London Buses route 223 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Harrow and Wembley Central, it is operated by Metroline.
History
Route 223 commenced operating on 21 January 1995 between Harrow Bus Station and Wembley Central Station via Northwick Park Hospital - Kenton Road - Woodcok Hill - Windemere Avenue - Preston Road Station - The Avenue - Wembley Park Station - Wembley Park Drive - Park Lane as a Monday to Saturday service. The route was introduced to replace the withdrawn section of route 224 between Wembley and North Wembley. The route was initially operated by CentreWesst from their Alperton (ON) garage Alexander bodied Mercedes Benz 811Ds.
On 22 March 1997, the route was extended in service from Wembley Central Station to Station Grove and the Alexander bodied Mercedes Benz 811Ds were replaced by Wright Handybus bodied Dennis Darts.
On 13 October 2001, the route was retained by First London and was converted to low floor operation using Marshall Capital bodied Dennis Dart SLFs. A Sunday service was introduced at the same time.
On 20 November 2004, the route was rerouted within Northwick Park Hospital to serve new bus station.
In 2005, there was problem at South Kenton Station, blocking Windmere Avenue, and so the 223 had to do a double run at Preston Road and run full length of Woodcock Hill, with a temporary route 523 replacing it between Windermere Avenue and Preston Road.
In 2006, the routing via Windmere Avenue and South Kenton Station was restored and route 523 was withdrawn.
On 15 October 2011, the route was retained by First London with brand using Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts introduced. At the same time, the route was rerouted in Wembley via The Triangle instead of Wembley Park Drive and Park Lane.
On 22 June 2013, the route was included in the sale of First London's Alperton (ON) garage to Metroline.
In September 2017, the 9.6m Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts were replaced by 10.2m versions.
Current Route
- Harrow Bus Station
- Northwick Park Hospital
- Kenton Station
- South Kenton Station
- Preston Road Station
- The Avenue
- Wembley Park Station
- Wembley Stadium Station
- Wembley Central Station
- Wembley Ealing Road
Previous route 223s in London
- Until 22 May 1993 an Uxbridge to Heathrow route 223 ran via Cowley, Yiewsley and West Drayton (replaced by route U5).