London Buses route 42

42
Overview
Operator Go-Ahead London
Garage Camberwell (Q)
Vehicle Scania N94UB 10.7m East Lancs Myllennium
Peak vehicle requirement 11
Nighttime No night service
Route
Start Liverpool Street Station
Via Aldgate
Bricklayers Arms
Camberwell Green
End Denmark Hill
Length 6 miles (9 km)
Service
Level Daily
Frequency About every 10 minutes
Journey time 30-48 minutes
Operates 5:00am until 12:30am
Transport for London • Performance
London Transport portal

London Buses route 42 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Go-Ahead London.

Contents

History

Route 42 commenced operation on 25 July 1912 as a daily route between Finsbury Park Station and Clapton Pond via Seven Sisters Road, Amhurst Park and Upper Clapton Road. A month later, on 26 August 1912, it was extended from Clapton to Tower of London via Hackney, Whitechapel Road, Aldgate and Minories. From 14 April 1913 it was extended on Mondays to Saturdays from Tower of London to Camberwell Green via Tower Bridge, Old Kent Road and Albany Road.[1] A month later the 42 was also extended on Sundays to Camberwell. The next change in spring 1923, when the route was extended on Saturdays and Sundays from Camberwell Green to Clapham Common (Old Town) via Coldharbour Lane and Acre Lane.

On 1 December 1924 a new system of route numbering on London Buses came into force under The London Traffic Act of 1924. The 42 remained unchanged, but short working had suffixes added, with the plain route number being only used for journeys for the whole length of the route. The main Monday to Friday route became the 42A, with the 42B and 42C working short journeys from Finsbury Park to Hackney and Aldgate. In June 1925 short routes routes 42D (Hackney Station - Aldgate) and 42E (Finsbury Park - Hackney Station) were introduced. The 42D changed in late 1925 to run Hackney Station - Camberwell Green.

This situation remained until 3 October 1934, when the newly constituted London Passenger Transport Board instituted its own numbering system, in which all workings again carried just the plain 42 route number. On 16 October 1938, Tram routes 49, 49A, 59 and 79 were replaced by trolleybuses. As part of this scheme, the 42 was withdrawn on Sundays, and axed between Stamford Hill and Finsbury Park, being re-routed to Turnpike Lane Station via Seven Sisters Corner to replace route 76A. A daily route 42A was also introduced, running between Finsbury Park Station and Camberwell Green with an extension to Clapham Common on Saturdays. From 5 February 1939, the 42 was re-introduced on Sundays between Tottenham Garage and Camberwell Green. The 42A was withdrawn and the Saturday extension to Clapham Common added to the 42. As a wartime economy measure, the 42 was withdrawn north of Aldgate and south of Camberwell Green on 22 November 1939 to become a daily Aldgate - Camberwell Green route.

From 18 May 1952, the 42 was extended on Sundays from Camberwell Green to Norwood Garage via Loughborough Junction and Herne Hill, replacing route 48. On 10 October 1954, the 42 was withdrawn Sundays between Herne Hill and Norwood Garage. On 19 February 1955 extended on Saturdays between Camberwell and Norwood Garage, again replacing the 48. This extension was cut back to Herne Hill from 20 October 1956. On 20 August 1958, in the service cuts brought about by the Busman's Strike of 1958, the 48 was completely withdrawn, with the 42 now running daily Aldgate - Camberwell Green with a Monday to Saturday extension to Herne Hill, albeit in peak hours only on Mondays to Fridays.[2]

On 27 January 1965 the route was withdrawn on Saturdays between Camberwell Green and Herne Hill; the Monday to Friday service to Herne Hill was withdrawn on 2 January 1967. As from 24 January 1970, the 42 was converted to one-person operation. The route was reduced from a daily allocation of eight vehicles at the beginning of 1970 to only three by 1985, when the evening service was also withdrawn.[2] The operation of the route was lost by London Buses to London Country South East in 1987.[3]

On 11 June 1994 the route was extended from Aldgate to terminate at Liverpool Street Station, and the evening service was restored from 4 May 1996. As from 19 April 1997, the route was extended from Camberwell Green to Denmark Hill (Red Post Hill).[2] In 2009 the route gained five new Alexander Dennis Enviro200 diesel-electric hybrid single-deckers.[4]

In March 2009 a petition was launched to extend the route within Dulwich to serve a local supermarket.[5] On 3 October 2009, East Thames Buses was taken over by Go-Ahead London.[6] Route 42 is now operated by Go-Ahead London, using the existing buses, on a 5 year contract.

On 4 February 2010, a bus operating route 42 struck and killed a 65-year-old man after mounting a pavement near Burgess Park.[7]

Current route

[8]

Previous route 42s in London

This has been the only route to carry the number 42 on a motor-bus route in London.

There were also in London:

See also

References

  1. ^ David A. Ruddom, Motor omnibus routes in London: November 1908 to December 1912, 2, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nVaiQwAACAAJ 
  2. ^ a b c Route 42 busesatwork.co.uk
  3. ^ McLachlan, Tom (1995). London Buses 1985-1995: Managing The Change. Venture Publications. pp. 98–99. ISBN 1898432740. 
  4. ^ New hybrid buses unveil;ed for London fleet | Transport for London
  5. ^ Southwark News - Southwark - 'News' backs 42 bus campaign
  6. ^ London's only publicly owned bus operator sold - MayorWatch
  7. ^ South London Press Today | News | Bus Kills Pedestrian On Walworth Pavement | 2010
  8. ^ London Bus Routes - 42 timetable

External links
List of bus routes in London
London Transport portal