Route 25 began operation on 30 October 1910 between Old Ford and Victoria via Bank, Holborn, Oxford Circus and Piccadilly, the same routing as today's route 8. On 20 June 1912, routes 8 and 25 exchanged their eastern branches at Bank, with route 25 taking over what has become its traditional route from Seven Kings to Victoria. By the end of the World War I, route 25 was working daily between Seven Kings Garage and Victoria, with a Sunday 25A route from Chadwell Heath to Victoria. During the 1920s, London's bus transport expanded rapidly, and route 25 soon had gained 25B, 25C and 25D suffixed routes.[2]
On 1 December 1924, many routes in the group were renumbered, with 25A becoming 125, 25B changing to 26, 25C to 126 and the 25D becoming route 145. This situation remained until 3 October 1934, when the newly constituted London Passenger Transport Board instituted its own numbering system, which generally re-instated the situation previous to December 1924, apart for route 145, which by then had developed into a self-contained route, thereby keeping its route number. Each route ran every 6 minutes on Mondays to Fridays, providing 40 buses per hour on the common sections; the routes were operated from garages in Seven Kings, Forest Gate, Upton Park and Hammersmith on route 25.[2]
From 4 September 1982, the route was revised to run in two overlapping sections, Ilford to Victoria and Becontree Heath to Aldgate; the latter section being renumbered 225, albeit running to Limehouse instead of Aldgate. Both routes were AEC Routemaster operated, however Route 225 was created purely as a means of converting the eastern end of what was route 25 to one man operation which took place under the next programme of changes on 23 April 1983 using Leyland Titans from Seven Kings and West Ham garages.[2]
On 16 January 1988, route 25 (now Ilford to Victoria) was converted to one man operation. This rendered the use of route number 225 superfluous and consequently the whole service was renumbered back to 25, albeit still running in overlapping sections.[4]
The route was allocated to the East London division of London Buses in April 1989. On 18 July 1992 the route was curtailed at Oxford Circus, with the section to Victoria becoming part of route 8.[4]
On 20 March 1993, the route was withdrawn from Becontree Heath and curtailed at Ilford Hainault Street and also Saturday and Sunday services were diverted via Cannon Street.[citation needed]
When next tendered, the route returned to East London (by now part of Stagecoach London) on 26 June 2004.[5] The weekend diversion to Tower Hill was withdrawn. Route 25 was the longest route in London to use articulated buses in terms of route length.[6]
In January 2004, three hydrogen fuel cell powered buses were introduced on route 25 on a two-year trial.[7] The route was chosen due to its length and "wide variety of traffic conditions".[7] These vehicles ran on the route in addition to the regular articulated vehicles.[8] However, the vehicles were transferred to route RV1 in September 2004.[9]
Upon being re-tendered, on 25 June 2011 the route passed to First London.[10]
On 22 June 2013, route 25 was included in the sale of First London's Lea Interchange garage to Tower Transit.[11][12] In August 2014, two buses on the route were fitted with equipment designed to enhance bus drivers' awareness of pedestrians and cyclists as part of a six-week trial.[13][14][15][16] The route was chosen because it was "most likely to encounter packed seas of distracted shopping people and cyclists".[17]
In 2015/16 route 25 was the busiest route in London with 19.4 million passengers.[18]
Tower Transit retained the route when next tendered with a new contract commencing on 25 June 2016.[19][20] However rather than the usual duration of five years, the new contract only runs until November 2019 to allow demand to be reassessed after the opening of Elizabeth line.[21]
From 1 December 2018, route 25 was cut back from Oxford Circus to City Thameslink station. It ceased to be a 24-hour route from the same date with the introduction of route N25.[22]
In late May 2020, route 25 went back to Stagecoach London.
Incidents
In October 2007, a man was killed when he became trapped under an articulated bus on the route having got off it in Ilford High Road.[23]
In a three-day period in February 2010, while still a 24 hour service, 31 homeless people were discovered to be riding route 25 overnight to spend "two hours in the warm" when a taskforce noticed a large number of call-outs by drivers to have police and ambulance remove homeless from the bus, resulting in the buses having to wait before returning to service; social services groups responded by going to the bus garage and getting the homeless into overnight shelters.[24]
Current route
Route 25 operates via these primary locations:[25]
Ilford is a large town in east London, England, 9 miles (14 km) north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a population of 168,168 in 2011, compared to 303,858 for the entire borough.
First London was a bus company operating services in east, west and south-east London, England. It was a subsidiary of FirstGroup and operated buses under contract to Transport for London. It was formed in the late 1990s through the acquisition of three London bus operators. First London's garages were sold off between December 2007 and June 2013 with the last closing in September 2013.
East London Transit (ELT) is a part-segregated bus rapid transit, operated as part of the London Buses network. The East London Transit opened in phases between 2010 and 2013. The scheme for this system was developed by Transport for London to meet the existing and anticipated demand for public transport in East London caused by the Thames Gateway redevelopment, and has been planned to allow for a possible future upgrade to tram operation.
London Buses route 5 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Romford Market and Canning Town bus station, it is operated by Blue Triangle.
London Buses route 8 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Bow Church and Tottenham Court Road station, it is operated by Stagecoach London.
London Buses route 12 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Dulwich Library and Oxford Circus, it is operated by London Central.
London Buses route 15 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Blackwall and Charing Cross stations, it is operated by Blue Triangle.
London Buses route 36 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between New Cross bus garage and Queen's Park station, it is operated by London Central.
London Buses route 242 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Homerton University Hospital and Aldgate bus station, it is operated by Stagecoach London.
East London Bus & Coach Company Limited, trading as Stagecoach London, is a bus company operating in East London. The East London brand is a subsidiary of Stagecoach London and operates services under contract to Transport for London from seven garages.
London Buses route 26 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Hackney Wick and Victoria station, it is operated by Stagecoach London.
London Buses route 427 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Uxbridge and Southall, it is operated by Transport UK London Bus.
London Buses route 167 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London and Essex, England. Running between Ilford and Loughton station, it is operated by Stagecoach London.
London Buses route 205 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Bow Church and Paddington, it is operated by Stagecoach London.
London Buses route 343 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between New Cross Gate and Aldgate bus station, it is operated by London Central.
London Buses route 97 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Chingford station and Stratford City bus station, it is operated by Stagecoach London.
London Buses route 100 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between St Paul's and Shadwell stations, it is operated by London Central.
London Buses route 135 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Cubitt Town and Moorfields Eye Hospital, it is operated by Stagecoach London.
The London Night Bus network is a series of night bus routes that serve Greater London. Services broadly operate between the hours of 23:00 and 06:00.
London Buses route 388 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Stratford City and London Bridge bus stations, it is operated by Stagecoach London.
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