London Routemaster Heritage Route 9

Heritage Route 9

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 Aldwych	0945	1830	0945	1830	0945	1830
From Kensington, Prince's Gate	0935	1835	0935	1835	0935	1835

Daily

Aldwych – Royal Albert Hall Duration: 25 min

Royal Albert Hall - Aldwych Duration: 31 min

Aldwych	at these times past the hour	00	15	30	45
Trafalgar Square, Charing X		06	21	36	51
Piccadilly Circus		10	25	40	55
Green Park Station		14	29	44	59
Hyde Park Corner		20	35	50	05
Kensington, Prince’s Gate		25	40	55	10

Kensington, Prince’s Gate	at these times past the hour	05	20	35	50
Hyde Park Corner		13	28	43	58
Green Park Station		19	34	49	04
Piccadilly Circus		25	40	55	10
Trafalgar Square, Charing X		29	44	59	14
Aldwych		36	51	06	21

Times between Stops

Aldwych	Trafalgar Sq (for Charing X)	Piccadilly Circus	Green Park Station	Hyde Park Corner	Kensington Prince’s Gate
0	6	10	14	20	25

Royal Albert Hall	Hyde Park Corner	Green Park Station	Piccadilly Circus	Trafalgar Sq (for Charing X)	Aldwych
0	8	14	20	24	31

Full Timetable [Printable PDF version]

Summary Timetable [printable PDF version]

Operational Details

Route	Heritage Route 9
Operator	First London Macmillan House, Paddington Station, London, W12 1TY. Telephone: 020 7298 7300
Garage	Westbourne Park Garage (X) Great Western Road, London W9 3NW. Telephone: 020 7229 7131
Peak Vehicle Requirement	5
Length of Route	3 miles (5 km)
Journey Time	25-31 minutes
Frequency	Every 15 minutes
	Between 9.35am and 6.35pm
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 RAH)

First Stop: Strand Bus Stop R or U

Last Stop: Royal Albert Hall Bus Stop RC

Stand: Prince Consort Road, behind Royal Albert Hall (Bus Stand RU)

Eastbound

(towards Aldwych)

First Stop: Kensington Road Bus Stop RM

Last Stop: Aldwych Bus Stop D

Stand: Aldwych, Bush House

Aldwych – Trafalgar Square – Piccadilly Circus – Green Park Station – Hyde Park Corner – Royal Albert Hall

The Route – Roads and Bus Stops

Westbound – towards Royal Albert Hall	Eastbound – towards Aldwych

Aldwych Bus Stand	Prince Consort Road Bus Stand RU
Strand Aldwych Bus Stop R	Exhibition Road
Strand Savoy Street Bus Stop U	Kensington Road Bus Stop RM
Strand Bedford Street Bus Stop J	Kensington Road Rutland Gardens Bus Stop KP
Trafalgar Square Charing Cross Station Bus Stop H	Knightsbridge Knightsbridge Station Bus Stop KG
Cockspur Street Trafalgar Square Bus Stop S	Hyde Park Corner Hyde Park Corner Station Bus Stop T
Pall Mall	Piccadilly Hyde Park Corner Bus Stop C
Waterloo Place	Piccadilly Green Park Station Bus Stop PB
Regent Street Charles II Street Bus Stop Z	Piccadilly Royal Academy Bus Stop PH
Piccadilly Circus	Piccadilly Piccadilly Circus Station Bus Stop B
Piccadilly Piccadilly Circus Station Bus Stop S	Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Old Bond Street Bus Stop PG	Haymarket Bus Stop R
Piccadilly Green Park Station Bus Stop PD	Cockspur Street Trafalgar Square Bus Stop B
Piccadilly Hyde Park Corner Bus Stop E	Trafalgar Square
Duke of Wellington Place	Strand Charing Cross Station Bus Stop E
Grosvenor Place	Strand Southampton Street Bus Stop A
Hyde Park Corner Hyde Park Corner Station Bus Stop M	Aldwych Aldwych Bus Stop E
Knightsbridge Knightsbridge Station Bus Stop KE	Aldwych Bus Stand
Kensington Road Rutland Gardens Bus Stop KF
Kensington Gore Prince of Wales Gate Bus Stop RA
Kensington Gore Exhibition Road Bus Stop RB
Kensington Gore Royal Albert Hall Bus Stop RC
Queen’s Gate
Prince Consort Road Bus Stand RU

What to See on Heritage Route 9

Alight here for . . .

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

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

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)

Piccadilly Circus	Piccadilly	Trocadero Centre
	Bakerloo	Criterion Theatre
		Buses (3, 6, 12, 13, 15, 23, 94, 139, 159, 453) to Regent and Oxford Streets

Piccadilly		Fortnum & Mason (Piccadilly)
		Royal Academy
		The Ritz
		Hatchards (book shop – oldest in the UK)
		Hard Rock Cafe

Green Park Station	Piccadilly	Green Park
	Victoria
	Jubilee

Hyde Park Corner	Piccadilly	Apsley House (Wellington Museum)
		Constitution Hill to Buckingham Palace
		Hyde Park

Knightsbridge	Piccadilly	Harrods
		Princess Diana Memorial Fountain

Kensington Road		Kensington Gardens – Serpentine Gallery
		Albert Memorial

Royal Albert Hall		Royal Albert Hall Science Museum Natural History Museum V&A
		Imperial College

	Piccadilly	Short Walk to South Kensington
	Circle	Underground Station
	District

History of Route 9

History from 1950s

The route started on Sunday 1November 1908 running between Shoreditch Church and Hammersmith (Kew Green on Sundays). Later it changed to run between Leyton and Turnham Green, and between Snaresbrook and Turnham Green by June 1909.

By 1950, the route had changed little within the City of London, but was quite different to the East and the West. . . .

1950

MORTLAKE GARAGE – Barnes – Hammersmith – Kensington – Piccadilly – Trafalgar Square – Aldwych – Fleet Street – Bank – LIVERPOOL STREET ( - Aldgate – Canning Town – Plaistow – Upton Park – Barking – Becontree Heath Sundays)

September 1968

MORTLAKE GARAGE – LIVERPOOL STREET (ALDGATE Sundays)

Withdrawn between Aldgate and Becontree Heath on Sundays.

April 1970

MORTLAKE – ALDWYCH (Saturdays) – LIVERPOOL STREET (Mon - Fri) – ALDGATE (Sundays)

Withdrawn between Aldwych and Liverpool Street on Saturdays.

April 1971

MORTLAKE – ALDWYCH (Saturdays) – LIVERPOOL STREET (Monday – Friday)

Withdrawn between Liverpool Street and Aldgate on Sundays

Sunday service re-numbered 9A, diverted at Mansion House via Cannon St, Tower Hill and Aldgate

October 1978

MORTLAKE – Hammersmith - Aldwych – Cannon Street - Tower Hill - ALDGATE

Diverted daily to Aldgate. Route 9A re-numbered 9.

January 1981

MORTLAKE – LIVERPOOL STREET

Service restored to Liverpool Street. Route 9A restored.

June 1983

MORTLAKE Avondale Road – LIVERPOOL STREET

Mortlake Bus Garage Closed.

August 1987

MORTLAKE – ALDWYCH – LIVERPOOL STREET (Monday – Friday peaks)

Withdrawn between Aldwych and Liverpool Street, apart from Monday – Friday peaks.

November 1987

MORTLAKE – ALDWYCH – LIVERPOOL STREET (Monday – Friday peaks)

Sunday Service converted to One Person Operation

September 1990

MORTLAKE – ALDWYCH (Saturday – Sunday) – LIVERPOOL STREET (Monday – Friday)

Extended to Liverpool Street at all times Monday to Friday

July 1992

MORTLAKE (Sundays) – HAMMERSMITH (Monday – Saturday) - ALDWYCH

Withdrawn between Mortlake and Hammersmith due to weight restriction on Hammersmith Bridge. Replaced by new route 9A [now 209] between Hammersmith and Mortlake.

Sunday service converted to single deck to allow operation to Mortlake.

October 1993

MORTLAKE (Monday – Saturday evenings / Sundays) – HAMMERSMITH (Monday – Saturday daytime) - ALDWYCH

Evenings converted to single deck, and extended to Mortlake.

March 1997

HAMMERSMITH – ALDWYCH

Withdrawn between Hammersmith and Mortlake at all times.

Sunday service converted to double deck.

4 September 2004

HAMMERSMITH – ALDWYCH

Routemasters withdrawn – Converted to One person operation.

14 November 2005

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

Between ALDWYCH and ROYAL ALBERT HALL only, operationally numbered 9H.

Details from www.busesatwork.co.uk.