London Buses route 105

105
Overview
Operator	Metroline
Garage	Perivale West (PA)
Vehicle	Volvo B9TL 10.4m / Wright Eclipse Gemini 2
Peak vehicle requirement	16
Night-time	24-hour service
Route
Start	Heathrow Airport Central
Via	A4 (Bath Road) Cranford Southall Dormers Wells
End	Greenford station
Length	10 miles (16 km)
Service
Level	Daily
Frequency	10-15 minutes
Journey time	41-80 minutes
Operates	24-hour service

London Buses route 105 is contracted by Transport for London in London, England. Running between Heathrow Airport Central bus station and Greenford station and currently operated by Metroline.

History

Route 105 commenced operation on 4 March 1936 between Shepherd's Bush and Hounslow Heath (The Hussar) via Wood Lane, East Acton, Western Avenue, Park Royal, Perivale, Greenford, Southall, Heston and Hounslow Central. It replaced route 93 between Shepherds Bush and Southall as well as route 120 between Southall and Hounslow.

By 1949, the section between Heston and Hounslow had been replaced by a shorter western conclusion at Hayes & Harlington railway station.

In 1959, route 105 was extended from Hayes station to Hayes North. In 1965 this spur was deemed redundant by new regular route 195. In September 1968, however, this route was withdrawn and route 105 replaced it, thus gaining a further extension to Charville Lane Estate, Hayes. Then, in December 1971, route 195 was re-introduced and route 105 was curtailed to Southall.

In 1973, route 105 was extended from Southall to Heathrow Airport Central bus station, replacing route 83. When Terminal 4 opened in 1986, the route was briefly extended to there for three years. Also in 1986 Southall (HW) garage, from which the 105 had largely operated since its introduction, closed, and the route's allocation of buses - at the time consisting of MCW Metrobuses - was transferred to nearby Hanwell (HL) garage.

In 1992, by which time route 105 had come under the operation of the London Buses subsidiary CentreWest, the route was split: the Shepherd's Bush to Southall section renumbered as route 95; route 105 now terminated at Greenford. The following year, Hanwell garage also closed; the allocation moved to Alperton garage. In March 1995, the route was converted to minibus operation using Alexander-bodied Mercedes-Benz 811Ds, though Metrobuses continued to appear occasionally.

In April 1996, the now-privatised CentreWest lost route 105 upon re-tender to London & Country, who ordered a dozen Plaxton Pointer-bodied Dennis Dart SLFs - among the first in London - for the route. Just seven months later, however, London & Country surrendered the contract due to difficulties, and CentreWest duly regained it, resuming the Alperton base, taking the London & Country Dennis Darts on loan.

Also in 1996, CentreWest took over Southall-based London Buslines, and when both companies were acquired by FirstGroup the following year, the 105 was given to the latter to operate. The loaned Dennis Dart SLFs were replaced by long Marshall Capital-bodied examples in yellow and brown skirt livery. However, First London then decided to wind down the London Buslines operation, and on 30 June 2001, the 105 was transferred back to CentreWest at Greenford, and converted back to double-deck operation using Plaxton President-bodied Dennis Trident 2s.

Route 105 became a 24-hour service in April 2004. Upon being re-tendered, on 2 July 2011 it passed to Metroline with Wright Eclipse Gemini 2-bodied Volvo B9TLs and was diverted between Harlington Corner and Heathrow Central via route 111, instead of via the Compass Centre.

Landmarks

Within a few tens of metres the route serves most Heathrow Airport Hotels, often having substantial leisure amenities on the Bath Road namely the Radisson Blu, Sheraton Skyline, Holiday Inn Heathrow, Hotel Ibis, Premier Inn ('Terminal 5') and Park Inn by Radisson. The route enables staff and frugal customers to access these hotels.

Current route

• Heathrow Airport Central bus station
• Bath Road (e.g. Blunts Avenue, Sipson Harlington Corner, Harlington, West Cranford)
• Cranford
• Norwood Green, Southall
• Southall station
• Dormers Wells
• Greenford Broadway
• Greenford station

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons