London Buses Route 486 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Bexleyheath and North Greenwich, it is operated by London Central.
History[]
Route 486 commenced operation on 24 February 2001, running between North Greenwich and Welling Corner via Millennium Busway (adjacent to West Parkside - Millennium Village and Southern Way) - Roads within the retail park) - Greenwich Peninsula Sainsbury's - Peartree Way - Bugsby's Way - Anchor & Hope Lane - Charlton Church Lane - Charlton Station - Charlton Church Lane - The Village - Charlton Park Road - Little Heath - Repository Road - Stadium Road - Queen Elizabeth Hospital - Baker Road - Shooters Hill Road - Shooters Hill - Bellegrove Road - Welling Corner. The route was introduced to replace routes M1 and M2. The route initially operated by London Central from their New Cross (NX) garage using East Lancs Myllennium bodied DAF SB220s.
On 2 June 2001, the route was re-routed at Greenwich Peninsular via a dedicated Busway instead of West Parkside.
On 23 February 2002, the route was retained by London Central with a Wright Eclipse bodied Volvo B7RLE introduced. At the same time, the route was extended from Welling to Bexleyheath, and the allocation was transferred from New Cross (NX) to Bexleyheath (BX) garages.
On 24 February 2007, the route was retained by London Central and converted to double deck using brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s.
On 22 February 2014, the route was retained by London Central.
On 12 September 2015, a half-hourly service on weekend nights was introduced.
From 25 November 2015 until 10 December 2016, a Wright StreetDeck demonstrator was trialed on the route.
From 2 August 2016 until 21 February 2017, an Optare MetroDecker demonstrator was trialed on the route.
On 23 February 2019, the route was retained by London Central using existing Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TLs.
On 20 March 2020, the 24-hour weekend night service was withdrawn due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 29 July 2023, the route was converted to a 24-hour service.[1]
Current Route[]
Route 486 operates via these primary locations:
- Bexleyheath Market Place
- Crook Log
- Welling Corner
- Bellegrove Road (for Welling Station)
- Shooters Hill
- Queen Elizabeth Hospital
- Charlton
- Charlton Station
- Greenwich Peninsula
- Millennium Village
- North Greenwich Bus Station