Here's something different for you. A route history blog. We are focusing on a East London route today, the 86 bus route.
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| Stagecoach London 82045 (LV73FGM) is seen at Goodmayes Tesco on route 86 towards Romford Station. By this time the route fully converted to electric buses. Taken Sunday 9th of June. Bus type seen: Wrightbus Streetdeck Electroliner (Electric bus) Taken during: June 2024 |
The London Bus Route 86 is a 10 mile route going from Romford Station to Stratford. It is a very busy route, as it parallels the Elizabeth Line between Romford and Stratford. The destinations it passes through along the way are; Chadwell Heath, Goodmayes, Seven Kings, Ilford, Manor Park and Forest Gate. From Monday to Saturdays it runs every 6 minutes, whereas on Sunday it increases to 8-9 minutes. During the evenings the frequency decreases to 10 minutes. With a peak vehicle requirement (PVR) of 30 (the amount of vehicles allocated to a route basically), the route can take between 42-78 minutes to do end to end - depending on the time of day and when you do it.
The route has been with Stagecoach since it was created so no operator changes here.
Route History
This route's history picks up on the 19th of August 1958, where it was renumbered from route 86A running between Limehouse and Upminster Park Estate. In 1963, the route was cut between Upminster Park Estate and Upminster. In 1966, it gained a Sunday extension back to Upminster Park Estate. 4 years later, in 1970 the route was withdrawn between Romford and Upminster, now being a Limehouse to Romford Station route. In 1982, the route was withdrawn between Stratford and Limehouse, this section replaced by route 225 (has no relation to today's route 225 between Canada Water and Hither Green) that later became altered and cut down over the years, to become today's route 25 between City Thameslink and Ilford. As for the route 86, it still had Monday to Friday peak extension to Bow Church. This didn't last long though, in 1984 the route was extended from Bow to Limehouse again, diverting the route 225 from Bow to Aldgate. During October 1984, the route was withdrawn between Stratford and Limehouse, only going there on Sundays and the Monday to Friday peak extension went as far as Bromley By Bow, extending to Mile End to 1985. Essentially, it formed to be the Romford Station to Stratford route - this being made permanent in 1991, the section between Stratford and Limehouse was cut, remaining the same route as it is today.
Garage History
In 1959, it initially was run by 4 garages; Forest Gate (G), Romford (NS), Hornchurch (RD) and Upton Park (U). In 1960, Forest Gate (G) garage was closed. In 1963, the allocation from Romford (NS) garage transferred to Seven Kings (AP) garage. 1968 saw the allocation withdrawn, only for it to reappear again in 1969. In 1970, the Hornchurch (RD) allocation was dropped, leaving Upton Park (U) and Seven Kings (AP) garages that were running the route at the time. 1982 saw the Upton Park (U) allocation being dropped, it was solely run by Seven Kings (AP) until 1983 when West Ham (WH) joined in with it's allocation.
1985 saw the West Ham (WH) allocation withdrawn, Seven Kings (AP) now running the route on it's own. In 1993, Seven Kings (AP) garage closed, the allocation transferring to Romford (NS) garage. In 1997, Bow (BW) garage introduced their allocation. 2001 saw the Bow (BW) allocation ceasing, replaced by Stratford (SD) garage. In 2005, the Romford (NS) allocation was withdrawn, transferring permanently to Stratford (SD). 2008 saw the closure of Stratford (SD) garage, the allocation moving to West Ham (WH). In 2009, the allocation transferred to Romford (NS) garage where it has stayed since, although from 2013 there was a Monday to Friday morning journeys that ran out of West Ham (WH) garage, the buses would go onto route 158 (Stratford to Chingford Mount) this happened until 2019 when the route transferred to Arriva London, however this continued onto one of the school routes (the 678) the West Ham (WH) garage allocation finally ceasing in 2022 when route 678 transferred to Tower Transit (it's East London's operation taken over by Stagecoach London again later that year, due to Tower Transit selling).
Allocation History
Between 1959 and 1976, the route was allocated double deck AEC Regent III RTs. In 1976, the allocation changed to AEC Routemaster RMs. In 1984, "T" class Leyland Titans were introduced and formed an allocation alongside the RMs. The route converted to one person operation with the Titans in 1985, these replaced the RMs. The Titans were replaced in 1997 by "VN" class Volvo Olympians. In 2001, the Olympians were replaced by new "TA" class Dennis Trident ALX400s. It managed to keep these until 2016. Upon contract renewal in 2016, Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s from 2011 were introduced onto the route. ALX400s carried on making appearances until the final 3 ALX400s for the route ceased 2019, their withdrawal from operation.
1959 - 1976 (AEC Regent III RTs allocation)
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| Preserved London Transport RT4779 (OLD 566) is seen here in Crawley, on the Historic Commercial Vehicle Society run from London to Brighton in 2022. Bus type seen: AEC Regent III (RT) (diesel bus) Taken during: May 2022 Photo taken by: nigelmenzies |
1976 - 1985 (AEC Routemaster RMs allocation)
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| London Transport RML2272 (CUV272C) is seen here at Romford Market on route 86 towards Limehouse. Bus type seen: AEC Routemaster (I know, this is the long version (RML instead of RM), yes, but it's still a Routemaster, ok) (diesel bus) Taken during: May 1982 Photo taken by: Clive A Brown |
1984* - 1997 (Leyland Titans allocation *started in 1984 alongside the RMs but replaced the RMs in 1985.)
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| East London T215 (CUL 215V) is seen at Romford Station approaching the end of it's journey. Bus type seen: Leyland Titan (Ts) (diesel bus) Taken during: July 1990 Photo taken by: Clive A Brown |
1997 - 2001 (Volvo Olympian VN allocation)
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| Stagecoach 340 (N340HGK) is seen at Regent Street on route 53 towards Plumstead Station. Bus type seen: Volvo Olympian (diesel bus) Taken during: July 1997 Photo taken by: Can Pac Swire |
2001 - 2016* *but the last ones went up to 2019 (Dennis Trident ALX400s)
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| Stagecoach London 17144 (V144MEV) is seen departing Stratford Bus Station on a start of it's journey towards Romford Station. These buses left around 2010 onwards. Bus type seen: Dennis Trident Alexander ALX400 (diesel bus) Taken during: October 2004 Photo taken by Clive A Brown |
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| Stagecoach London 17766 (LX03BVB) is seen departing Stratford Bus Station heading to the stand point. These buses in particular lasted until 2019. Bus type seen: Dennis Trident Alexander ALX400 (diesel bus) Taken during: August 2012 Photo taken by Clive A Brown |
Present Day
The previous allocation for the route was 2011-plate Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s, with strays from 2012 LX12-plate Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s and 2015/2016 YY15/SN16-plate Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 MMCs. The route in recent times has come another contract renewal, the allocation (like a lot of routes nowadays in London) converted to Zero Emission buses. The contract renewal was during July 2023, but the buses were delivered late and did not arrive until Autumn/Winter later that year, due to the charging infrastructure having to be set up at North Street (NS) garage, as this technology was new for them. Today the route is mainly allocated Wrightbus Streetdeck Electroliners (these are electric buses), having been retained for the next 7 years. In order to allocate them, a part allocation at Lea Interchange (LI) garage was introduced in 2024.
Here are the fleet numbers and registrations for both:
Previous allocation over the past 7 years:
19735 - LX11BAA 19804 - LX11BJJ 19823 - LX11BKY
19736 - LX11BAO 19805 - LX11BJK 19824 - LX11BKZ
19737 - LX11BAU 19806 - LX11BJO 19825 - LX11BLF
19738 - LX11BAV 19807 - LX11BJU 19826 - LX11BLJ
19739 - LX11BBE 19808 - LX11BJV 19827 - LX11BLK
19740 - LX11BBF 19809 - LX11BJY 19834 - LX11BMY
19741 - LX11BBJ 19810 - LX11BJZ
19748 - LX11BCF 19811 - LX11BKA
19749 - LX11BCK 19812 - LX11BKD
19750 - LX11BCO 19813 - LX11BKE
19751 - LX11BCU 19814 - LX11BKF
19752 - LX11BCV 19815 - LX11BKG
19753 - LX11BCY 19816 - LX11BKJ
19754 - LX11BCZ 19817 - LX11BKK
19768 - LX11BFJ 19818 - LX11BKL
19769 - LX11BFK 19819 - LX11BKN
19770 - LX11BFL 19820 - LX11BKO
19771 - LX11BFM 19821 - LX11BKU
19772 - LX11BFN 19822 - LX11BKV
Current allocation:
82015 - LV73FFA 82029 - LV73FFR 82043 - LV73FGJ
82016 - LV73FFB 82030 - LV73FFS 82044 - LV73FGK
82017 - LV73FFC 82031 - LV73FFT 82045 - LV73FGM
82018 - LV73FFD 82032 - LV73FFU 82046 - LV73FGN
82019 - LV73FFE 82033 - LV73FFW 82047 - LV73FGO
82020 - LV73FFG 82034 - LV73FFX 82048 - LV73FGP
82021 - LV73FFH 82035 - LV73FFY
82022 - LV73FFJ 82036 - LV73FFX
82023 - LV73FFK 82037 - LV73FGA
82024 - LV73FFL 82038 - LV73FGC
82025 - LV73FFM 82039 - LV73FGD
82026 - LV73FFN 82040 - LV73FGE
82027 - LV73FFO 82041 - LV73FGF
82028 - LV73FFP 82042 - LV73FGG
To finish off here is a picture of the old and new;
Old allocation
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| Stagecoach London 19822 (LX11BKV) is seen at Stratford Bus Station finishing a journey from Romford Station. Bus type seen: Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 (diesel bus) Taken during: September 2021 Photo taken by: Matt Taylor |
New allocation
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| Stagecoach London 82033 (LV73FFW) is seen around Goodmayes on route 86 heading towards Romford Station. Bus type seen: Wrightbus Streetdeck Electroliner (Electric bus) Taken during: July 2024 |
If you made it to this point, thanks a lot for reading this post. If you're tired, I don't blame you.
Until the next one, take care and happy riding!
