London Buses route 44 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Victoria and Tooting, it is operated by London General.
History
Today's route 44 commenced operation on 1 October 1950 between London Bridge Station and Mitcham Three Kings via Southwark Bridge Road - St Georges Circus - Vauxhall - Nine Elms Lane - Battersea - Wandsworth - Earlsfield - Tooting. The route was introduced to replace Tram route 12 and Trolleybus Route 612. The route was initially operated by London Transport from their Wandsworth (WD) garage using AEC Regent III RTs.
In 1951, the AEC Regent III RTs were replaced by Leyland Titan RTLs.
In 1952, the stand at Mitcham was changed to Cricketers.
On 26 November 1958, it was extended on Sundays to Wallington via Carshalton to replace the 77B on Sundays only.
On 9 October 1963, the Sunday was extended from London Bridge to Blackwall Tunnel.
On 15 November 1964, the Sunday projection from Mitcham to Wallington was withdrawn, this section was replaced by a new Sunday only route 115A.
In 1966, the Leyland Titan RTLs were replaced by AEC Regent III RTs.
On 16 January 1971, the route was further cut back on Sundays from Poplar (Blackwall Tunnel) to Aldgate.
On 17 June 1972, the route was converted to one-person operation using Daimler Fleetlines.
In 1979, part of the allocation was transferred to Stockwell (SW) garage.
In 1987, Wandsworth (WD) garage was announced closed and the allocation was transferred to Sutton (A) and Merton (AL) garages. The Stockwell (SW) allocation was withdrawn at the same time.
On 26 November 1988, the route received another Sunday extension, this time to Sutton Station. The Sutton (A) allocation was transferred to Merton (AL) garage at the same time.
On 25 May 1991, the route was drastically shortened to run between Vauxhall and Tooting Station only. The section of route between Clapham Junction and London Bridge Station was covered by new route 344. The Daimler Fleetlines were replaced by MCW Metrobuses at the same time.
In 2000, the route was converted to low floor operation using Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TLs.
On 3 March 2006, the route was retained by London General.
On 11 November 2006, the route was rerouted at Battersea via Chelsea Bridge to Victoria.
On 1 June 2013, the route was retained by London General with Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s and Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B7TLs introduced.
Current Route
- Victoria Station Buckingham Palace Road
- Victoria Coach Station
- Ebury Bridge Road
- Chelsea Bridge
- Battersea Park
- Battersea Latchmere
- Battersea High Street
- York Road
- Wandsworth Town
- Wandsworth Southside Shopping Centre
- Earlsfield
- Garratt Lane
- Summerstown
- Tooting Broadway
- Tooting The Mitre
- Amen Corner
- Tooting Station
External links
Gallery
