London Buses route N550 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Canning Town and Trafalgar Square, it is operated by Stagecoach London.
History[]
Route N550 commenced operation on 30 August 2008 between Trafalgar Square and Canning Town Bus Station via Northumberland Avenue - Victoria Embankment - Blackfriars - Mansion House - Bank - Aldgate - Commercial Road - Limehouse - Canary Wharf - Westferry Road - Cubitt Town - Manchester Road - Preston's Road - Poplar. The route was introduced to replace route N50 between Canning Town and East Beckton. It was initially operated by East London from their Upton Park (U) garage using Alexander ALX400 bodied Dennis Tridents.
On 16 September 2011, the allocation was transferred to West Ham (WH) garage.
On 31 August 2013, the route passed to Tower Transit operating from their Lea Interchange (LI) garage with Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s introduced.
On 2 January 2017, the route was rerouted between Trafalgar Square and Mansion House via Aldwych and Fleet Street instead of Victoria Embankment.
On 1 September 2018, the route passed to CT Plus operating from their Ash Grove (HK) garage using existing Enviro 400H City bodied Alexander Dennis E40Hs. At the same time, the route was re-routed via Ludgate Hill, Fleet Street, and The Strand, instead of Queen Victoria Street and Victoria Embankment and additionally extended to serve the London City Island development at Leamouth.
On 27 August 2022, the route was transferred back to Stagecoach London as part of the sale of the HCT Group to Stagecoach London.
On 15 October 2022, the vehicles were renumbered to Stagecoach London fleet numbers.
Current Route[]
- Canning Town Bus Station
- Poplar (All Saints Station)
- Cubitt Town
- Island Gardens Station
- Canary Wharf Station
- Heron Quays Station
- Westferry Station
- Limehouse Station
- Aldgate East Station
- Aldgate Station
- Bank Station
- Mansion House Station
- City Thameslink Station
- Aldwych
- Charing Cross Station
- Trafalgar Square Cockspur Street