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Bus 3 & 4 Routes :: OPA Ortho opaortho.com | Map & Bus Route Information eugeneeyecare.com | Locate Us | Bus Routes | Abergeldie House abergeldiehouse.com |
[edit] HistoryA tender result early in 2005 awarded two routes (33 and 419) from London United (now Transdev) to NCP-Challenger (later NSL). 27 Dart SLF/Pointer 2s were obtained to work the routes, and a new base was established on the Twickenham Trading Estate, large enough to double the fleet size. Many of the managers were ex-London United employees. The buses are very similar to those used by London United, but are painted in all-over red. The route now terminates at the Fulwell end of Stanley Road, Teddington. Previously it ran on round the corner to terminate on the forecourt of London United's Fulwell Garage, from where it was operated, but the new operator required a different terminus, and closure of a former staff club located at the front of Travel London's premises (now Abellio) on land owned by TfL provided the opportunity. It was hoped that the shortened route would also help the reliability of a route that had been performing quite badly for some time. Low route numbers in London usually mean that a route has at least its origins in central London. The 33 is no exception, having been a Richmond - Aldwych service, operated by Mortlake and Twickenham garages, except on Sundays when the route was extended to Old Ford and operation shared between Clay Hall (Old Ford) and Middle Row (Kensington). There were also extensions at Summer weekends to Hampton Court. However, the section east of Hammersmith largely duplicated routes 73 and 9, and therefore from March 1937 the route was cut back to terminate at Brook Green, Hammersmith. By way of consolation, the 33 was extended from Richmond to Hounslow via Twickenham and Whitton, replacing route 27, and Hounslow garage became the main operator. Route 27 was reduced to run on Sundays only, and indeed on that day of the week the 33 was withdrawn. In September 1982, the section between Twickenham and Hounslow was taken off, being left to the 281. Just as, forty years previously, the 27 had been withdrawn from this section and diverted to run to Teddington (albeit in stages), now the 33 was diverted at Twickenham to run via Strawberry Hill to Teddington, with a projection to its new home garage at Fulwell. Thus, for the second time, the 33 replaced the 27. In the last ten years or so, there has been much messing about with the frequency. The weight limit of 7.5 tonnes imposed on Hammersmith Bridge forced the conversion to single-deckers in the form of Dennis Darts, and during the closure of the bridge to other traffic a 10 minute service was run, suitably enhanced at peak hours. More recently, the service was enhanced between Richmond and Hammersmith, but the section out to Fulwell dropped to every 15 minutes. Then the full 7-8 minute service was extended to operate throughout, a considerable improvement, albeit at the expense of part of Route 290, which was withdrawn between Twickenham and Richmond on 30 June 2001. The route passed from Transdev London to NCP-Challenger (later NSL Buses) on 12 November 2005. At the same time the route was truncated slightly at the Fulwell end, as mentioned above. On 16 November 2009, NSL Buses was taken over by Transdev London, so route 33 is now operated by Transdev London and the existing buses are used. [edit] Current route
[edit] See also[edit] External links
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