London Buses route 150 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Becontree Heath and Chigwell Row, it is operated by Arriva London.
History[]
Route 150 commenced operating on 26 March 1988 between Ilford Station and Chigwell Row via Cranbrook Road - Gants Hill Station - Cranbrook Road - Barkingside High Street - Fullwell Cross - Fencepiece Road - New North Road - Hainault Station - New North Road - The Lowe - Manford Way - Romford Road. The route was initially operated by East London operating from Seven Kings (AP) and Romford (NS) garages using Leyland Titans.
On 10 October 1992, Optare Deltas were introduced.
On 20 March 1993, the allocation was transferred to Barking (BK) garage and the route was converted to full single deck operation using Optare Deltas.
On 19 July 1997, the route passed to Harris Bus from West Thurrock (WT) garage and was converted back to double deck operation using Northern Counties Palatine II bodied DAFs and East Lancs bodied Volvo Olympians. Following the collapse of Harris Bus in December 1999, the route temporarily passed to Blue Triangle.
On 15 April 2000, the route was taken over by East Thames Buses operating from their Ash Grove (AG) garage using Northern Counties Palatine II bodied DAFs and East Lancs bodied Volvo Olympians.
On 26 June 2004, the route was extended from Ilford to Becontree Heath via withdrawn route 129, and the route was converted to low floor operation using brand new Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B7TLs.
On 15 October 2005, the route passed to First London operating from their Rainham (R) garage with Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B7TLs introduced.
On 17 December 2005, Rainham (R) garage was announced closed and the allocation was transferred to Dagenham (DM) garage.
On 16 October 2010, the route passed to Arriva London operating from their Barking (DX) garage with Alexander Dennis Enviro400s introduced. A school journey is operated by Docklands Buses from their Silvertown (SI) garage using Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TLs.
In June 2014, the Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TLs were replaced by existing Optare Olympus bodied Scania N230UDs.
On 3 October 2015, existing Alexander ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TLs were introduced.
On 1 October 2016, the school day journey operated by Docklands Buses was transferred to Blue Triangle operating from their River Road (RR) garage.
On 14 October 2017, the route was retained by Arriva London using existing Alexander Dennis Enviro400s. At the same time, the school journeys passed to Arriva London operating from their Barking (DX) garage.
On 5 February 2024, a new variant of the route named 150U was temporarily introduced due to a shortage of trains on the Central Line operating as a weekday peak-hours only service between Ilford Station and Hainault Station. It was initially operated by Arriva London from their Palmers Green (AD) garage using existing Wright StreetDecks.
On 12 February 2024, the route variant 150U passed to Abellio London operating from their Battersea (QB) garage using existing Wright GB Kite Electroliner EVs.
On 2 March 2024, Abellio London was rebranded to Transport UK London Bus.
On 11 March 2024, existing Enviro200 MMC bodied Alexander Dennis E20Ds were introduced alongside the existing Wright GB Kite Electroliner EVs.
On 25 March 2024, the route variant 150U passed back to Arriva London operating from their Palmers Green (AD) garage using existing Wright StreetDecks.
The 150U service will be withdrawn from TBC.
The route will be retained by Arriva London from 12 October 2024 using existing Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5LHs.
Current Route[]
Route 150 operates via these primary locations:
- Becontree Heath Leisure Centre
- Ilford Station
- Gants Hill Station Cranbrook Road
- Barkingside High Street
- Barkingside Fullwell Cross
- Hainault Station
- Chigwell Row Romford Road