Buses at Watford Junction 01/02/2025

Buses at Watford Junction on 1st February 2025. This was the first day of Metroline operating route 258, their initial allocation mostly consisting of VW-class B9TLs. Arriva have continued to shuffle their fleet in recent months, with 2986 having transferred from Merseyside, 4117 being ex-Fastrack and both Versas were previously at High Wycombe. Several buses are now carrying Intalink logos on the standard Arriva livery.
Operators and routes:
Arriva Midlands & Shires: 321
Arriva Southern Counties: 20, 322, 725
First Berkshire: RA3
Metroline: TfL services 142 and 258
Readybus: Leasden Studios Shuttle
Red Eagle: W3, W20
Red Rose Travel: 328
Bus and coach types:
Alexander Dennis Enviro200 and Enviro200 MMC
BYD D8UR-DD / Alexander Dennis Enviro400EV City
Optare Versa
Scania K360EB4 / Irizar i6
VDL Bus SB200 / Wrightbus Pulsar 2
Volvo B7RLE / Wrightbus Eclipse 2
Volvo B9TL / East Lancs Olympus and Wrightbus Gemini 2
Volvo B5LH / Wrightbus Gemini 3
Wrightbus StreetLite Max

[@darylyatestransportblogs]

Nice to see 2986 a bus that was local to me before it transferred.

[@AondosooLive24]

Nice video!

[@astock5000]

Thanks!!

[@lisanne6809]

Great video. Love Watford!

[@astock5000]

Thanks!

[@roypalfrey5694]

I used to think that Watford was close enough to London when you needed it to be and fat away enough when you didn't. It's still in Hertfordshire of course but I'm not sure it feels like it. Probably true of most towns outside of London but inside the M25 (The new border)

[@roypalfrey5694]

It looks like the Watford Junction bus station needs resurfacing. It's rather bumpy now. While they're at it they could reconfigure it (again!) So the north bound services don't clog it by having to loop around it twice. Maybe employ someone who knows what a bus is and how they are driven / used not create more problems than they think they've solved.
I have used Watford Junction since I was a kid about 60 years ago and can't remember it being so messed up. It can't be all down to Harry Potter and it wouldn't take a wizard to fix the problem.
Anyway great video but I think I prefer some of your alternative locations. I know you are based quite near to Watford (from previous comments) but wonder where your favourite location is? - for filming or anything else?

[@astock5000]

Thanks! The last reconfiguration seemed to be with an aim to reduce the number of places passengers would have to cross, but (unlike the old Stevenage bus station) there isn't enough width for buses to easily loop around when it's busy, while such an arrangement also increases walking distances between stops - though less of an issue here as there's likely fewer people connecting between buses.
Sticking to bus stations, for filming those with diagonal reverse-out bays can be good, and they are also quite convenient as a passenger, but for overall operations I'd say the best layout is the central waiting island (such as Harrow, Edgware, etc). These also have their stops relatively close together, but allow dual door buses to serve them properly while departures are less likely to be delayed by other vehicle movements.