London Transport
Central Area Routes 70–73

Last updated 14-04-08.

Route 70 was introduced in 1951 as a replacement for tram route 70 and ran daily between Greenwich Church and London Bridge via Deptford, Surrey Docks Station, Rotherhithe and Bermondsey, extended on Mondays to Saturdays to Waterloo Station via Southwark Street and Stamford Street. In 1952 the Sunday service was withdrawn but restored a week later, and again withdrawn in 1953! In 1954 the 70 was extended from Greenwich to Eltham (Southend Crescent) via Blackheath and Kidbrooke, and extended during Monday to Saturday peak hours from Waterloo to Victoria via Lambeth Bridge, although the Saturday peak extension was withdrawn in 1956. In 1960 it was withdrawn between Greenwich and Eltham on Mondays to Fridays, and between Waterloo and Victoria apart from peak hours. In 1963 the Saturday service was withdrawn between London Bridge and Waterloo, and further cut back the following year to Surrey Docks apart from some early journeys. In 1966 the remaining Saturday service was withdrawn completely, and in 1968 the Monday to Friday peak extension to Victoria was withdrawn, leaving the route as just Greenwich to Waterloo on Mondays to Fridays. In 1970 it was converted to one-man-operation. In 1971 some early morning journeys were diverted over London Bridge to Monument Station. In 1978 it was revised to run daily between Lewisham (Riverdale Centre) and Victoria via Deptford and the existing route to Waterloo, then over Westminster Bridge. In 1980 it was withdrawn in Lewisham between the bus station and Riverdale Centre. In 1982 it was withdrawn between Surrey Docks Station and Lewisham. In 1985 the Saturday and Sunday sevices were withdrawn. Later in 1985 it was revised to again run daily from Peckham Garage to Rotherhithe Station via South Bermondsey, Surrey Docks and Redriff Road, and extended on Mondays to Fridays to Victoria. In 1987 it was again withdrawn on Saturdays and Sundays, and the route was totally withdrawn in 1988.

Today’s route 70 runs between South Kensington Station and Acton (High Street) via Kensington, Notting Hill Gate, Queensway, Westbourne Park Road, Ladbroke Grove, Du Cane Road and East Acton.
70
 70 MON.-FRI.
 70 MON.-FRI.
A second line of text has been officially removed from the surface of this plate: PEAK HOURS ONLY (or possibly RUSH HOURS). This was sometimes done to avoid the cost of or delay in making new plates.
70 SPECIAL JOURNEYS ONLY
This is a rare “E” plate as it might have come from just a single bus stop served only by odd journeys, such as at Monument Station where just a couple of early morning journeys ran.
70
“Dorking Route 70”; a 1926 poster designed for London General by Walter E. Spradbery.
©London Transport Museum
71
 71 FARE STAGE
 71 MON.-SAT.
71 SUNDAY AFTERNOON
These two “E” plates were among those produced to cover the Sunday diversion.		 71 SUNDAY AFTERNOON
71

Timetable dated 12.3.72 for down journeys to Leatherhead. The return service to Richmond is on the other side.

Up through the ’60s route 71 ran Monday through Saturday between East Acton and Kingston (Bus Station) via Shepherd’s Bush, Hammersmith, Chiswick Bridge and Richmond. On Saturdays it was extended to Sunbury via Hampton Court and Hampton, but this was withdrawn by 1965. In 1966 the 71 was cut back to run between Hammersmith and Kingston. By 1968 it was further cut back to run only between Richmond and Kingston via Ham Estate. In 1969 the 71 ran was extended to Leatherhead via Surbiton, Hook and Chessington Zoo, and a Sunday service was introduced between Kingston and Leatherhead. In 1972 the service was converted to one-man-operation. In 1973 service was provided daily between Richmond and Leatherhead, but was rerouted via Riverside Drive in Ham Estate on Sundays. In 1975 service was again withdrawn between Kingston and Richmond on Sunday mornings. Eventually, changes to the parallel route 65 in the mid-’80s introduced a daily service on the 71. It currently runs Kingston to Chessington (World of Adventures).

In 1934 route 72 was a short weekday-only route running between Hammersmith Station and Putney Heath via Hammersmith Bridge and Castelnau, turning via Roehampton, Putney Heath, Dover House and Upper Richmond or vice-versa. By 1938 it was operating daily and had been extended to Tolworth via the Kingston By-Pass and Tolworth Rise. In 1950 the 72 ran from East Acton to Esher (High Street) via Westway, White City, Shepherd’s Bush, Hammersmith, Barnes, Roehampton, Kingston Vale, Kingston By-Pass, New Malden, Tolworth and Hinchley Wood. In 1958 it was extended during Monday to Friday rush hours from East Acton to Park Royal Stadium, partly replacing route 17 which was withdrawn. Later in the year it was withdrawn on Sundays between Tolworth and Esher. In 1959 the Sunday service was diverted via Du Cane Road instead of Westway and renumbered 72A, thus the 72 was withdrawn on this day. In 1966 the 72 was rerouted along Du Cane Road and reintroduced on Sundays, replacing the 72A. Later tha year the journeys to Park Royal were withdrawn, and the Saturday service was withdrawn between Tolworth and Esher. In 1970 it was diverted at Scilly Isles away from Esher to run daily to Hampton Court Station, replacing part of route 152, and certain journeys were extended to Hampton Grammar School. In 1972 it was extended during Monday to Friday peak hours from East Acton to Brunel Road. In 1973 it was withdrawn between Tolworth and Hampton Court/Hampton Grammar School and replaced by the 152 over this section. In 1975 it was extended on Sundays from Tolworth to Chessington Zoo, but this extension was cut withdrawn in 1982. In 1983 it was extended during Monday to Saturday shopping hours from Tolworth to Kingston via Surbiton, but this only lasted until 1984. It was again extended from Tolworth to Chessington Zoo during the summers of 1985 to 1989, and all year through from 1989. In 1991 it was withdrawn south of Roehampton, and extended at all times to Brunel Road.
Route 72 bus stop timetable
 Bus stop slip timetable for route 72 dated 24.1.70 with print code 1269 4164 P 4400 (10 ch) 200. These used to be posted on stops where the service was considered to be frequent. It gives a description of the route from East Acton to Hampton Court Station, and such useful (?) information such as the service interval is “about every 10 minutes”, Roehampton to Hampton Court every 30 minutes, and the last bus times at six timing points. 72
 72 SUNDAY
73
 73 MON-FRI RUSH HOURS & SAT RICHMOND
 73 SUNDAY
73 TOTTENHAM GARAGE JOURNEYS
For most of its life the 73 has been worked by Tottenham [AR] Garage and this plate would have come from one of the northbound bus stops between Stoke Newington and Tottenham for the considerable number of buses that used to be extended over that section. It is astonishingly rare to find an “E” plate showing the name of a bus garage.		 73 - N89 NIGHT
Another extremely rare “E” plate is this one with two differently-coloured backgrounds. It would have come from the short stretch of Oxford Street between Marble Arch and Gower Street where routes 73 and N89 ran together. I would imagine that London Transport avoided making split-background-colour plates as far as possible owing to the additional complexity.
Route 73 timetable panel
This timetable panel was posted on the southbound route 73 bus stop in Shepherd’s Bush Road at Hammersmith Broadway (which I believe was the terminal point at that time). It is dated 16.5.66 when the route was operated by Routemaster buses.

Route 73 is a very long-established central London route and in 1949 was running daily between Stoke Newington and Richmond via Newington Green, Islington, King’s Cross, Euston, Court Road, Oxford Street, Marble Arch, Hyde Park Corner, Kensington, Hammersmith, Barnes and East Sheen. In 1958 it was extended on Sundays from Richmond to Hounslow Garage via Twickenham, Warren Road and Whitton, and later that year it was extended to Hounslow daily. In 1966 it was withdrawn on Mondays to Fridays between Hammersmith and Hounslow, except for a peak hour service to Richmond, and was withdrawn on Saturdays between Richmond and Hounslow, and replaced by new route 33. In 1970 the Richmond extension was withdrawn on Mondays to Saturdays. In 1978 the Sunday service to Hounslow was cut back to Twickenham Station, and in 1982 the remainder of the Sunday extension was curtailed at Hammersmith. In 1988 the route was diverted at Hyde Park Corner to run to Victoria Station at all times, with new route 10 taking over the Hammersmith service. The 73 is probably one of the most famous, long-established and busy routes in London, and now runs to Seven Sisters Station at the northern end. In 2004 the route lost its Routemasters. It was one of the first non-trolleybus replacement routes to receive them 1962, but has now succumbed to bendy-buses.

Route N89 was renumbered from 289 in 1960. It ran from London Bridge Station to Southall (Brent Road) via Bank, Holborn, Oxford Street, Marble Arch, Lancaster Gate/Notting Hill Gate, Shepherds Bush, Acton, Ealing and Hanwell. In later years the N89 was diverted to serve Paddington Station, and latterly was diverted at Southall Town Hall to Uxbridge via Hayes End and Hillingdon. The route has now been absorbed mainly by route N207, running between Holborn and Uxbridge.
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Central Area Routes 1-3 Central Area Routes 4-6 Central Area Routes 7-9
Central Area Routes 10-12 Central Area Routes 13-16 Central Area Routes 17-19
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Central Area Routes 30-35 Central Area Routes 36-39 Central Area Routes 40-44
Central Area Routes 45-49 Central Area Routes 50-55 Central Area Routes 56-59
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Central Area Routes 130-133 Central Area Routes 134-139 Central Area Routes 140-149
Central Area Routes 150-159 Central Area Routes 160-164 Central Area Routes 165-169
Central Area Routes 170-174 Central Area Routes 175-179 Central Area Routes 180-184
Central Area Routes 185-189 Central Area Routes 190-194 Central Area Routes 195-199
Central Area Routes 200-209 Central Area Routes 210-219 Central Area Routes 220-223
Central Area Routes 224-229 Central Area Routes 230-239 Central Area Routes 240-245
Central Area Routes 246-249 Central Area Routes 250-259 Central Area Routes 260-269
Central Area Routes 270-279 Central Area Routes 280-289 Central Area Routes 290-299
Country Area Routes 300-303 Country Area Routes 304-309 Country Area Routes 310-316
Country Area Routes 317-319 Country Area Routes 320-324 Country Area Routes 325-329
Country Area Routes 330-334 Country Area Routes 335-339 Country Area Routes 340-344
Country Area Routes 345-349 Country Area Routes 350-359
Country Area Routes 360-369 Country Area Routes 370-379
Country Area Routes 380-389 Country Area Routes 390-394 Country Area Routes 395-399
Country Area Routes 400-405 Country Area Routes 406-409 Country Area Routes 410-419
Country Area Routes 420-423 Country Area Routes 424-429 Country Area Routes 430-439
Country Area Routes 440-449 Country Area Routes 450-456 Country Area Routes 457-459
Country Area Routes 460-469 Country Area Routes 470-479
Country Area Routes 480-484 Country Area Routes 485-489 Country Area Routes 490-499
Red Arrow & Express Routes 500-616 Trolleybus Routes 513-699
Green Line Routes 701-703 Green Line Routes 704-705 Green Line Routes 706-708
Green Line Routes 709-710 Green Line Routes 711-713 Green Line Routes 714-715
Green Line Routes 716-718 Green Line Routes 719-720 Green Line Routes 721-724
Green Line Routes 725-799 Country Area Routes 800-804 Country Area Routes 805-854A
Mobility Routes 900-980 Lettered Routes A-C Lettered Routes D-M
Night Routes N1-N83 Night Routes N84-N88
Night Routes N89-N93 Night Routes N94-N299 Lettered Routes P-W
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