Routes Ahead: Route 25

London has many bus routes, covering the network far and wide. But one route must be used the most? The busiest route in London. This route runs between Oxford Circus in the West End right out to Ilford in East London and goes by the route number of 25.

© EastLondoner 2014

The route is allocated with Wright Eclipse Gemini 2/B9TL Double Decker buses and operated by Tower Transit's Lea Interchange (LI) garage.  The route was originally operated by First London, but the company left London during 2013. So therefore, along with all of the other routes in Lea Interchange, the 25 switched operators in June 2013.

The route itself proceeds like this:

© EastLondoner 2014

• Ilford
• Manor Park
• Forest Gate
• Stratford
• Bow Church
• Mile End
• Whitechapel
• Aldgate
• Bank
• Holborn
• Tottenham Court Road
• Oxford Circus

Route 25, has a pretty unique timetable for a day time London route. Not all of the journeys on the route run fully to Oxford Circus. Approximately half of the buses turn short at Bank from Ilford. This is part of the Mayor's strategy to reduce the amount of buses using Oxford Street. This also prevents overcrowding at the Holles Street stand as (usually) it is shared with the 8. 

The 25, has quite a bit of history. Buses originally ran all the way from Victoria all the way out to Becontree Heath, Barkingside and Seven Kings. Then in 1988, the route was changed to just operate between Victoria and Ilford via Oxford Circus. During this time, a weekend diversion was introduced which took the route to the Tower of London instead of running via Bank. 

In 1992, the 25 was cut back between Victoria and Oxford Circus, with the 8 going to Victoria instead. Then during 2004, the route was awarded to Stagecoach London and converted to Articulated bus operation, a most welcome move if you ask me! Around this time, the weekend service running via Tower of London was discontinued with all buses running via Bank 7 days a week.

© GloriousWater 2014

Today the route has an incredible Peak Vehicle requirement of 60 buses, the highest of any route in London (Closely followed by route 38 with 59 buses). LI garage also has a pretty big fleet of Enviro400 buses, kept for routes 26, 30 and 425. These are liable to appear on route 25 at any time of day. 

© EastLondoner 2014

© EastLondoner 2014

There are two batches of Enviro400, and both these pictures illustrate a version of each. The buses which are on an 11reg plate were originally ordered for routes 26 and 30 and are to a slightly older specification while the buses which are on a 13reg plate were ordered for route 425 and a to a slightly newer specification. The newer buses contain the rear number plate on the bumper as opposed to near the number behind the glass on the older ones. The newer ones also do not contain any offside emergency escape door.

Do you feel inspired to ride route 25? Have you had any personal experiences with route 25 yourself? Please let us know in the comments section!