London Routemaster Heritage Route 15

Heritage Route 15

Blinds idea courtesy of www.busesatwork.co.uk, with thanks to Ian Armstrong.

Geographical Maps can be found on the Downloads page.

Operating a 15 minute daytime frequency, seven days a week. Times and Timetable below. No service Christmas Day.

Times between stops are meant as a rough guide and, in practice, vary on the time of day.

First & Last Buses	Mon-Fri		Saturday		Sunday
	First	Last	First	Last	First	Last
From Tower Hill	0937	1837	0937	1837	0937	1837
From Trafalgar Square	0948	1833	0948	1833	0948	1833

Monday - Friday

Tower Hill – Trafalgar Square Duration: 25 min

Trafalgar Square – Tower Hill Duration: 24 min

Tower Hill	at these times past the hour	07	22	37	52
Cannon Street Station		12	27	42	57
St Paul’s		16	29	44	59
Ludgate Circus		20	35	50	05
Aldwych Law Courts		25	40	55	10
Trafalgar Square		32	47	02	17

Trafalgar Square	at these times past the hour	03	18	33	48
Aldwych Law Courts		11	26	41	56
Ludgate Circus		15	30	45	00
St Paul’s		17	32	47	02
Cannon Street Station		21	36	51	06
Tower Hill		27	42	57	12

Times between Stops

Trafalgar Sq (for Charing X)	Aldwych Law Courts	Ludgate Circus	St Paul’s	Cannon Street Station	Tower Hill
0	8	12	14	17	24

Tower Hill	Cannon Street Station	St Paul’s	Ludgate Circus	Aldwych Law Courts	Trafalgar Sq (for Charing X)
0	6	9	12	18	25

Saturday – Sunday (and Public Holidays)

Tower Hill – Trafalgar Square Duration: 20 min

Trafalgar Square – Tower Hill Duration: 19 min

Tower Hill	at these times past the hour	07	22	37	52
Cannon Street Station		12	27	42	57
St Paul’s		15	30	45	00
Ludgate Circus		17	32	47	02
Aldwych Law Courts		19	34	49	04
Trafalgar Square		27	42	57	12

Trafalgar Square	at these times past the hour	03	18	33	48
Aldwych Law Courts		09	24	39	54
Ludgate Circus		12	27	42	57
St Paul’s		14	29	44	59
Cannon Street Station		17	32	47	02
Tower Hill		22	37	52	07

Times between Stops

Trafalgar Sq (for Charing X)	Aldwych Law Courts	Ludgate Circus	St Paul’s	Cannon Street Station	Tower Hill
0	6	9	11	13	19

Tower Hill	Cannon Street Station	St Paul’s	Ludgate Circus	Aldwych Law Courts	Trafalgar Sq (for Charing X)
0	6	8	10	14	20

Full Timetable [Printable PDF version]

Summary Timetable [printable PDF version]

Operational Details

Route	Heritage Route 15
Operator	East London Bus and Coach Company 2 Clements Road, Ilford, Essex, IG1 1BA. Telephone: 020 8553 3420
Garage (until 22 September 2007 when the allocation is transferred to Bow Garage)	Waterden Road Garage (WA) Winner of Garage of the Year 2005. 44 Waterden Road, Hackney Wick, London, E15 2EE. Telephone: 020 8510 4882 From 22 September 2007: Bow Garage (BW) Fairfield Road, Bow, London, E3 2QP. Telephone: 020 8980 5676 Fax: 020 8981 9790
Peak Vehicle Requirement	6
Journey Length	3 miles (5 km)
Journey Time	Mon-Fri: 24-25 minutes
	Sat-Sun: 19-20 minutes
Frequency	Every 15 minutes
	Between 9.30am and 7.00pm
Performance	click here

Heritage Route Destination Blinds, in PDF format, courtesy of First London Timetables Website.

The Heritage Routemasters have BOTH Route 9 and 15 blinds fitted, so they could be used on either route if needed.

MM Front Number Blind	MM
KK Front Via Blind	KK
NN Destination Blind	NN
PP “Canopy” Blind	PP
VV Rear Number and Via Blind	VV
LL Side Number and Via Blind	LL

N.B. Route 15 LL and VV blinds via points differ slightly from those seen on East London Routemasters.

(9 only blinds: MM | KK | NN| PP | VV | LL)

The Route - Stops and Stands links to maps.

Westbound

(towards Trafalgar Square)

First Stop: Tower Hill Bus Stop TA

Last Stop: Charing Cross Station Bus Stop H

Stand: Northumberland Avenue (opposite Playhouse Theatre)

Eastbound

(towards Tower Hill)

First Stop: Strand / Charing Cross Bus Stop F

Last Stop: Tower Hill Bus Stop TB

Stand: Tower Hill, Goodman’s Yard

Trafalgar Square – Strand – Aldwych - Fleet Street – Ludgate Hill – St Paul’s - Cannon Street – Mansion House - Monument - Tower Hill

The Route – Roads and Bus Stops

Westbound – towards Trafalgar Square	Eastbound – towards Tower Hill

Goodmans Yard Bus Stand	Northumberland Avenue Bus Stand
Mansell Street	Northumberland Avenue
Shorter Street for Tower Gateway Station	Trafalgar Square
Byward Street Tower Hill Station Bus Stop	Strand Charing Cross Station Bus Stop F
Eastcheap Great Tower Street Bus Stop	Strand Southampton Street Bus Stop A
Eastcheap Monument Station Bus Stop	Aldwych Aldwych Bus Stop D
Cannon Street Cannon Street Station Bus Stop	Strand Royal Courts of Justice Bus Stop A
Cannon Street Mansion House Station Bus Stop	Fleet Street Fetter Lane Bus Stop
Queen Victoria Street	Fleet Street Shoe Lane Bus Stop HA
Friday Street	Ludgate Circus
Cannon Street New Change Bus Stop	Ludgate Hill Old Bailey Bus Stop G for *City Thameslink*
St. Paul's Churchyard St Paul’s Cathedral Bus Stop	St. Paul's Churchyard St Paul’s Cathedral Bus Stop SK
Ludgate Hill Ludgate Circus Bus Stop for *City Thameslink*	Cannon Street Mansion House Station Bus Stop
Ludgate Circus	Cannon Street Cannon Street Station Bus Stop MB
Fleet Street Shoe Lane Bus Stop	Eastcheap Monument Station Bus Stop
Fleet Street Chancery Lane Bus Stop	Eastcheap Great Tower Street Bus Stop
Strand Royal Courts of Justice Bus Stop	Byward Street Tower Hill Station Bus Stop
Strand Aldwych Bus Stop R	Minories for Tower Gateway Station
Strand Savoy Street Bus Stop U	Goodmans Yard Bus Stand
Strand Bedford Street Bus Stop J
Trafalgar Square Charing Cross Station Bus Stop H
Whitehall
Whitehall Place
Northumberland Avenue Bus Stand

What to See on Heritage Route 15

Alight here for . . .

Trafalgar Square	Bakerloo	Charing Cross Station (National Rail)
*(Charing Cross)*	Northern	Trafalgar Square and Nelson’s Column
	National Rail	National Gallery
		National Portrait Gallery
		St Martin in the Fields Church
		Whitehall Theatre (Trafalgar Studios)
		Whitehall, and a short walk / bus ride (Route 11 or 87 from Strand) to Westminster; Downing Street, Big Ben and Houses of Parliament.
		Admiralty Arch
		Canada House (Canadian Embassy)
		South Africa House (S African Embassy)
		Theatre Royal Haymarket
		Her Majesty’s Theatre (Haymarket)

Strand	Savoy Hotel
	Savoy Theatre
	Vaudeville Theatre
	Adelphi Theatre
	Villiers Street	Embankment: District & Circle lines Playhouse Theatre Victoria Embankment Gardens and Cleopatra’s Needle


Aldwych		Australia House (Australian Embassy)
		BBC Bush House
		India House (Indian Embassy)
		London School of Economics (LSE) and King’s College London (KCL)
		Somerset House
		Theatres	Aldwych Theatre Novello (or Strand) Theatre Duchess Theatre Lyceum Theatre Theatre Royal Drury Lane
		Covent Garden for Piccadilly line
		London Transport Museum
		Short Walk to Temple Station: District & Circle lines
		Disused Strand / Aldwych Station
		Lancaster Place for Waterloo Bridge
		Law Courts

Fleet Street		Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese – One of the oldest pubs in London, since 1538 and rebuilt after the Great Fire in 1666. Website here.

Fetter Lane		Dr Samuel Johnson’s House – 17 Gough Square, just off Fetter Lane. website

Ludgate Hill		The Old Bailey
	National Rail	City Thameslink
		(for First Capital Connect services)

St Paul’s	Central	St Paul’s Cathedral
		Short Walk to Millennium Bridge, cross for Tate Modern and The Globe

Mansion House	Circle	Mansion House
	District

Cannon Street	Circle	National Rail
	District
	National Rail

Monument	Circle	The Monument
	District	Short Walk to Bank of England
*for Bank*	Central	Short Walk to London Bridge
	Northern
	W’loo & City
	DLR

Tower Hill	Circle	Tower of London
	District	Tower Bridge Experience
*for Tower Gateway*	DLR
		Cross the Bridge for. . . . City Hall HMS Belfast London Dungeon (Tooley Street)

History of Route 15

History from 1950s

1950

KEW GREEN (Sundays) – Kew Bridge – Acton – Acton Vale – East Acton – Ladbroke Grove (Monday to Saturday) – Westbourne Grove – Paddington – Marble Arch – Oxford Street – Piccadilly Circus – Trafalgar Square – Aldwych – Fleet Street – Bank – Aldgate – Limehouse – Poplar (Monday to Friday daytime) – Canning Town – Plaistow – Upton Park – EAST HAM (Monday to Friday peaks and evenings, Saturday and Sunday)

November 1959

KEW GREEN (Sundays) – LADBROKE GROVE (Monday – Saturday) – EAST HAM

Extended to East Ham at all times

Seasonal Extension in Summer months between Acton and Kew Green

May 1975

RICHMOND (Sundays) – LADBROKE GROVE (Monday - Saturday) – EAST HAM

Extended to Richmond on Sundays.

April 1981

EAST ACTON (Sundays) – LADBROKE GROVE (Monday - Saturday) – EAST HAM

Withdrawn between Richmond and East Acton on Sundays.

May 1985

EAST ACTON (Sundays) – LADBROKE GROVE (Monday - Saturday) – EAST HAM

Diverted between St Paul’s and Aldgate via Cannon Street and Tower Hill.

June 1987

LADBROKE GROVE – EAST HAM

Withdrawn between East Acton and Ladbroke Grove on Sundays.

May 1991

WESTBOURNE PARK STATION – EAST HAM

Extended from Ladbroke Grove Sainsbury’s to Westbourne Park Station

August 1992

WESTBOURNE PARK STATION (Sundays) – PADDINGTON (Mon to Sat) – CANNING TOWN (Monday – Saturday daytimes) – EAST HAM (Monday – Saturday evening)

Withdrawn between Westbourne Park and Paddington Monday to Saturday (replaced by new route 23).

May 1993

PADDINGTON – CANNING TOWN (Monday – Saturday daytimes) – EAST HAM (Monday – Saturday evening)

Withdrawn between Westbourne Park and Paddington at all times.

September 1999

PADDINGTON – BLACKWALL STATION (daytimes) – EAST HAM (evenings)

Withdrawn between Poplar and Canning Town, and diverted to Blackwall DLR station.

30 August 2003

PADDINGTON – BLACKWALL STATION

Routemasters withdrawn – Converted to One person operation.

Withdrawn between Blackwall and East Ham at all times.

14 November 2005

Crew operation part re-introduced as part of Heritage Routemaster Routes

Between TRAFALGAR SQUARE and TOWER HILL only, operationally numbered 15H.

22 April 2007

Heritage Routemasters: ALDGATE - ALDWYCH

Heritage service extended to work between Aldgate and Aldwych for the day due to London Marathon Diversions.

8 July 2007

Heritage Routemasters: PADDINGTON – OXFORD CIRCUS

Heritage Service changed to operate as such for the day due to Tour De France road closures.

22 September 2007

Heritage Routemasters: Allocation transferred to Bow Garage (from Waterden Road, due to closure for the construction of the 2012 Olympic Park).

Details from www.busesatwork.co.uk.