London Buses route 180 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Erith Quarry and North Greenwich, it is operated by Stagecoach London.
History[]
Route 180 commenced operation on 7 October 1951 between Plumstead and Catford garage via Woolwich, Greenwich and Lewisham. The route was initially operated by London Transport from their Catford (TL) garage using AEC Regent III RTs. The route was introduced as a replacement for tram route 36.
On 4 March 1953, the route was extended to Lower Sydenham.
On 8 May 1963, the route was withdrawn between Plumstead Common and Woolwich and redirected to Abbey Wood. From 27 October 1984, route 180 was withdrawn between Catford garage and Lower Sydenham.
On 27 April 1991, the route was rerouted from Catford to Hither Green replacing part of route 36. From 8 October 1991, the route was curtailed from Hither Green to Lewisham, while at the other end it was extended to Thamesmead.
On 14 February 1998, the route passed to Harris Bus operating from their Belvedere (BV) garage with brand new East Lancs Pyoneer bodied Volvo Olympians introduced.
Following Harris Bus running into financial difficulty, route 180 was taken over by East Thames Buses on 25 March 2000. The route was extended from Thamesmead to Belvedere garage on 23 November 2002.
In 2002, the East Lancs Pyoneer bodied Volvo Olympians were replaced by brand new low floor Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B7TLs.
On 3 October 2009, East Thames Buses was sold to London General, which included a five-year contract to operate route 180.
On 1 October 2016, the route was retained by London General with existing Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TLs introduced.
In November 2016, the Wright Eclipse Gemini and Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TLs were replaced by existing Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TLs.
On 2 December 2017, Belvedere (BV) garage was announced closed and the operation was transferred to London Central operating from their Morden Wharf (MG) garage.
On 17 August 2018, it was initially confirmed from 8 December 2018 that route 180 would be diverted away from Belvedere Industrial Estate and will be extended to the newly built housing estate Erith Quarry via Church Manorway, Lower Road, West Street, Erith Town Centre & Fraser Road. Also in the other direction, it is due to be curtailed back from Lewisham Shopping Centre to Charlton and be diverted to serve and terminate at North Greenwich Station via Anchor & Hope Lane, Bugsby's Way and Millennium Village. Route 129 will also be extended from Greenwich (Cutty Sark) to Lewisham Shopping Centre on the same date.
However, following TfL’s announcement a week later that Crossrail has been postponed until Autumn 2019, it is likely that any changes to the route maybe postponed as well.
On 2 October 2021, the route passed to Stagecoach London operating from their Plumstead (PD) garage using existing Alexander Dennis Enviro 400Hs and existing Enviro 400 MMC bodied Alexander Dennis E40Ds.
On 13 December 2021, the Enviro 400 MMC bodied Alexander Dennis E40Ds were replaced by brand new Enviro 400 City EV bodied BYD D8UR-DDs.
On 14 May 2022, the route was withdrawn between Charlton station and Lewisham (see route 129 for partial replacement) and re-routed to North Greenwich via route 472. At the same time, it was withdrawn from Fisher's Way and the eastern part of Mulberry Way and extended to Erith Quarry via Church Manorway, West Street, Erith town centre and Fraser Road. Buses start/finish in Fraser Road east of Loampit Road, facing east.
Current Route[]
Route 180 operates via these primary locations:
- Erith Quarry Fraser Road
- Erith Town Centre
- Erith Station
- Plumstead High Street
- Plumstead Station
- Plumstead Road (For Woolwich station - Elizabeth Line)
- Woolwich Town Centre (For Woolwich Arsenal station - DLR & National Rail)
- Woolwich Ferry
- Charlton
- Greenwich Peninsula IKEA
- Millennium Village
- North Greenwich Bus Station
External Links[]
Gallery[]
