London Buses route 658 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Woolwich and Crown Woods School, it is operated by London Central.
History[]
Route 658 commenced operating on 4 September 2006 between Woolwich and Avery Hill via Plumstead Common - Welling - Falconwood. The route was initially operated by Selkent from their Catford (TL) garage using Alexander ALX400 bodied Dennis Tridents. The route was introduced to replace the withdrawn section of route 624 between Woolwich and Crown Woods.
On 2 February 2010, the route was diverted towards Crown Woods from Woolwich New Road via Vincent Road to Burrage Road.
On 31 December 2011, the route passed to London Central and London General operating from their Bexleyheath (BX) and Mandela Way (MW) garages using existing Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s, Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B7TLs and brand new Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TLs. A crosslink with route 453 was introduced at the same time.
On 1 September 2014, the Mandela Way (MW) allocation was transferred to Camberwell (Q) garage. The crosslink with route 453 was withdrawn and replaced by a crosslink with route X68 at the same time.
On 31 December 2016, the route was retained by London Central with existing Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s and Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TLs.
In June 2019, a crosslink with route 291 was introduced.
On 20 March 2020, the crosslink with route X68 was withdrawn.
On 1 September 2020, the Camberwell (Q) allocation was transferred to Bexleyheath (BX) garage and the crosslink with route 291 was withdrawn.
On 1 January 2022, the route was retained by London Central using existing Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s and Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TLs.
In June 2022, the route was converted to full Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TL operation.
Current Route[]
Route 658 operates via these primary locations:
- Woolwich Thomas Street/Woolwich New Road
- Woolwich Arsenal Station
- Plumstead Common
- Welling Station
- Falconwood Station
- Avery Hill Crown Woods School