London Buses route 179 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Ilford and Chingford, it is operated by Stagecoach London.
History
Route 179 commenced operation on 9 October 1963 between Thames View Estate and Chingford via Barking - Ilford - Gants Hill - South Woodford. The route was initially operated by London Transport fron their Barking (BK) garage using AEC Regent III RTs. The route was introduced to replace route 145 between Chingford and Ilford and route 193 between Ilford and Thames View.
On 3 July 1971, it was converted to single deck, one man operation with the AEC Regent III RTs replaced by AEC Merlins.
On 17 June 1972, the route was withdrawn between Thames View Estate and Barking and the Service was converted to double deck operation with Daimler Fleetlines.
On 23 February 1974, the Monday to Saturday service was converted to double deck operation with Daimler Fleetlines.
On 11 October 1975, the Saturday service was extended from Barking to Thames View Estate all day.
On 1 June 1980, the Daimler Fleetlines were replaced by Leyland Titans.
On 4 September 1982, the route was withdrawn between Barking and Thames View Estate and the Sunday service was withdrawn.
On 2 November 1985, it was again converted to single deck operation with Leyland Nationals and the allocation was transferred to Loughton (L) garage.
On 17 October 1987, the route passed to Grey-Green operating from their Barking (DX) garage with Leyland Lynxes introduced.
In January 1996, the route was converted to double deck operation using Alexander RV bodied Volvo Citybuses.
On 19 October 1996, it passed to Capital Citybus operating from their Northumberland Park (NP) garage using Northern Counties Palatine 2 bodied Dennis Arrows.
On 31 May 1997, the allocation was transferred to Dagenham (DM) garage.
On 8 July 1998, the route was included in the sale of Capital Citybus to First London.
In December 2001, the route was converted to low floor operation using Plaxton President bodied Dennis Tridents.
In 2002, the allocation transferred to Rainham (R) garage.
In December 2005, Rainham (R) garage was announced closed and the allocation was transferred to Dagenham (DM) garage.
In 2008, the route was retained by First London using brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s.
On 20 February 2010, the route was withdrawn between Barking and Ilford.
On 28 September 2013, the route passed to Stagecoach London operating from their Leyton (T) garage using brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s.
The route will be retained by Stagecoach London from 29 September 2018.
Current Route
Route 179 operates via these primary locations:
- Ilford Hainault Street
- Ilford Station
- Gants Hill Station
- South Woodford Station
- Woodford Green
- Friday Hill
- Chingford Station