London Buses route 210

Infobox London Bus
number=210


operator=Metroline
garage=Perivale West (PA)
vehicle=Dennis Trident 2/Alexander ALX400
pvr=17
start=Finsbury Park Station
via=Hornsey
Archway
Golders Green
end=Brent Cross Shopping Centre
length=7 miles (12 km)
level=Daily
frequency=About every 8-12 minutes
time=32-55 minutes
night=No night service
day=4:40am until 1:00am
ibus=yes

London Buses route 210 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. This service is currently contracted to Metroline.

History

The 210 was introduced on 3 October 1934 as a re-numbering of route 110 in the London Transport re-numbering scheme introduced on that day. It ran daily between Finsbury Park (Wells Terrace) and Golders Green Station via Hornsey Rise, Archway, Highgate Hill, Highgate and Hampstead Heath.

The 210 was a very stable operation and saw changes only rarely.

The 1960s were very turbulent times for London's buses and there was a continual search for economies. One such economy occurred on 3 March 1963 when the 210 was extended on Sundays only to Leyton Green via Highbury Barn, Dalston, Hackney Wick and Leytonstone Station to cover for route 236 which was withdrawn on that day.

On 24 January 1970 the route was converted to one-person operation using the same "RF-Type" vehicles that had previously been used as crew operated vehicles. At the same time, the route was cut back from Leyton to Finsbury Park, with the 236 being re-introduced on Sundays to cover. It was decided that the 210 as a one-person operated route wouldn't be able to cope with the large influx of passengers carried on Sundays to Hampstead Heath, so the crew-operated 236 was further extended on Sundays to Golders Green duplicating the 210. This situation continued until the 17 April 1971 when the larger SMS-Type vehicles were introduced on the route, allowing the Sunday 236 extension to Golders Green be withdrawn at the same time.

The 210 was extended on Mondays to Saturdays (Evenings Excepted) from Golders Green to Brent Cross Shopping Centre on its opening on 31 January 1976, but in the first few weeks after the extension, the service was disrupted by disgruntled residents in the Brent area. The problems were eventually resolved and Brent Cross Shopping Centre has remained the terminus ever since.

As from 19 May 1996 the Sunday service was also extended (Evenings Excepted) to Brent Cross Shopping Centre with the complete service being extended there as from 30 November 2002.

Since the privatisation of London Buses, the 210 has been operated by different companies. As from 22 September 1990 it was operated by Grey Green (now Arriva London) from the Stamford Hill bus garage, using Volvo/East Lancs single deckers with grey, green and orange livery; although the occasional double decker did appear. This has been known to cause problems at the Finsbury Park terminus where there is a low bridge, causing at least one of Grey Green's double deckers to be "deroofed".

On 26 September 1998, the 210's allocation was transferred to F E Thorpe operating from the Wembley bus garage, using low-floor Dennis Darts with Thorpe's yellow and red livery. Later the allocation was moved to the new West Perivale garage near Perivale Station.

Metroline bought Thorpes in 2004, taking over its fleet of buses, all of which were re-painted in Metroline's red and blue livery. As from January 2007, the last traces of the Thorpes name were removed from the vehicles.

Route 210 was converted to double-deck operation on 16th February 2008, using short wheelbase TAs made spare from 182.

Current route

Route departing Brent Cross Shopping Centre

* Brent Cross Shopping Centre "Bus Station"
* Prince Charles Drive
* Tempelhof Avenue
* Tilling Road
* Slip Road
* Highfield Avenue
* Brent Cross Station
* Highfield Avenue
* Golders Green Road
* Golders Green Station "Bus Station"
* North End Road
* North End Way
* Hampstead Heath "Jack Straw's Castle"
* Spaniards Road "Spaniards Inn"
* Hampstead Lane
* Kenwood House
* Highgate Village
* Highgate High Street
* Highgate Hill
* Archway Station
* Tollhouse Way
* Archway Road
* St John's Way
* Hazellville Road
* Sunnyside Road
* Beaumont Rise
* Hornsey Lane
* Hornsey Road
* Hanley Road
* Stroud Green Road
* Morris Place
* Clifton Terrace
* Finsbury Park Station "Wells Terrace Bus Station"

Route departing Finsbury Park

* Finsbury Park Station "Wells Terrace Bus Station"
* Stroud Green Road
* Hanley Road
* Hornsey Road
* Hornsey Rise
* Beaumont Rise
* Sunnyside Road
* Hazellville Road
* St John's Way
* Archway Station
* Highgate Hill
* Highgate High Street
* Highgate Village
* Hampstead Lane
* Kenwood House
* Spaniards Road "Spaniards Inn"
* Hampstead Heath "Jack Straw's Castle"
* North End Way
* North End Road
* Golders Green Station "Bus Station"
* Golders Green Road
* Highfield Avenue
* Brent Cross Station
* Highfield Avenue
* Slip Road
* Tilling Road
* Tempelhof Avenue
* Prince Charles Drive
* Brent Cross Shopping Centre "Bus Station"

Previous route 210s in London

The route number 210 had been used once prior to its current use.
*Between 1930 - 1931 a Greenford (Hare and Hounds) Ealing Broadway via Uxbridge Road Independent route 210 operated by Royal Highlander.

There was also in London :-
*In the 1920s an Independent Route 210, authorised but never operated between Winchmore Hill and Hammersmith Broadway.

ee also

* List of bus routes in London
* Metroline

External links

* [http://www.tfl.gov.uk Transport for London]
* [http://www.busesatwork.co.uk London Bus Routes]
* [http://www.londonbusroutes.net/times/210full.pdf Full timetable (PDF)]