ambulance crew discovered that the rear tyre of the ambulance was suffering from a slow puncture making it unsuitable for patient transfer.  So a second Ambulance was called.   On arrival, the replacement ambulance mistakenly dived into the next door Rugby club and the paramedic was dispatched on foot to fetch them round to the correct location.  In the photo you can see him returning with the second Ambulance behind – squeezing past his FRU vehicle.

Sometimes an incident proves to be less of an emergency than at first thought.  So, it’s a chance for the hard working crews to take a 5 minute break and chat before the next shout

This post is dedicated to the crews of the London Ambulance Service who save lives every day around the capital.

*The information given in the introduction is my understanding as an observing member of the public of how things work and not a statement of official LAS policy.   More views of LAS vehicles and crews can be found on Flickr in the London Ambulance Service group.