52 | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Operator | Metroline |
Garage | Willesden |
Vehicle | Volvo B5LH Wright Gemini 3 |
Peak vehicle requirement | Day: 16 Night: 3 |
Night-time | 24-hour service |
Route | |
Start | Victoria bus station |
Via | Hyde Park Corner Knightsbridge Kensington Palace Notting Hill Ladbroke Grove Kensal Rise |
End | Willesden bus garage |
Length | 7 miles (11 km) |
Service | |
Level | 24-hour service |
Frequency | About every 7-9 minutes |
Journey time | 35-50 minutes |
Operates | 24-hour service |
London Buses route 52 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Willesden bus garage and Victoria bus station, it is operated by Metroline.
Route 52 began on 28 March 1923, running from Raynes Park to Ladbroke Grove. The service was changed many times, on 13 Feb 1924 it ran from Wormwood Scrubs to Tooting and later on, on 9 April 1924 the route was revised to run Ladbroke Grove to Victoria. It was extended to Mill Hill in 1932. Later, some services were extended on to Borehamwood on Monday to Saturday peak journeys where it was changed several times: in 1951, it was withdrawn from Warwick Road and Drayton Road to Elstree Way Hotel, but extended back on 3 February 1953, and further extended to Brook Road on 3 February 1954. [1]
Another extension took the route to Rossington Avenue on Sundays from 1956. Seven years later this was extended to include Monday to Friday peak workings.
In February 1966, residents of North Kensington protested when the route was cut. Over 600 signed a petition demanding that the route link Notting Hill with North Kensington. The protest was supported by Leon Britton, who was then the prospective conservative candidate for the area. [2]
In 1967 the Mill Hill terminus was changed from Mill Hill Green Man to the rebuilt Mill Hill Broadway Station. The route was then withdrawn beyond Mill Hill Broadway in 1969, the Borehamwood - Mill Hill section being replaced by route 292. Frequency cuts led to over 2,000 passengers signing a petition for the improvement of route 52 in the same year. [1] [3]
In December 1993 the contract to run the route was won by London Coaches, who in July 1994 transferred the route to its Atlas Bus & Coach subsidiary as it had a garage in Willesden, close to the route's terminus. [4] Atlas operated the route with Leyland Titans in a route-specific livery. [5] In November 1994, route 52 was included in the sale of Atlas Bus & Coach to Metroline. [4]
On 8 December 2012, route 52 was retained by Metroline. [6]
On 17 November 2016, 14 people were injured as a bus on route 52 mounted a pavement and crashed into Kensal House on Ladbroke Grove. [7]
Route 52 operates via these primary locations: [8]
Kensal Green is an area in north-west London, and along with Kensal Town, it forms part of the northern section of North Kensington. It lies north of the canal in the London Borough of Brent, and also to the south, within Kensington and Chelsea. Kensal Green is located on the Harrow Road, about 4.4 miles (7.1 km) miles from Charing Cross.
Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and the Portobello Road Market. From around 1870, Notting Hill had an association with artists.
Notting Hill Gate is a London Underground station near Notting Hill, London, located on the street called Notting Hill Gate. On the Central line, it is between Holland Park to the west and Queensway to the east. On the District line and Circle line, it is between High Street Kensington and Bayswater stations. It is on the boundary of Travelcard Zone 1 and Zone 2.
Ladbroke Grove is an area and a road in North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, passing through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue.
Metroline is a bus company operating bus services in Greater London and Hertfordshire. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro. It also operates bus services under contract to Transport for London.
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North Kensington is an area of west and northwest London. It is north of Notting Hill and south of Kensal Green predominately in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and partly in the London Borough of Brent and City of Westminster. The names North Kensington and Ladbroke Grove describe the same area.
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