London Buses route R3 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Orpington and Locksbottom, it is operated by Metrobus.
History[]
Route R3 commenced operation on 16 August 1986 between Petts Wood Station and Orpington War Memorial via Petts Wood Road - Poverest Road - Kent Road - Lower Road - High Street Orpington - Orpington Bus Station - Repton Road - Eton Road - The Highway - Chelsfield Station - Windsor Drive - Vine Road - Worlds End Lane - High Street - Green Street Green Rose & Crown - Cudham Lane North - Cudham Lane South - Knockholt Main Road - Knockholt Road - Station Road - Watercroft Road - London Road - Wheatsheaf Hill - Orpington By-Pass - Court Road - Spur Road as a Monday to Saturday service. The route was initially operated by Roundabout from their Orpington (OB) garage using Robin Hood bodied Ivecos and Optare CityPacers.
On 11 August 1990, the Robin Hood bodied Ivecos and Optare CityPacers were replaced by Carlyle bodied Mercedes Benz 811D's.
On 16 November 1991, the route was rerouted in Chelsfield to operate in both directions via Warren Road and The Meadway to Windsor Drive.
On 21 November 1992, the route was rerouted at Green Street Green to terminate in High Street instead of Rose and Crown and was rerouted at all times via Orpington Station. The route was extended in the evenings from Chelsfield to Green Street Green.
On 2 December 1995, the route passed to CentreWest operating from their Orpington (Y) garage with Marshall bodied Mercedes-Benz 811D's.
On 8 November 1999, the route was converted to low floor using Marshall Capital bodied Dennis Dart SLFs.
On 1 December 2001, the route was retained by First London. At the same time, the route was withdrawn between Orpington and Green Street Green, this section was covered by route R1, the route was diverted to Chelsfield Village via withdrawn route R8 (Charterhouse Road) and was extended from Petts Wood Station (east side) to Locksbottom via Petts Wood, Coppice Estate (Lovelace Avenue, Whitebeam Avenue, Almond Way, Faringdon Avenue, Chesham Avenue, Shepperton Road), Towncourt Lane, Crofton Lane and Crofton Road.
On 25 September 2004, the route was extended from Locksbottom to Princess Royal Hospital.
On 2 December 2006, the route was retained by First London.
On 8 December 2007, the route was included in the sale of First London's Orpington (Y) garage to Metrobus. The allocation was transferred to Orpington (MB) garage at the same time.
On 3 December 2011, the route was retained by Metrobus with Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart SLFs introduced.
In July 2014, the Go-Ahead Group restructured its bus operations, which included the transfer of route R3 from Metrobus to Go-Ahead London.
On 1 April 2017, the route was retained by Metrobus using Wright StreetLites and the route was withdrawn between Chelsfield Village and Orpington Station. This section was replaced by an extension to route R7. The route was re-routed via the Amherst Drive area via route R2 instead of direct via Poverest Road at the same time.
The route will be retained by Metrobus using brand new electric single deckers from 29 March 2025.
Current Route[]
Route R3 operates via these primary locations:
- Orpington Station Bus Station
- Orpington High Street
- St Mary Cray
- Petts Wood Station Station Square
- Petts Wood Station Queensway
- Coppice Estate
- Crofton Lane
- Locksbottom Princess Royal Hospital