London Buses route 52 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Willesden bus garage and Victoria bus station, it is operated by Metroline.
| 52 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Operator | Metroline |
| Garage | Willesden |
| Vehicle | Volvo B5LH Wright Gemini 3 |
| Peak vehicle requirement | Day: 16 Night: 3 |
| Night-time | 24-hour service |
| Route | |
| Start | Victoria bus station |
| Via | Hyde Park Corner Knightsbridge Kensington Palace Notting Hill Ladbroke Grove Kensal Rise |
| End | Willesden bus garage |
| Length | 7 miles (11 km) |
| Service | |
| Level | 24-hour service |
| Frequency | About every 7-9 minutes |
| Journey time | 35-50 minutes |
| Operates | 24-hour service |
History
editRoute 52 began on 28 March 1923, running from Raynes Park to Ladbroke Grove. The service was changed many times, on 13 Feb 1924 it ran from Wormwood Scrubs to Tooting and later on, on 9 April 1924 the route was revised to run Ladbroke Grove to Victoria. It was extended to Mill Hill in 1932. Later, some services were extended on to Borehamwood on Monday to Saturday peak journeys where it was changed several times: in 1951, it was withdrawn from Warwick Road and Drayton Road to Elstree Way Hotel, but extended back on 3 February 1953, and further extended to Brook Road on 3 February 1954.[1]
Another extension took the route to Rossington Avenue on Sundays from 1956. Seven years later this was extended to include Monday to Friday peak workings.
In February 1966, residents of North Kensington protested when the route was cut. Over 600 signed a petition demanding that the route link Notting Hill with North Kensington. The protest was supported by Leon Britton, who was then the prospective conservative candidate for the area.[2]
In 1967 the Mill Hill terminus was changed from Mill Hill Green Man to the rebuilt Mill Hill Broadway Station. The route was then withdrawn beyond Mill Hill Broadway in 1969, the Borehamwood - Mill Hill section being replaced by route 292. Frequency cuts led to over 2,000 passengers signing a petition for the improvement of route 52 in the same year.[1][3]
In December 1993 the contract to run the route was won by London Coaches, who in July 1994 transferred the route to its Atlas Bus & Coach subsidiary as it had a garage in Willesden, close to the route's terminus.[4] Atlas operated the route with Leyland Titans in a route-specific livery.[5] In November 1994, route 52 was included in the sale of Atlas Bus & Coach to Metroline.[4]
On 8 December 2012, route 52 was retained by Metroline.[6]
On 17 November 2016, 14 people were injured as a bus on route 52 mounted a pavement and crashed into Kensal House on Ladbroke Grove. [7]
Current route
editRoute 52 operates via these primary locations:[8]
References
edit- ^ a b Warren, Kenneth (1986). The Motorbus in Central London. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing. pp. 37–38. ISBN 0-7110-1568-6.
- ^ "North Kensington isolated by axing 52 buses". North Kensington news and West London times. 4 February 1966. p. 1.
- ^ London Transport (Bus Route 52) (Hansard, 25 July 1969)
- ^ a b McLachlan, Tom (1995). London Buses 1985-1995: Managing The Change. Venture Publications. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-898432-74-6.
- ^ McLachlan p.68
- ^ "Route 52/N52 - award announced 26 April 2012". TfL. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- ^ "Several injured as bus hits wall". BBC News. 17 November 2016.
- ^ Route 52 Map Transport for London
External links
editMedia related to London Buses route 52 at Wikimedia Commons
- Timetable