London Transport
Central Area Routes 50–55

Last updated 17-01-08.

Route 50 began on 7 January 1951 as a replacement for tram route 24, running Monday to Saturday peaks from Streatham Hill to Embankment (Horse Guards Avenue) via Brixton, Stockwell, Vauxhall and Westminster Bridge. In 1957 the Saturday service was withdrawn, and the routing revised to run Monday to Friday between Addiscombe (Black Horse) and Stockwell Station via St. James’s Road, Thornton Heath Pond, Norbury, Streatham and Brixton, extended during peak hours to Embankment via Vauxhall, Lambeth Bridge and Parliament Square. In 1959 the Saturday service was reintroduced. In 1964 service was withdrawn between Vauxhall and Embankment and instead diverted to Victoria at all times. In 1966 the route was withdrawn between Stockwell and Victoria except for Monday to Friday peak hour journeys. In 1968 Monday to Friday service was withdrawn between Streatham Garage and Addiscombe, partly replaced by new route 289. In 1970 Saturday service was once again withdrawn. In 1971 the 50 was withdrawn between Stockwell and Victoria but extended daily from Streatham to Thornton Heath (High Street) via Norbury and Melfort Road, and further extended on Monday to Friday to Croydon (Katharine Street). In 1982 Sunday service was withdrawn. In 1988 the route was withdrawn between Stockwell and Streatham, but extended from Croydon to Old Coulsdon (Tudor Rose) via Purley and Coulsdon, replacing route 190. In 1990 Sunday service was introduced. In 1998 the 50 was withdrawn between South Croydon (Swan & Sugar Loaf) and Old Coulsdeon, replaced by a revised route 60. In 2003 it was extended from Streatham Garage to Streatham Hill Station, and from South Croydon to Croydon (High Street).

 50
51
 This plate would have probably come from either a single bus stop where short journeys turned ’round, or possibly from the Hayes extension, although I don’t know if that ran only on Saturdays for a while. Rather unusually, this “E” plate has the SPECIAL JOURNEYS legend in smaller lettering to fit in one line rather than the standard two. → 51 SATURDAY SPECIAL JOURNEYS
51 MON-FRI
 This “E” plate is an especially interesting one and is likely to have come from a single stop at a bus stand. Normally, “E” plates along sections of route served only on Sunday—such as to Hayes and Bromley—had the days of operation shown and were red, hence my theory on this one. → 51 SEE BELOW

Route 51 ran daily between Sidcup Station and Farnborough via Foots Cray, St. Mary Cray, Sevenoaks Way and Orpington. Some journeys were extended on Sunday afternoons to Bromley Garage via Locksbottom. In 1958 it was extended during Monday to Friday peak hours and on Saturdays and Sundays from Sidcup Station to Blackfen, and further extended on Saturdays and Sundays to Welling Station. The peak hour extension to Blackfen was withdrawn in 1962. In 1963 it was extended on Saturdays and Sundays from Welling to Woolwich (Hare Street) via Plumstead Common, and further extended during Saturday peak hours to Victoria Way. In 1964 it was extended on Mondays to Fridays from Sidcup to Woolwich, also with peak hour journeys to Victoria Way. Some p.m. journeys were also extended daily from Farnborough to Hayes Station. In 1968 it was withdrawn between Woolwich and Victoria Way, and new route 51A covered this extension. In 1977 the 51 was converted to one-man-operation and was extended during Monday to Friday peak hours from Woolwich to Charlton Station. It was also diverted at Orpington to run to Green Street Green instead of Farnborough. The Hayes and Bromley Garage journeys were not replaced. In 1982 it was withdrawn between Orpington and Green Street Green, and diverted to Orpington Station. In 1985 the extension from Woolwich to Charlton Station was withdrawn. In 1986 some Monday to Friday peak hour journeys were diverted to Green Street Green, but these were withdrawn in 1989.

Route 51B was introduced in 1952 running during Monday to Saturday rush hours between Orpington Station and Sidcup Station via St. Mary Cray and Foots Cray. In 1958 it was extended during Monday to Friday rush hours from Sidcup to Eltham (Well Hall Station) via Blackfen. In 1964 it was withdrawn on Saturdays and revised to run all day on Mondays to Fridays between Sidcup Garage and Woolwich via Foots Cray, Blackfen, Welling and Plumstead Common. In 1968 it was withdrawn between Blackfen and Woolwich and reduced to rush hours only. In 1969 the route was withdrawn. This “E” plate would have therefore been used only between 1964 and 1968 when the route ran all day on Mondays to Fridays.

 51B MON-FRI
52 52

Route 52 ran daily from Victoria to Mill Hill (Green Man) via Hyde Park Corner, Kensington, Notting Hill Gate, Ladbroke Grove, Kensal Rise, Willesden, Neasden, Blackbird Cross, Kingsbury and Burnt Oak. It was extended during Monday to Saturday rush hours to Borehamwood (Warwick Road) via Apex Corner and Stirling Corner, with some journeys further extended to Borehamwood (Drayton Road). In 1951 it was withdrawn in Borehamwood between Warwick Road and Drayton Road, and the terminus was changed to Elstree Way Hotel, but in 1954 it was extended to Brook Road. In 1955 it was withdrawn on Mondays to Saturdays between Mill Hill and Borehamwood except for rush hour journeys to Drayton Road, and replaced by new route 52A. In 1956 it was extended on Sundays in Borehamwood from Brook Road to Rossington Avenue. In 1963 the Monday to Friday rush hour service was extended in Borehamwood from Drayton Road to Rossington Avenue. In 1966 it was diverted to run to Mill Hill Broadway and withdrawn on Mondays to Saturdays between Mill Hill and Borehamwood. In 1969 the Sunday service was withdrawn between Mill Hill Broadway and Borehamwood. In 1992 it was withdrawn between Willesden and Mill Hill Broadway.

Note the variations in spacing on these two “E” plates (and on the route 53 plates below).

Route 53 was renumbered from 53A in 1952 and ran daily between Camden Town and Plumstead Common via Great Portland Street, Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Westminster, Elephant & Castle, Old Kent Road, New Cross, Deptford, Blackheath, Charlton and Woolwich, extended on Sundays to Plumstead Garage. In 1956 it was further extended on Sundays from Plumstead Garage to Erith via Wickham Lane, King Harolds Way and Bedonwell Road, replacing route 122A on this day. In 1963 it was withdrawn and the 122A reintroduced between Plumstead Garage and Erith on Sundays. In 1981 the Sunday service was diverted to terminate at the new Plumstead Garage at Plumstead Station, and the old garage was closed. In 1984 it was extended on Mondays to Saturdays from Camden Town to Parliament Hill Fields via Kentish Town, but was cut back to Oxford Circus at all times in 1987 when a local C2 route was introduced. In 2003 the 53 was withdrawn between Whitehall and Oxford Circus and replaced by new route 453.

A detailed history of route 53 can be found in Kenneth Warren’s book, The Motorbus in Central London (Ian Allan, 1986; ISBN 0 7110 1568 6).
Olympian in Regent Street
An unidentified Olympian on route 53, trundling down Regent Street during the height of the summer sales in 1993, is on its way home to Plumstead garage.
Photo courtesy dublo19
 53
I don’t think the sign-maker could have put the two numbers any closer together on this “E” plate!		 53
54
 David Woodcock writes: This “E” plate is a most interesting specimen that must have been used for both the 54 tram (note the larger than usual numbers) and 54 bus routes! The words that have been erased from it are GROVE PARK and it was displayed at the loading point at Victoria after changes had been made there in the late 1940s. (Trams reversed at a loading platform—complete with mini-clocktower—at the end of Vauxhall Bridge Road and an extra crossover was put in and the loading points split between routes—hence the need for “E” plates.) After conversion it must have been reused (on the same night) between Catford and Southend Pond where there had previously been no need for split bus stops. I wonder if whoever owns that plate realises just how rare it is?
HR2 class tram number 1896 on route 58 (Victoria Station–Blackwall Tunnel daily via Kennington, Dulwich, Catford and Greenwich), just departed the Victoria Station terminal. The 58 was replaced by bus 185 as part of Stage Five of the tramway replacement on 7.10.1951, so this photo obviously dates from before then. The clock tower referred to by Mr. Woodcock is visible in the enlargement, just below and to the left of the route 66 “E” plate.
Ian Allan photo; LT3362
 HR2 1896

The London County Council began running an electric tram service between Vauxhall and Camberwell Green via Kennington on 2 August 1903. Three years later (on 5 August) it was extended across Vauxhall Bridge to Victoria Station when statutory powers were amended to allow electric cars to work across the bridge. By the time London Transport absorbed the LCC system in 1933, the route was numbered 54 and had been extended to Grove Park Station via Peckham, New Cross, Lewisham, Catford and Downham. It was withdrawn on 5 January 1952 as part of Stage Six of the tramway conversions, replaced by bus 69.

Bus route 54 ran daily between Plumstead Common (Woodman) and Selsdon (Farley Road) via Plumstead Common Road, Woolwich, Charlton Park Road, Blackheath, Lewisham, Catford, Beckenham Hill Road, Beckenham, Elmers End, Shirley Road, Addiscombe Road, East Croydon and Upper Selsdon Road. In 1959 the Sunday service was withdrawn between Woolwich and Plumstead Common, and in 1963 the Monday to Saturday service was similarly withdrawn. In 1965 some Monday to Friday peak hour journeys were extended at both ends of the route: from Woolwich to Woolwich Industrial Estate, and from Selsdon to Riddlesdown. A couple of journeys ran through from Riddlesdown to Woolwich Industrial Estate, and the timetable shows a running time of 1 hour 45 minutes! In 1969 the route was diverted on Sundays to run to the West Croydon bus station instead of Selsdon. In 1973 the Saturday service was similarly diverted, and the Riddlesdown journeys were withdrawn and replaced by route 12A. The Woolwich Industrial Estate journeys were also withdrawn later that year. In 1985 it was rerouted to run to West Croydon at all times, and the Saturday shopping hour service was extended from Woolwich to Charlton (Asda), although this was withdrawn in 1986. In 2000 the route was withdrawn between Elmers End and West Croydon to “encourage” people onto the new Tramlink service.

 54
55
 ← For some unfathomable reason, the spacing between the figures was always more variable on “doubled” routes (e.g. 55, 88, et cetera).
This “E” plate could have come from the Bloomsbury to Marylebone section, or between Aldwych and Waterloo. Unusually, the text does not have a dash between the words MON and FRI (nor any full stops). →		 55 MON FRI
55 MON-SAT 55 MON.-SAT. 55 MON-SAT FARE STAGE
55 SPECIAL JOURNEYS ONLY
← This plate would have probably come from one of the short-working terminals, such as Bloomsbury (Red Lion Square), or possibly between Leyton Green and Leyton (Bakers Arms), as the route never had any special journey sections other than stand workings. It is therefore quite a rare plate.
Timetable leaflet for the OPO conversion of route 55 starting 28 October 1972, with print code 972/3192S/47500. This is a fold-out leaflet with brief details of the changes and a fare table on the front. Inside are the bus stop timetables for the service and on the back are diagrams showing how to use split entrance buses. →

Route 55 originally ran daily from Hayes Station to Chiswick (Edensor Road) via Yeading, Greenford, Hanwell, West Ealing, Northfields, Acton and Turnham Green, with a bifurcation to Chiswick (Grove Park Hotel) on Mondays to Saturdays. In 1955 it was extended beyond Hayes Station to Bourne Avenue. In 1968 it was withdrawn and replaced by new routes 274 and E3.

A new route 55 was introduced in 1969 running daily between Walthamstow Garage and Hackney (Well Street) via Leyton and Clapton. It was extended on Mondays to Saturdays, with some early Sunday journeys, via Cambridge Heath, Hackney Road, Old Street, Clerkenwell Green to Bloomsbury, and further extended on Mondays to Fridays via Oxford Circus and Baker Street to Marylebone Station. In 1971 the Monday to Friday extension was diverted at Holborn Station to run to Aldwych instead of Marylebone, and it was converted from RT/RM operation to to one-man-operated DMS buses in 1972. In 1978 it was extended daily to Aldwych, and the Monday to Friday peak hour service was extended to Waterloo Station. In 1981 it was one of just a few routes that were converted back to Routemaster operation, and was withdrawn between Walthamstow Central Station and Walthamstow Garage, and also diverted at Holborn to run via Piccadilly Circus and Hyde Park Corner to Victoria Station. In 1983 it was diverted at Leyton to run to Whipps Cross instead of Walthamstow Central. In 1987 the Sunday service was converted to single-deck Leyland National one-person-operation, and the Monday to Saturday service became opo later that year using Titans. Also that year the 55 was withdrawn between Tottenham Court Road Station and Victoria. In 1990 the route was withdrawn between Clapton Pond and Whipps Cross, and in 1992 was extended to Oxford Circus. In 1998 it was further extended from Clapton Pond to Leyton Green. In 2001 it was again re-comverted to crew operation, this time using low floor doored double-deckers as an experiment to see how boarding times might be improved using conductors, and this experiment ceased in 2003 when it again became one-person-operated.
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