First Bus Essex Unveils Cross-Boundary Extension of Route B1 to Harold Wood Station – Launching Sunday 26 July 2026

Back in May 2026, I published an article making the case for more cross-boundary bus services. I highlighted how areas just outside Greater London suffer from a distinct lack of connectivity, pointing out major gaps like Transport for London's (TfL) route 375 terminating short at Passingford Bridge instead of Ongar, and the missing link between Waltham Abbey and Chingford.

It is incredibly rewarding to see progress being made on this exact issue so quickly.

The case for enhancing cross-boundary bus services for London and the Home Counties to end the postcode lottery

1967 London Transport Board Central Buses Map

This is a follow-up to my article regarding the reinstatement of the London Passenger Transport Area, in which prior to 1970, London Transport served the areas outside the Greater London Council area with green Country Bus services. Then after 1970, they were transferred over to the National Bus Company; these services were fully fragmented after the deregulation of bus services in October 1986. The London Passenger Transport Area also predates the creation of the Greater London Area in 1965.

Why Does London Have No Transport Services on Christmas Day?

Map of bus services in London and South East England during Christmas Day 2024.
Source: BusTimes.org

I’d like to start by wishing my readers and followers a Merry Christmas and sending my best wishes for the winter season.

In this article, I will review the Mayor's Question Time from previous years to explore why there are no transport services in London on Christmas Day.

While certain coach services and various bus services are running across the UK on Christmas Day, London does not have public transport available.

Transport for London launches consultations to restructure bus services in Barnet, Brent, Havering, and Wandsworth

Transport for London (TfL) has launched multiple consultations to restructure bus services in the outer London boroughs.

From TfL press release:

TfL sets out further new proposals for more than 400,000km increase in buses services in outer London

Consultations have been published on proposals to improve buses in Barnet, Brent, Havering and Wandsworth

London Buses follow various cities worldwide on restricting front door boarding during Covid-19 pandemic

It has been a while since I’ve posted a new article on my website so here’s the recent news update for London Buses.

After the tragic deaths of 21 London Transport workers, including 15 bus drivers from the Coronavirus, bus union ‘Unite’ has pressured TfL to restrict boarding to middle doors only to maintain social distancing between drivers and passengers.

The UK government have announced plans today for an all-electric bus town

The government have said that local authorities can apply to become the UK's first all-electric bus town by funding bus companies to enable them to use zero-emission electric buses serving a specific town in Britain.

Extracts from UK government website

Local authorities can now apply to become the UK’s first all-electric bus town, setting the ‘gold-standard’ in environmentally friendly public transport, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced today (6 February 2020).

The real reason why TfL and the Mayor ended the New Routemaster rollout in favour of legacy vehicles containing NRM design cues

First of all, welcome to 2020 and I wish all of my readers a very Happy New Year.

The purpose of this article is to show how the 'London' bus design has evolved from the New Routemaster (NRM) bus to the pure battery-electric and zero-emission Enviro400EV City, jointly manufactured by Alexander Dennis and BYD.

Ten years ago, the New Routemaster design with three-doors and two-staircases was first unveiled back in May 2010 and designed by Heatherwick Studios; the prototypes entered service in February 2012 and the full production of the New Routemaster commenced in September 2012. The original purpose of the New Routemaster project was to reinstate the rear open platform with conductor and the arrangement only served on six routes up until September 2016.

London Bus tender awards for late June 2019

This is a quick news update about London Bus services.

Recently I mentioned that London Bus route 67 converted to New Routemaster operation as part of the Central London bus reshaping plan; the new tender awards have revealed Arriva London lost the route 67 contract to Go-Ahead London General.

Route 67 converts to New Routemaster operation as part of Central London bus route changes

We have recently seen London bus service changes which occurred on 15th June 2019. The changes affected routes 3, 4, 9/N9, 14, 35, 40, 45, 46, 53, 59, 67, 76, 100, 134, 149, 171, 172, 205/N205, 242, 341, 343, 388, 468, 476 and RV1. You can read more on the Central London bus route changes on the TfL website.

A small number of the routes are served with New Routemaster buses and were affected. This has enabled a number of New Routemaster buses to serve another route which is route 67.

Plymouth Citybus launches Contactless payment

As more and more bus companies in Britain are taking on ‘Contactless’ as a way to pay bus fares, Go-Ahead owned Plymouth Citybus has launched contactless payment for their services.

From Route-one

Go-Ahead owned Plymouth Citybus is the latest operator to start accepting contactless payment methods including bPay, Apple Pay, Android Pay, Visa and MasterCard.

Bus feedback trial launched for route 363 and Stratford Bus station

Recently, TfL added an article to their ‘News Articles’ section about London Buses providing feedback machines on buses serving route 363.

From TfL News Articles

During the trial, bus passengers on the 363 bus - which runs from Crystal Palace to Elephant & Castle - will be asked to rate their journey by using a push button.

There will be one unit near the exit of every bus to gather 'in the moment' feedback from passengers.

It is hoped the trial will help TfL understand more about how customers feel about bus services and how this changes throughout the day.

Subsidies for London Bus Route 465 saved!

Surrey County Council were planning to cut subsidies for route 465 which would have shortened the route which runs from Kingston to Dorking, with the shorter route terminating at Leatherhead. Thankfully though, due to a campaign held by local residents who use the route, Surrey County Council announced they will continue to fund the route for the next 5 years.

Fare Rises for Nottingham City Transport

Nottingham City Transport (NCT) are increasing their fares from 26th March 2017. It will be the first time in three years for cash fare payers, and the first time for five to seven years for weekly, monthly and annual ticket holders for NCT services. This will be a mix of good and bad news for commuters in Nottingham.

From NCT press release

Contactless payments for First Bus services

As Stagecoach rolls out their contactless bank cards - the next major bus operator in Britain, First Group, is set to roll out theirs.

From First Group

Stagecoach comes to Kingston Upon Thames

Greater London receives its new route which is the 715. The route runs from Guildford towards Kingston Upon Thames and is funded by Surrey County Council - the service is not part of London Bus network.

From Stagecoach

From 31st December, Stagecoach will run a new service 715 from Guildford to Kingston upon Thames, via Ripley, Cobham & Esher, operated on behalf of Surrey County Council.

To mark the start of the new service, some journeys on Saturday 31st December 2016 will be run using an historic London bus, a double deck Routemaster coach that previously operated the former Green Line route 715 during the 1960s.

London Bus ridership falls by 3.2%

Some bad news for London Buses; the number of people riding them has fallen according to the latest figures from Department for Transport.

From Route-One

The number of journeys by bus in London fell by 3.6% in 12 months ending 30 June, according to the latest official figures from the Department for Transport (DfT), compared with a 1.8% decrease in the rest of England.

Update on routes 108, 135, 277, D3, D7 & D8

This is a follow up to my previous article about the Tower Hamlets consultation.

Below is an update from the TFL Consultations as they have released the reports for changes to routes 108, 135, 277, D3, D7 & D8.

Express bus services in London

As there are over 600 regulated bus routes in the Greater London area it's understandable that not many commuters know about the existence of the express bus routes, so I thought I would write an article about these routes to help make Londoners aware of them.

Singaporeans vote to colour their buses

The LTA (Land Transport Authority) in Singapore have decided to let the residents of Singapore vote to colour their own buses in bright red or lush green.

From the LTA Press release

Bright Red or Lush Green?

You decide! Vote now

Now is the time for you to have your say on the look of Singapore’s public buses. We invite members of the public to select from two colours—red or green— for the new livery that public buses will don in the future. In conjunction, LTA is also proud to unveil the new SG Bus logo that will be featured on all of our public buses in Singapore, together with the new livery.

A common livery for a unified identity

With the transition to bus contracting model, the Government will gradually own all public buses. A common livery will create a unified and distinctive identity for our Singapore Bus.