Arriva London

Arriva London is a company that runs buses in and around Greater London. It also operates some bus services in nearby areas like Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, and Surrey. This company is part of a larger group called Arriva UK Bus.

Arriva London works with London Buses and follows the rules set by Transport for London. This helps make sure buses run on time and people can get around the city easily. The buses are split between two smaller companies within Arriva London, called Arriva London North Limited and Arriva London South Limited.

History

The story of Arriva London starts back in 1980 when the Cowie Group bought the Grey-Green coach business in London.

In February 1987, Grey-Green began driving bus routes in north and east London for London Regional Transport (LRT).

Then, on 1 April 1989, London Buses split into 11 smaller parts, including Leaside Buses and South London Transport. The Cowie Group bought these parts in 1994 and 1995. Because of rules from London Transport in 1995, buses in London had to be mostly red. So, in January 1996, Leaside Buses and South London Transport changed their names to Cowie Leaside and Cowie South London and got new red bus designs.

On 1 August 1996, the Cowie Group also bought British Bus, which owned Kentish Bus and London & Country. In November 1997, the Cowie Group changed its name to Arriva. All these bus groups kept their old designs but added Arriva names until they got a new red design.

On 1 January 2016, Arriva brought together all its bus work for Transport for London under one name, Arriva London, including Arriva Herts & Essex, Arriva Kent Thameside and Tellings-Golden Miller’s work for Transport for London.

Garages

Arriva London North Limited

Arriva London North Limited operates ten garages.

Barking (DX)

Barking garage operates routes and SL2. It opened in 1992.

Clapton (CT)

Clapton garage operates routes and N38. It dates back to 1882.

Dartford (DT)

Dartford garage operates routes and was transferred in 2016.

Edmonton (EC)

Edmonton garage operates route . It opened in 1993.

Enfield (E)

Enfield garage operates routes and N279. It was built in 1927.

Grays (GY)

Grays garage operates routes and was transferred in 2016.

Palmers Green (AD)

Palmers Green garage operates routes and SL1. It opened in 1912.

Stamford Hill (SF)

Stamford Hill garage operates routes and N19. It opened in 1907.

Tottenham (AR)

Tottenham garage operates routes and N41. It was built in 1913.

Wood Green (WN)

Wood Green garage operates routes and N29. It was transformed in the early 1900s.

Arriva London South Limited

Arriva London South Limited operates four garages.

Brixton (BN)

Brixton garage operates routes and N137. It was built in 1892.

Croydon (TC)

Croydon garage operates routes and SL5. It was built in 1915.

Norwood (N)

Norwood garage operates routes and SL6. It opened in 1909.

Thornton Heath (TH)

Thornton Heath garage operates routes and N250. It opened in 1879.

Former garages

Ash Grove (AE)

Ash Grove garage operated route (/wiki/London_Buses_route_254). This garage was shared with Stagecoach London.

Ash Grove was one of three new garages opened in 1981 by London Buses at a cost of £3.5 million. It had space for 140 buses undercover and 30 more in the yard. The garage closed in 1991 but reopened in 1994. It was used to store vehicles for the London Transport Museum and later for extra AEC Routemasters. In 2000, it was reopened by East Thames Buses and then by Arriva with new buses for route 38 in 2005. On 24 February 2024, Arriva London moved out, and route 254 was transferred back to Stamford Hill garage.

Battersea (BA)

The original Battersea garage opened in 1906 and was expanded in 1914. It went through several changes and modernizations over the years. The garage closed in 1985, then was used for sightseeing operations until 1988. In 1993, it became a base for Kentish Bus route 19. The garage closed again in November 2009, and the site was redeveloped.

Beddington Farm (CN)

Beddington Farm was a modern depot opened in 1990 by London Country Bus Services. It operated both London Buses tendered routes and existing London Country routes. It became part of Arriva London in 1999. In July 2011, Arriva confirmed that Beddington Farm would close by 31 March 2012.

Garston (GR)

Garston garage operated several routes, including (/wiki/London_Buses_route_288), (/wiki/London_Buses_route_303), (/wiki/London_Buses_route_305), H18, and H19. It opened on 18 June 1952 and became part of Arriva Shires & Essex in 1988. Garston was transferred to Arriva London on 1 January 2016 and closed on 31 August 2018.

Heathrow (HE)

The Heathrow depot was originally operated by Tellings-Golden Miller. On 31 May 2014, it gained route E10 from Metroline. In December 2017, the operation of route E10 was transferred to London United, and the depot closed soon after.

Lee Valley (LV)

Lee Valley garage opened in 2005 to house buses for route 149 and later for route 73. On 1 March 2014, Lee Valley garage closed, and operations were transferred to Edmonton garage.

Fleet

As of March 2024, Arriva London had a fleet of 1,528 buses.

The Heritage Fleet

The Heritage Fleet operated between 2006 and 2022, using special AEC Routemasters for private events. It started after regular Routemaster buses stopped running in London in December 2005.

Arriva London collected some important Routemasters and began the Heritage Fleet in early 2006. In November 2022, they announced the end of the Heritage Fleet, selling all the buses by the end of that year. A special bus ride on route 137 happened on December 2, 2022, to celebrate the fleet, with money from the event going to the Royal British Legion.

The Heritage Fleet's buses were used for private events like celebrations and weddings, and they also appeared at bus events. The fleet included nine special Routemasters, some of which had unique features or histories.