London Buses route 210
Encyclopedia
London Buses route 210 is a Transport for London
Transport for London
Transport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...

 contracted bus route in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. This service is currently contracted to Metroline
Metroline
Metroline, owned by ComfortDelGro Corporation of Singapore, is one of many companies operating bus services in London under the management of London Buses.-Company history:...

.

History

The 210 was introduced on 3 October 1934 as a re-numbering of route 110
London Buses route 110
London Buses route 110 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to London United.-History:...

 in the London Transport re-numbering scheme introduced on that day. It ran daily between Finsbury Park (Wells Terrace) and Golders Green Station
Golders Green tube station
Golders Green tube station is a London Underground station in Golders Green, north London. The station is on the Edgware branch of the Northern Line between Hampstead and Brent Cross...

 via Hornsey Rise, Archway
Archway tube station
Archway tube station is a London Underground station in north London, underneath the Archway Tower, at the intersection of Holloway Road, Highgate Hill and Junction Road in the area known as Archway....

, Highgate Hill, Highgate
Highgate
Highgate is an area of North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath.Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has an active conservation body, the Highgate Society, to protect its character....

 and Hampstead Heath
Hampstead Heath
Hampstead Heath is a large, ancient London park, covering . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London clay...

.

The 210 was a very stable operation and saw changes only rarely.

The 1960s were very turbulent times for London's buses and there was a continual search for economies. One such economy occurred on 3 March 1963 when the 210 was extended on Sundays only to Leyton Green
Leyton
Leyton is an area of north-east London and part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, located north east of Charing Cross. It borders Walthamstow and Leytonstone; Stratford in Newham; and Homerton and Lower Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney....

 via Highbury Barn
Highbury
- Early Highbury :The area now known as Islington was part of the larger manor of Tolentone, which is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Tolentone was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Road. The manor house was situated by what is now...

, Dalston
Dalston
Dalston is a district of north-east London, England, located in the London Borough of Hackney. It is situated northeast of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...

, Hackney Wick
Hackney Wick
Hackney Wick is an area straddling the boundary between the London Borough of Hackney and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in east London. It is an inner-city development situated 5 miles northeast of Charing Cross...

 and Leytonstone Station
Leytonstone tube station
Leytonstone tube station is on the Central Line of the London Underground, on the boundary of Zones 3 and 4. Towards London the next station is Leyton, while going east from Leytonstone, the line divides into two branches...

 to cover for route 236
London Buses route 236
London Buses route 236 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. The service is currently contracted to First Capital.-History:...

 which was withdrawn on that day.

On 24 January 1970 the route was converted to one-person operation using the same "RF-Type" vehicles that had previously been used as crew operated vehicles. At the same time, the route was cut back from Leyton to Finsbury Park, with the 236 being re-introduced on Sundays to cover. It was decided that the 210 as a one-person operated route wouldn't be able to cope with the large influx of passengers carried on Sundays to Hampstead Heath, so the crew-operated 236 was further extended on Sundays to Golders Green duplicating the 210. This situation continued until the 17 April 1971 when the larger SMS-Type vehicles were introduced on the route, allowing the Sunday 236 extension to Golders Green be withdrawn at the same time.

The 210 was extended on Mondays to Saturdays (Evenings Excepted) from Golders Green to Brent Cross Shopping Centre on its opening on 31 January 1976, but in the first few weeks after the extension, the service was disrupted by disgruntled residents in the Brent area. The problems were eventually resolved and Brent Cross Shopping Centre has remained the terminus ever since.

As from 19 May 1996 the Sunday service was also extended (Evenings Excepted) to Brent Cross Shopping Centre with the complete service being extended there as from 30 November 2002.

Since the privatisation of London Buses, the 210 has been operated by different companies. As from 22 September 1990 it was operated by Grey Green (now Arriva London
Arriva London
Arriva London is a division of Arriva which operates bus services in London, UK. It is made up of many previous bus operators including previously independent Grey Green...

) from the Stamford Hill bus garage, using Volvo/East Lancs single deckers with grey, green and orange livery; although the occasional double decker did appear. This has been known to cause problems at the Finsbury Park terminus where there is a low bridge, causing at least one of Grey Green's double deckers to be "deroofed".

On 26 September 1998, the 210's allocation was transferred to F E Thorpe operating from the Wembley bus garage, using low-floor Dennis Dart
Dennis Dart
The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined midibus built by Dennis in the United Kingdom. More than 11,000 were built during 18 years of production....

s with Thorpe's yellow and red livery. Later the allocation was moved to the new West Perivale garage near Perivale Station.

Metroline bought Thorpes in 2004, taking over its fleet of buses, all of which were re-painted in Metroline's red and blue livery. As from January 2007, the last traces of the Thorpes name were removed from the vehicles.

Route 210 was converted to double-deck operation on 16th February 2008, using short wheelbase TAs made spare from 182.

Route 210's allocation was moved from Perivale West to Cricklewood on 7th March 2009.

On 25th September 2010, Route 210's contract was retained by Metroline, and new Alexander Dennis Enviro400 where ordered.

Current route

  • Brent Cross Shopping Centre Bus Station
  • Brent Cross Station
    Brent Cross tube station
    Brent Cross tube station is a London Underground station located on Highfield Avenue in the Golders Green area of north west London. The station is a Grade II listed building....

  • Golders Green Station
    Golders Green tube station
    Golders Green tube station is a London Underground station in Golders Green, north London. The station is on the Edgware branch of the Northern Line between Hampstead and Brent Cross...

  • Kenwood
  • Highgate Village
  • Archway Station
    Archway tube station
    Archway tube station is a London Underground station in north London, underneath the Archway Tower, at the intersection of Holloway Road, Highgate Hill and Junction Road in the area known as Archway....

  • Hornsey Rise
  • Stroud Green
  • Finsbury Park Station
    Finsbury Park station
    Finsbury Park Station is a busy transport interchange in North London. The interchange consists of an interconnected National Rail station, London Underground station and two bus stations. The main entrances are by the eastern bus station on Station Place...

     Clifton Terrace


Previous route 210s in London

The route number 210 had been used once prior to its current use.
  • Between 1930 - 1931 a Greenford (Hare and Hounds)
    Greenford
    Greenford is a large suburb in the London Borough of Ealing in west London, UK. It was historically an ancient parish in the former county of Middlesex. The most prominent landmarks in the suburb are the A40, a major dual-carriageway; Horsenden Hill, above sea level; the small Parish Church of...

      Ealing Broadway via Uxbridge Road
    Uxbridge Road
    Uxbridge Road is the name of the A4020 road in London. It starts at Shepherd's Bush Green and goes west towards Uxbridge. It passes through Acton, Ealing Broadway and Hanwell....

     Independent route 210 operated by Royal Highlander
    Royal Highlander
    The Royal Highlander was a named passenger train travelling between London, England and Inverness, Scotland....

    .


There was also in London :-
  • In the 1920s an Independent Route 210, authorised but never operated between Winchmore Hill
    Winchmore Hill
    Winchmore Hill is a district in the Borough of Enfield, North London, in the N21 postal district.- Location :With the Winchmore Hill conservation area as a focal point, Winchmore Hill is a ward of Enfield borough, bounded on the east by Green Lanes , Barrowell Green, Firs Lane and Fords Grove, and...

      and Hammersmith Broadway
    Hammersmith
    Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...

    .

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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