London Buses route 9 (Heritage)

Infobox London Bus
number=9H


operator=First London
length= 3 miles (5km)
time= 25-29 minutes
vehicle=Routemaster
garage=Westbourne Park
start=Kensington
end=Aldwych
via=Hyde Park Corner
Piccadilly Circus
level=Daily
frequency=About every 15 minutes
night=Night Bus N9
pvr=5
day=9:30am until 7:00pm

London Buses route 9 (Heritage) is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom operated only by Routemaster buses. The service is currently contracted to First London, which runs them from Westbourne Park garage. It is a short working of the regular route 9. Buses run between Royal Albert Hall (although the first pick-up is actually some distance further east) and Aldwych, where they briefly overlap with the other Routemaster operation on route 15.

History

To assuage media coverage given to the withdrawal of London's classic Routemaster fleet, Mayor of London Ken Livingstone promised to introduce a "heritage" Routemaster operation. After hopes that this would be operated commercially, the operation eventually materialised as tendered short workings on two existing routes, and one of those is the 9. This approach ensured that passengers in wheelchairs or with other mobility problems would be offered alternatives to the Routemaster buses, which are not accessible.cite web | title = Heritage routes for Routemaster | publisher = BBC | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4229106.stm | accessdate = July 4 | accessyear = 2007 ]

The contracts for the routes were announced in September 2005 [cite web | title = Heritage route contracts awarded | publisher = Transport for London | url = http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/archive/3914.aspx | accessdate = August 26 | accessyear = 2008 ] and routes began operation on 14 November 2005—not the usual Saturday start date, so as to keep clear of the Remembrance Sunday parades.

Current route

Route departing Kensington

* Kensington, Royal Albert Hall
* Kensington Road
* Knightsbridge Station
* Knightsbridge
* Hyde Park Corner Station
* Piccadilly
* Green Park Station
* Piccadilly
* Piccadilly Circus Station
* The Haymarket
* Cockspur Street
* Trafalgar Square
* Charing Cross
* Strand
* Charing Cross Station
* Strand
* Aldwych

Route departing Aldwych

* Aldwych
* Strand
* Charing Cross Station
* Strand
* Trafalgar Square
* Charing Cross
* Cockspur Street
* Pall Mall
* Waterloo Place
* Lower Regent Street
* Piccadilly Circus Station
* Piccadilly
* Green Park Station
* Piccadilly
* Duke of Wellington Place
* Grosvenor Place
* Hyde Park Corner Station
* Knightsbridge
* Knightsbridge Station
* Kensington Road
* Kensington, Royal Albert Hall

References

ee also

* London Buses route 9
* London Buses route N9
* London Buses route 15 (Heritage)
* List of bus routes in London
* First London

External links

* [http://www.tfl.gov.uk/ Transport For London]
* [http://www.busesatwork.co.uk London Bus Routes]
* [http://www.londonbusroutes.net/times/009H.pdf Full Timetable (pdf)]
* [http://www.geocities.com/routemasterheritageroute/heritagefleet.html Enthusiast Page with vehicle list]