London Buses route 111

London Buses route 111 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Heathrow Airport Central bus station and Kingston, it is operated by London United.

History

Route 111 started on 16 February 1944, as part of a restructuring and of routes 110, 110A and 110B. It ran from Hounslow Garage via High Street, Bath Road, Hounslow West, Vicarage Farm Road, New Heston Road, Heston, Heston Road, Lampton, Kingsley Road, Hounslow Garage, Hanworth Road, and Hounslow Road, to Hanworth Brown Bear. On Sundays it continued via Twickenham Road, Staines Road, King Street, Twickenham, Richmond Road, Richmond, Lower Richmond Road, Clifford Avenue, Burlington Lane, Chiswick, and King Street to Hammersmith Brook Green. The route was operated by ST buses from Hounslow Garage. The circular section via Heston was shown in red on roadside timetables.

On 30 April 1947 the extension from Hanworth to Hammersmith was introduced on Saturday afternoons and evenings, and STs from Mortlake Garage started to operate some of the weekend duties. From 26 October 1949 the STs were replaced by Regent III RTs from Hounslow Garage, and also Mortlake Garage at weekends. RTL buses from Riverside Garage replaced the Mortlake allocation on Saturdays from 3 May 1950.

On 27 June 1951, the weekend section between Richmond Sandycombe Road and Hammersmith was withdrawn, being replaced by an extension of route 71, and the Mortlake and Riverside allocations were replaced by RTs from Twickenham Garage. On 24 February 1952, the route was cut back to terminate at Twickenham station on Sundays. On 7 October 1953 it was further cut back on Sundays to terminate at Hanworth and the Sunday allocation from Twickenham was withdrawn. On 19 May 1954 the Sunday service was re-extended to Twickenham and some Twickenham Garage RTs were allocated. Both these changes were reversed on 6 October 1954.

On 12 October 1955, the part of the circular section from Hounslow to Heston via Hounslow West was withdrawn and replaced by new route 232. Route 111 was extended from Heston to London Airport Central via Cranford. On 2 May 1956, the section between London Airport Central and Cranford Queen's Head was withdrawn on Monday to Fridays, except peak hours. On 17 October 1956, the Sunday service was also cut back at Cranford, while the Saturday service was similarly truncated on 28 July 1957.

On 11 January 1958, the Saturday evening service between Hanworth and Richmond was withdrawn. The Saturday afternoon extension to Richmond was cut back to Twickenham Station on 23 July 1958, the Twickenham allocation was withdrawn, and the Saturday and Sunday service was extended in Cranford from the Queen's Head to the Berkeley Arms. From 12 October 1960 the remaining journeys between London Airport Central and Cranford were withdrawn, and the Cranford terminus on Monday to Friday journeys was changed to the Berkeley Arms. The stand at the Queen's Head was on the pub car park and it had once been the western terminus of route 91 and some journeys from Hounslow on route 81 had terminated there. At the Berkeley Arms buses went via High Street and Bath Road to a stand in the Avenue.

On 8 May 1963 the Saturday journeys between Hanworth and Twickenham were withdrawn. Route 111 then ran between Hanworth and Cranford every day.

On 1 July 1964, route 111 was extended from Hanworth to Hampton station on weekday daytimes and Saturdays, and on to Kingston via Hampton Court (Saturday shopping hours), At the same time the route was withdrawn between Hounslow and Cranford, except during Monday to Friday peaks.

The Sunday service was withdrawn on 23 January 1966. On 21 February 1966, the weekday evening service was extended to Cranford, but this was reversed on 7 September 1968.

Route 111 was converted to driver-only single-deck operation with AEC Swifts on 23 August 1969. It initially operated only between Cranford (weekday peaks and Sundays) or Hounslow Garage (weekday off-peaks and Saturdays) and Hanworth. At the same time a self-service system was introduced on routes 110 and 111, with passengers buying tickets from a machine.^[1] The on-board ticket machines were unreliable and the buses were withdrawn on 30 January 1971 and replaced with conventional driver-only operation. At the same time the Monday to Friday daytime service was reinstated between Hanworth and Hampton Station.

On 19 July 1975, the Saturday evening and weekday service was extended to Cranford, and the Saturday evening and Sunday service was extended to Hampton Station. The AEC Swifts were replaced by Leyland Nationals on 22 August 1976. On 28 January 1978, route 111 was extended from Hounslow to Cranford and from Hampton to Kingston at all times.

On 25 April 1981 the route was extended from Cranford to Heathrow Airport Central. On 7 September 1982 double-deck operation once was reintroduced, using MCW Metrobuses. On 31 August 1996, the Kingston terminus was extended from Wood Street to Cromwell Road.

In 2000, low-floor Alexander ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL double deckers were adopted and Alexander ALX400-bodied Dennis Trident 2s were bought first-hand to increase the frequency.

From 1 December 2007, route 111 was converted into a 24-hour service; before its introduction a number of residents in Hampton complained to the local newspaper and TfL, who named the alternative of more route 481 buses bypassing Hampton to the north-east.^[2] Supporters of the extension in hours of operation included the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.^[3]

Upon being re-tendered, the route was retained by London United with a contract commencing on 1 May 2010 with new Scania OmniCitys. Weekday peak hours service increased to every 8–9 minutes.^[4]

The route has been operated from Hounslow Garage for over seventy years, with other garages being involved only at weekends between 1947 and 1958.

Current route

Transdev London Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TL in Kingston on Thames in December 2008

• Heathrow Airport Central bus station
• Harlington Corner Bath Road hotels
• Cranford
• Heston
• Lampton Corner
• Hounslow East station
• Hounslow bus station
• Hanworth
• Hampton station
• Hampton Thames Street
• Hampton Court Palace
• Kingston Wood Street
• Kingston Cromwell Road Bus Station for Kingston station

References

External links

• Media related to London Buses route 111 at Wikimedia Commons
• London Bus Routes gallery
• Timetable