London Buses route R68 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Hampton Court and Kew Retail Park, it is operated by Abellio London.
History
Route R68 commenced operating on 8 June 1991 between Hampton Court and Richmond Dee Road via Hampton Church - Hampton Hill - Hampton Road - Teddington High Street -Waldegrave Road - Twickenham Junction - Richmond. The route was initially operated by London United from their Fulwell (FW) garage using Plaxton Pointer bodied Dennis Darts. The route was introduced to replace the withdrawn section of route 267 between Fulwell Garage to Hampton Court.
On 9 November 1991, the Richmond terminal changed to Manor Circus.
On 9 May 1992, the Sunday service was extended from Richmond to Kew Gardens Stationn via Kew Road and was diverted between Twickenham and Teddington via Strawberry Vale - Strawberry Vale to Ferry Road.
On 30 June 1996, the Sunday service was diverted at Richmond via Lower Mortlake road instead of Kew Road and the Summer Sunday service was converted to double deck operation using MCW Metrobuses.
On 3 October 1999, the route was withdrawn between Richmond and Kew Gardens Station.
On 24 June 2000, the route passed to Tellings Golden Miller from Fulwell (TF) garage and was converted to low floor operation using Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart SLFs.
On 26 April 2003, the route was extended from Richmond to Kew Retail Park.
On 3 September 2005, the route was included in the sale of Tellings Golden Miller to Travel London.
On 21 May 2009, the route was included in the sale of Travel London to Abellio London.
On 26 June 2010, the route was retained by Abellio London with brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts introduced.
The route will be retained by Abellio London from 24 June 2017.
Current Route
- Hampton Court Station
- Hampton High Street
- Teddington High Street
- Strawberry Vale
- Twickenham
- Richmond Station
- Kew Retail Park