London Buses route D8 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Crossharbour and Stratford, it is operated by Stagecoach London.
History[]
Route D8 commenced operation on 7 December 1991 between Stratford Bus Station and Isle of Dogs Asda via Bow Church - Campbell Road - Devons Road - Morris Road - Chrisp Street - East India Dock Road - Newby Place - Poplar High Street - Prestons Road - Aspen Way - Hertsmere Road - Westferry Circus - double run via Cabot Square - North Colonnade - and South Colonnade - Westferry Circus - Marsh Wall - Manchester Road - East Ferry Road. The route initially operated from West Ham (WH) garage using Alexander bodied Scanias.
On 5 October 1992, the Monday to Saturday daytime service was converted to midibus operation using Plaxton Beaver bodied Mercedes-Benz 811Ds and was transferred to Thamesway operating from their Ponders End (PE) garage.
On 10 October 1992, West Ham garage closed the allocation moved to Bow (BW) Mon-Fri evenings and Sunday - Upton Park (U) Saturday.
On 5 December 1992, Bow (BW) and West Ham (WH) withdrawn in favour of Kentish Bus involvement thus Mon-Fri daytime midibus from Thamesway and Mon-Fri evenings buses ex other routes - Sat-Sun.
On 29 October 1994, the route was rerouted via Trafalgar Way instead of Aspen Way.
On 1 July 1995, the Sunday service was withdrawn and the Kentish Bus involvement ended.
On 25 August 1998, the route passed to Capital Citybus operating from their Hackney (H) garage.
On 18 September 1999, the route was retained by First London. The Sunday service was reintroduced and the route was converted to low floor operation using brand new Marshall Capital bodied Dennis Dart SLFs. The route was diverted at Marsh Wall to go direct via Limeharbour to Crossharbour, Asda instead of Cubitt Town at the same time.
On 18 September 2004, the route was retained by First London.
On 8 December 2007, the allocation was transferred from Hackney (H) to Dagenham (DM) garages.
On 6 March 2010, the allocation was transferred from Dagenham (DM) to Lea Interchange (LI) garages.
On 13 September 2011, the route was diverted to serve Stratford City via Warton Road to coincide with the opening of the Stratford City Westfield meaning the route no longer serves Stratford Town Centre.
On 17 September 2011, the route passed to Docklands Buses with brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts introduced.
On 31 August 2013, the route had been extended from Stratford City to Stratford International Station via International Way.
On 29 November 2014, the route was diverted via Carpenters Road and London Aquatic Centre (Pool Street) rather than going via Warton Road.
On 1 October 2016, as part of the Isle of Dogs bus changes, the route was diverted back to Stratford Bus Station via Stratford High Street instead of Stratford City meaning the route had returned back to its original pre-2011 terminus. It was also re-routed between Poplar and Stratford via Blackwall Tunnel Northern Approach as it effectively swapped routings with route 108. The route was converted to a double decker bus operation using existing Scania OmniCitys at the same time.
On 15 September 2018, the route passed to Tower Transit operating from their Lea Interchange (LI) garage using existing Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TLs.
On 24 June 2022, the route was included in the sale of Tower Transit's Lea Interchange (LI) Garage to Stagecoach London.
Current Route[]
Route D8 operates via these primary locations:
- Crossharbour ASDA (for Crossharbour Station)
- South Quay Station
- Heron Quays Station
- Canary Wharf Station
- Poplar High Street
- Poplar All Saint's Church (for All Saints Station )
- Bromley-by-Bow Station
- Bow Interchange
- Stratford High Street Station
- Stratford Bus Station