Earliest And Latest Non 24 Hour Tfl Bus Services

[duncanp]

Looking at the bus timetables near where I live, I see that the last W15 arrives at its Northern terminus at nearly 01:50.

Nearby, the first 158 from Chingford Mount leaves at 03:55 (except Sundays)

Does anyone know any earlier first departures, or later last arrivals, on TfL bus services that do not run 24 hours per day.

 

[CatfordCat]

Assuming we're talking about the bits that are in service - Metrobus 358 is probably a contender -

first bus leaves Green Street Green 0318, last one arrives Green Street Green 0217 (I don't know whether this is done as a night shift)

There may be buses on other routes that are out earlier / later where a long garage run is involved

 

[Deerfold]

Looking at the bus timetables near where I live, I see that the last W15 arrives at its Northern terminus at nearly 01:50.

Nearby, the first 158 from Chingford Mount leaves at 03:55 (except Sundays)

Does anyone know any earlier first departures, or later last arrivals, on TfL bus services that do not run 24 hours per day.

I think CatfordCat may have the winner (in both directions), but there's also the 106 with an early service leaving Finsbury Park at 0354 (including Sundays) and a last arrival in whitchapel at 0149.

The 106 is unusual in London in modern times as a route that used to be 24 hours and is now not quite.

 

[Hophead]

The 358 is also notable in that the first & last 3 buses of the day do not run the full route, but terminate at / start from the Metrobus garage at Green Street Green. At least, I think that's unusual in London these days.

 

[Deerfold]

The 358 is also notable in that the first & last 3 buses of the day do not run the full route, but terminate at / start from the Metrobus garage at Green Street Green. At least, I think that's unusual in London these days.

I nearly mentioned that. Yes, it is very unusal these days.

There's a few routes which have only half of trips cover part of the route but very few with a curtailment on all trips after a certain time.

 

[Cambus731]

The 26 really could do with running later than it does, as a lot of people arrive at Liverpool Street at midnight or later intending to catch the 0105 from Waterloo to Southampton.
I think the last 26 from Liverpool st to Waterloo is about 2350

 

[Deerfold]

The 26 really could do with running later than it does, as a lot of people arrive at Liverpool Street at midnight or later intending to catch the 0105 from Waterloo to Southampton.
I think the last 26 from Liverpool st to Waterloo is about 2350

I think that may be a victim of the law of unintended consequences.

The 26 gives up earlier than many similar day buses because the N26 bus starts quite early. For the vast majority of 26 passengers this will be fine - however the night bus goes to Trafalgar Square rather than Waterloo (as pretty much all night buses did at one time). So you can catch it most of the way and then walk or get another bus for the last 3 or 4 stops.

 

[Be3G]

You know, I'd been wondering the same thing as the OP recently, and funnily enough it was ‘inspired’ by the 158 with its very early start too (I'm soon to be a resident of Chingford, not too far from the 158's northern terminus). I can, however, beat the time of latest arrival for a bus route by four minutes: the last 121 of the night gets to Enfield Island Village at 0221.

As for the (N)26, I've also wished that the Waterloo to Liverpool Street link were available by a direct bus route later in to the night too, although my use is more for starting from Waterloo than the other direction.

 

[Statto]

154 Croydon-Morden finishes quite late, last bus Croydon although a short journey to Sutton at 2am arriving 2.30am, last bus the other way is at 1.20am going the full length of the route arriving 1.57am.

 

[Busaholic]

You know, I'd been wondering the same thing as the OP recently, and funnily enough it was ‘inspired’ by the 158 with its very early start too (I'm soon to be a resident of Chingford, not too far from the 158's northern terminus). I can, however, beat the time of latest arrival for a bus route by four minutes: the last 121 of the night gets to Enfield Island Village at 0221.

As for the (N)26, I've also wished that the Waterloo to Liverpool Street link were available by a direct bus route later in to the night too, although my use is more for starting from Waterloo than the other direction.

Might I suggest contacting TfL regarding running the 26 route for, say, half an hour later at night. As the N26 is worked by the same company and garage, and some buses already run off and to the other route, it would not necessarily need any additional resources, just a tweaking of the timetable. The N26 could then either start half an hour later or the two could be interleaved for a short while, as already happens on the N3 and N73 for instance.

The late 154 journeys are a recent addition to meet a specific perceived need.

 

[RJ]

The 121 was the latest finisher at 0221, until the short "154N" journeys were introduced. I ran a Pointless style quiz a question along these lines a year or two ago, will paste in the answers I came up with, though some might be slightly out now due to schedule changes.

Q. Name a day bus route that is scheduled to be in service for any length of time between 01:30 and 03:30 inclusive on at least one day of the week. The route must not be a 24 hour route or have an N-prefixed night element.

A. Originally considered using 02:00 as the start time, but changed it to 01:30 to make it a bit easier. Should have added a bonus to routes given still running after 02:00 instead. Interesting that most answers given were routes that finish late, rather than those which start early. It's mainly the airport routes that start really early (most serving Heathrow Central are 24 hour.) Late finishing routes tend to be those running through many areas with no night service, or routes where the garage is close to the last stop. The R68 has a few garage trips that run in service up until almost 02:00.

Some day routes running at or after 02:00; 75, 121, 154, 157, 177, 307, 358, 493
Some day routes running at or before 03:30; 350, 358, 423, 482, 490

The 106 and 422 also start running before 04:00. The 358 route is the only day route I know of that satisfies both criteria.

 

[Busaholic]

The 121 was the latest finisher at 0221, until the short "154N" journeys were introduced. I ran a Pointless style quiz a question along these lines a year or two ago, will paste in the answers I came up with, though some might be slightly out now due to schedule changes.

Q. Name a day bus route that is scheduled to be in service for any length of time between 01:30 and 03:30 inclusive on at least one day of the week. The route must not be a 24 hour route or have an N-prefixed night element.

A. Originally considered using 02:00 as the start time, but changed it to 01:30 to make it a bit easier. Should have added a bonus to routes given still running after 02:00 instead. Interesting that most answers given were routes that finish late, rather than those which start early. It's mainly the airport routes that start really early (most serving Heathrow Central are 24 hour.) Late finishing routes tend to be those running through many areas with no night service, or routes where the garage is close to the last stop. The R68 has a few garage trips that run in service up until almost 02:00.

Some day routes running at or after 02:00; 75, 121, 154, 157, 177, 307, 358, 493
Some day routes running at or before 03:30; 350, 358, 423, 482, 490

The 106 and 422 also start running before 04:00. The 358 route is the only day route I know of that satisfies both criteria.

The 75 and 106 are rare examples of 24 hour routes which ceased in that format, but which nevertheless retain certain characteristics of such routes. In the case of the 75, once the pubbers and clubbers left Croydon (cf the 154 and 157) it must have gone pretty quiet.