London Buses Route 65 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Ealing Broadway and Kingston, it is operated by London United RATP.
History
Route 65 commenced operation on 3 October 1934, running from Ealing Argyle Road (now Scotch Common) to Leatherhead via Ealing Broadway, South Ealing, Brentford, Richmond, Petersham, Ham, Kingston, Tolworth, Hook and Chessington. It was initially operated by London Transport from their Kingston (K) and Turnham Green (V) garages, using ST-class Regent STs.
On 24 March 1937, part of the allocation was transferred to Riverside (R) garage.
On 13 April 1938, the Riverside (R) allocation was transferred to Turnham Green (V) garage.
On 5 August 1942, STL class AEC Regents were introduced.
In 1946, "pay-as-you-enter" experiments were carried out on route 65, running between Ealing Broadway and Leatherhead.
On 26 October 1949, AEC Regent III RTs and Leyland Titans were introduced.
On 23 November 1949, the was converted to full AEC Regent III RT and Leyland Titan operation.
On 17 October 1951, the was converted to full AEC Regent III RT operation.
On 14 May 1952, the Kingston (K) allocation was transferred to Norbiton (NB) garage.
On 16 October 1957, part of the allocation was transferred to Kingston (K) garage.
On 30 April 1958, the Kingston (K) allocation was transferred to Norbiton (NB) garage.
On 18 April 1966, part of the allocation was transferred to Twickenham (AB) garage.
On 31 December 1966, the Saturday and Sunday services was withdrawn and was replaced by route 65A.
On 30 November 1968, the Saturday and Sunday service was reintroduced and route 65A was withdrawn. At the same time, the route was withdrawn between Chessington Zoo and Leatherhead, this section was replaced by route 71 and the Argyle Road and Ealing Broadway section was reduced to Monday to Friday peak hours; a Kingston (K) allocation was also reintroduced.
On 18 September 1971, the Turnham Green (V) allocation was transferred to Norbiton (NB) garage.
On 19 October 1975, the AEC Regent III RT were replaced by AEC Routemasters.
On 3 November 1975, the route was extended from Chessington Zoo to Chessington Fox & Hounds during Monday to Friday peak hours.
On 4 September 1982, the route was withdrawn between Argyle Road and Ealing Broadway, this section was replaced by route new route 273. The Norbiton (NB) allocation was transferred to Kingston (K) garage at the same time.
On 14 January 1984, Kingston (K) garage was announced closed and the allocation was transferred to Norbiton (NB) garage.
On 3 August 1985, part of the allocation was transferred to Hanwell (HL) garage.
On 1 February 1986, the route was converted to one-person operation using MCW Metrobuses and the Hanwell (HL) allocation was transferred to Norbiton (NB) garage.
On 7 February 1987, the Monday to Saturday service was withdrawn between Kingston & Chessington Zoo.
On 27 June 1987, the route was withdrawn between Kingston & Chessington Zoo. The route passed to Kingston Bus but still operating from Norbiton (NB) garage using MCW Metrobuses.
On 29 September 1990, the route passed to London & Country from their Croydon and Leatherhead garages using Leyland Atlanteans.
On 26 January 1991, the route passed to Armchair operating from their Brentford (AH) garage using and Leyland Atlanteans.
On 28 June 1997, the route 65 was retained by Armchair using new Northern Counties Palatine II bodied Volvo Olympians, Alexander bodied Leyland Olympians and Leyland bodied Leyland Olympians.
On 29 June 2002, route 65 passed to London United operating from their Fulwell (FW) garage and was converted to low floor operations with brand new Alexander ALX400 bodied Dennis Tridents introduced.
On 24 January 2004, the route was converted into a 24-hour service.
On 4 July 2009, the route was retained by London United using brand new Scania OmniCity DDs and the night service was extended from Kingston to Chessington, via route 71.
On 2 July 2016, the route was retained by London United using existing Scania OmniCity DDs and brand new Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5LHs.
On 29 September 2018, the night service to Chessington was renumbered N65.
On 3 July 2021, the route was retained by London United.
On 4 September 2021, the route was temporarily converted back to a full existing Scania OmniCity DD operation.
On 30 September 2021, brand new Enviro 400 City EV bodied BYD D8UR-DDs were introduced alongside the existng Scania OmniCity DDs.
In February 2022, the route was converted to full Enviro 400 City EV bodied BYD D8UR-DD operation.
On 30 March 2024, the frequency decreased to every 6-12 minutes from every 6-15 minutes. At the same time, the PVR increased to 30 from 28.
From 28 August 2023 until Summer 2024, the route does not serve Cromwell Road Bus Station due to reconstruction works taking place.
Current Route
Route 65 operates via these primary locations:
- Ealing Broadway Station The Broadway
- South Ealing Station
- Brentford High Street
- Kew Bridge Station
- Kew Gardens
- Richmond Station
- Richmond Bus Station
- Petersham
- Ham
- Kingston Station
- Kingston Cromwell Road Bus Station
- Kingston Brook Street
Gallery
