London Buses route 19
| 19 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Operator | London General |
| Garage | Stockwell (SW) |
| Night-time | Night Bus N19 |
| Route | |
| Start | Battersea Bridge |
| Via |
Chelsea Piccadilly Circus Holborn Islington |
| End | Finsbury Park bus station |
London Buses route 19 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Battersea Bridge and Finsbury Park bus station, it is operated by London General.
History
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On 24 April 1993, route 19 became the first Routemaster operated service to be awarded to a company that was not a subsidiary of London Buses Limited following the route being awarded to Kentish Bus after a competitive tender. Kentish Bus painted their Routemasters in a cream and maroon livery with route branding. Following nearly five years with Kentish Bus, operation transferred to Arriva London South in January 1998, with the Sunday service operated by sister Arriva company Grey-Green, Stamford Hill. A departure from the cream and maroon livery saw a return to the traditional London Bus red to comply with a contractual requirement for London buses to be 80% red.[1]
A little over a year later, and after a period of 14 years, the Sunday allocation reverted to crew operation using Routemasters from Battersea. The Brixton allocation was retained for some early and late journeys run off the N19. In August 2002, in preparation for the introduction London congestion charge, the service was increased from 18 Routemasters to 26. The extra buses were released from route 13.[1]
On 2 April 2005 the route was converted to one man operation with 28 new Wright Pulsar Gemini bodied DAF DB250LFs.[1][2][3][4]
Upon being re-tendered, route 19 passed to London General’s Stockwell garage on 31 March 2012 with new Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B5LHs and B9TLs.[5]
On 28 March 2015, part of the route's allocation will be transferred to Northumberland Park (NP). Route 19 is one of the routes that will be used to test automatic speed-limiting technology, beginning in July 2015.[6][7][8]
Culture
Route 19 has been mentioned at various points in popular culture. The 1978 Dire Straits song "Wild West End" (about the London area of the same name) contains the line "And my conductress on the number 19...". The route is also referenced in the first line of "Rudie Can't Fail" by The Clash. In November 2007, the route was featured in Vogue as "one of the 14 most stylish locations in Britain" [9]
Current route
Route 19 operates via these primary locations:[10]
- Battersea Bridge South Side, Howie Street
- Kings Road
- Sloane Square station
- Knightsbridge station
- Piccadilly Circus station
- Haymarket
- Vernon Place for Holborn station
- Angel station
- Islington High Street
- Highbury & Islington station
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- Finsbury Park bus station
References
- 1 2 3 Blacker, Ken (2007). Routemaster: 1970–2005 2 (2nd ed.). Harrow Weald: Capital Transport. pp. 119, 120, 142, 165, 173. ISBN 978-1-85414-303-7.
- ↑ Team 19 Relegated London Bus Routes 1 April 2005
- ↑ Millar, Alan (May 2005). "STL rekindles memories as more Routemasters retire". Buses (Ian Allan Publishing) (602): 12.
- ↑ Stewart, David (2006). London’s Last Routemasters. Harrow Weald: Capital Transport. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-85414-295-5.
- ↑ New routes gained following tender successes Bus Talk (Go-Ahead London) issue 10 August 2011
- ↑ "London buses to test automatic speed-limiting technology". BBC News. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- ↑ Pultarova, Tereza (26 June 2015). "Automatic speed-limit technology tested on London buses". Engineering and Technology Magazine. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- ↑ Williams, David (26 June 2015). "London's buses to be fitted with high tech kit that stops them from breaking speed limits". Evening Standard. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- ↑ This Is London, No19: London's glamour bus
- ↑ Route 19 Map Transport for London
External links
Media related to London Buses route 19 at Wikimedia Commons- Timetable