London Buses route 4

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4
Metroline route 4.jpg
Overview
Operator Metroline
Garage Holloway (HT)[citation needed]
Vehicle Alexander Dennis Enviro400 10.1m
Volvo B7TL 10.6m / Plaxton President[citation needed]
Peak vehicle requirement 18[citation needed]
Route
Start Archway station
Via Holloway
Finsbury Park
Islington
St Paul's Cathedral
End Waterloo station
Length 8.6 miles (13.8 km)
Service
Level Daily[citation needed]
Frequency 10-20 minutes[citation needed]
Journey time 43-79 minutes[citation needed]
Operates 05:10 until 01:24[citation needed]

London Buses route 4 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Archway and Waterloo stations, it is operated by Metroline.

History

The history of the current route 4 dates back to 26 August 1912, when a route 4 was introduced between Finsbury Park station and Elephant & Castle via Highbury, St Paul's Cathedral and Blackfriars Bridge.[1] This was the fourth time the route number 4 had been carried by a motorbus route.

At the end of World War I, the route had settled down to operate between Finsbury Park and Bermondsey (Queen Charlotte), to where it had been extended on 27 January 1913. During the 1920s, route 4 was further extended from Bermondsey to Greenwich (Church Street), but this did not last and the southern terminus of the route had reverted to Bermondsey by the early 1930s. Between 1924 and 1934, route numbers 4A and 4B were used for short workings of the full route. On 29 October 1941 a Monday to Saturday route 4A was introduced between Finsbury Park and Camberwell Green.

East and south east London had seen severe bombing during 1940 and 1941. This had led to decline in demand for buses in that area. London Transport responded by withdrawing the 4 after service on 27 October 1942. The 4A suffixed route worked on its own until 11 October 1950, when a route 4 was re-introduced between Finsbury Park and Bermondsey, from which point it was extended to Surrey Docks in 1951.

The "Busman's Strike of 1958" caused the loss of very large numbers of passengers on London's buses. London Transport reacted to the resulting financial losses by withdrawing many routes. The 4A was one, being withdrawn on 19 August 1958.[2]

The replacement of London trolleybuses began in 1959. On 8 November 1961 a new route 4A was introduced on Monday to Friday between Finsbury Park and Waterloo station. It covered sections of two other withdrawn routes, the 48 and 179. By the mid-1960s, the 4 and 4A together provided a more frequent service than was needed on most sections. The 4 was gradually reduced, being totally withdrawn on 31 December 1966.[1]

On 4 September 1971, the 4 was re-instated, replacing the 4A as well as being further extended to Tufnell Park. On 31 January 1981, it was further extended from Tufnell Park to Archway.[3]

On 25 September 1993, the contract for route 4 was won by London Suburban Bus, who operated the route with Leyland Titans.[4]

On 27 April 1995, route 4 was included in the sale of London Suburban Bus to Metroline[4] and in March 2000 to DelGro Corporation.[5]

New Plaxton President bodied Dennis Tridents were introduced in 2001.[6]

On 29 September 2012, route 4 was retained by Metroline.

Current route

Route 4 operates via these primary locations:[7]

Previous route 4s in London

The route number 4 had been used three times prior to its current use.

There were also in London :

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 London Transport Central Area Routes 4-6
  2. Route 4A 1950-1958 Buses at Work Archived July 27, 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Route 4 Buses at Work Archived July 27, 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  4. 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. History Metroline
  6. Transport for London busworld.co.uk Archived November 29, 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Route 4 Map Transport for London

External links

  • Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons