London Bus Routes: 401 - 499

The Extremities: Route 401 - 499

Route 401 starts off in Thamesmead, a town by the River Thames which I've grown to love and feels cut off from the rest of London. It seemed that on a Sunday evening, with a Greggs sausage roll in hand, the route didn't have much usage as it trundled down to its terminus at Bexleyheath Shopping Centre. It makes sense why when you find out the route has an extra stop Mondays- Fridays to serve an industrial area before looping back round the roundabout, making it seem like its main purpose is to commute workers. 

Every time I found myself in Croydon, I always thought the same thing; 'Wow, I'm gonna be here a lot for the 400s', and I was right. I would become very accustomed to West Croydon Bus Station with countless routes starting here, like the 403 to Warlingham, a place I had never heard of, and discovered that it was essentially just a Sainsbury's near a roundabout. Route 405 also starts at the bus station, and just seems to keep travelling south through Purley, Coulsdon, Merstham and eventually to Redhill. I read somewhere that this route was London's most southern route, but looking at the map, we'll know later which route is the most southern. Mentioning Coulsdon, that's where Route 404 starts as it makes it way through a whole bunch of back streets filled with houses to Caterham-on-the-Hill, a rather pleasant village green. Nearby at Caterham Station was where Route 407 started, which also passes through Croydon, as well as the 410. Route 412 *also* starts at West Croydon, taking a rather scenic route in a very high up place with interesting names of Sanderstead and Riddlesdown, terminating at Purley. Sometimes the last stop wasn't obvious on a route, and it wasn't for the 412, so I usually just stayed on till the bus terminating announcement played as the driver would realise I'm still on the bus.. except he didn't, so he continued around a very large loop, and I had to bug him to let me off. Did I mention I would go to Croydon a lot? We'll be back there again later.

I also seemed to be in Kingston pretty regularly, with the 411 starting here to run past Hampton Court out of London to a random village named West Molesey, rarely crossing the River Thames twice. Route 406 and 418 both start at Kingston too, and weirdly, both also terminate at Epsom. They follow each other to Tolworth, with 406 splitting via Stoneleigh and the 418 going by Horton Country Park. Luckily, because I stopped for McDonald's in Hounslow, I missed a single decker 423 and instead got a double decker, starting off by Hounslow Heath, an extremely bizzarre area I may talk about another time, and finishing over at Heathrow Terminal 5, where I gave the Pods another go. Seeing as I was at the end of the Piccadilly Line, and I live near the other end, I thought I'd ride the whole length to Cockfosters taking over an hour and a half, and gave Trent Park an explore. I also noticed that at Acton Town at the time, there was strangely an old 1967 Victoria Line carriage parked in the sidings there, that unfortunately had some graffiti on. My train after that was the first time I saw the new moquette design, the cushioned seating you find on transport. 

Another route I was lucky enough to get a double decker for was 428 from Erith to Bluewater, my first time back there since the 96. You may remember that the 96 goes for an express section between Dartford and Bluewater, and 428 does the same, except it instead also stops at the Darent Valley Hospital. Back in Croydon again now for the 433, which terminates over at the Addington Village Interchange. I mentioned before how there used to be some T routes around here, and 433 used to be one of these, as when they were axed, T33 was the only one that stayed as a renumber to 433. I was also back in Coulsdon again for 434, running from Ridgmont Avenue to Whyteleafe South, which if you take that place name and break it down, 'white' and 'leaf' are both spelt wrong. That route also got stuck in Purley for a very long time because of a broken down bus. Route 440 also had a similar issue to a broken down bus. Running from Stonebridge Park to Chiswick, Power Road, a little before a London Overground level crossing near to South Acton, the back door got unhinged at the bottom so the bus was taken out of service and I had to wait for the one behind. The day I did Route 444, I wasn't planning to do it, and it was only because I was taking a walk through Epping Forest, I emerged out onto Chingford, and the service would have helped me get closer to home, did I decide to do it. On a Sunday evening, it was quiet and actually pretty speedy along the North Circular, taking the back streets to serve the North Middlesex Hospital, before terminating down at Turnpike Lane Station.

Although it felt like I was always on the very outskirts of London going to new and exciting places, the 400s still had its fair share of routes that went into Central London, and which followed other services for most of its journey, therefore, these ones didn't end up being that exciting. These included the 414 (Putney Bridge - Maida Hill, The Chippenham, 436 (Lewisham Shopping Centre - Battersea Park Station), 452 (Vauxhall - Kensal Rise), 453 (Marylebone Station - Deptford Bridge) and 460 (Willesden Bus Garage - North Finchley). Anyways, back in Croydon again now for the 450 from Lower Sydenham, and the 455 from Wallington to Purley, Old Lodge Lane, a rather strange terminus mid way down a housing road, and a route which travels through a lot of industry near Croydon around where the IKEA is located. Route 463 was yet another route to serve Coulsdon, and another service that heavily serves houses on a rather snowy day, which caused the bus to be rather dirty on the outside. Meanwhile, Route 468 was another one of these routes to just follow a bunch of older routes its whole way, and guess what.. also served Croydon, coming all the way from Elephant & Castle. It wasn't actually as bad as I thought tho because I forgot that you can get some good views of London from on top of Beulah Hill, and spot the Croydon Transmitter Tower. 

There were three consecutive routes which were all really exciting, the first being 464, starting at New Addington, the extremity of the London Trams. A small single door bus that leads straight out of New Addington up a very tight narrow road with some beautiful views down into the valley. This road leads out into Biggin Hill, the brilliant spot with the view into the airport, and where the two buses providing the half hourly service pass each other rather than down on the narrow stretch where it would be impossible. Bizzarely, there seemed to be a sinkhole on the road outside Biggin Hill Airport, which actually wasn't causing heavy traffic but was definitely a strange sight to see. The route then goes down another narrow road on a Hail & Ride section until it reaches the quaint village of Tatsfield outside of London, and because of the lack of transport in the area, it was one of them examples of having to return back out on the same bus. Next up is 465, starting yet again in Kingston and takes a unique route out of the town with a race alongside the Thames, before heading straight down through Surbiton, Hook and Chessington. A view of the World of Adventures where the route becomes exciting, as it passed by the expansive commons on either side until you cross over the M25 and reach the town of Leatherhead. I'm fairly certain that TFL wanted to cut this route back to Leatherhead, like with the 375 to Havering-Atte-Bower, but I'm glad they didn't because this route is London's Most Southern Service and also goes the furthest outside of London. In addition, it serves the small village of Mickleham which no other route serves, where the bus can get stuck in a narrow street after going probably the fastest I've been on this challenge so far on the main road. Afterwards, you get a brilliant view of Box Hill, an amazing place to visit if you get the opportunity before terminating at Dorking, making it my new favourite bus route in London, and probably the best overall. Finally is the 466, the second and final route to begin at Caterham-on-the-Hill, forming a more direct route back to Coulsdon than the 404, spanning commons on either side again and another pub named after a fox, just like Keston. There's a pretty dangerous narrow corner that goes under a railway bridge, and guess what.. it also serves Croydon, *but* for the last time for the 400s. Running along the same road as the tram tracks, before going all the way down to the terminus at Addington Village, for the last time again. 

Jumping back to Route 132 which runs between North Greenwich and Bexleyheath, Shopping Centre, there's an additional 2 400 routes which run to the same places, but obviously taking various different routes. These two routes are the 422 and 486 and I'm fairly certain this is the only example where 3 routes terminate at the exact same places. Route 472 also starts at North Greenwich, and does a strange thing when it gets to the end at Thamesmead. Reaching the town from a more direct route than other services, it goes right by the terminus at the leisure centre, before then looping all the way around the estate just to terminate back at the leisure centre. Essentially, if you're travelling away from the start of the route at Thamesmead, never get on at the first stop, instead cross the roundabout, because you'd be one or maybe even two buses in front. On the other side of the River Thames, there's Route 473 and 474, the only two routes to serve London City Airport and North Woolwich. Route 473 terminates at North Woolwich, where the infamous Woolwich Ferry and Foot Tunnel takes you across the Thames to the main town of Woolwich. There's also the abandoned North Woolwich Station, the station building and platform canopy still on display, making it one of the best remains of anything abandoned railway related, which used to also be a museum after its closure, which would be amazing to see come back. Route 474 also provides a great view into the runway of London City Airport and the old docklands round them parts.

When I did Route 283, it ran from East Acton to Hammersmith, but it used to carry on further across the bridge to terminate at Barnes Pond, or when the Wetland Centre was open, would stop there instead. I didn't realise they rerouted the 485 to make sure the Wetlands Centre was still served after the 283 cut, so that was a pleasant surprise. Route 482 unfortunately starts at a place I didn't like at first, and that is Southall. However, it, along with Route 490, is the only route to serve Heathrow Terminal 4, and both terminate at Terminal 5, providing much better views into Heathrow Airport along the Southern Perimeter than all the other routes which serve the North side, Route 482 more than 490 because that one is a double decker. Route 491 is the last route to serve Waltham Cross, and also does a massive loop around the Enfield Island Village, which was brilliant to see again after the 121. Route 492 is the final Bluewater service and is the only one of the 3 to not run express from Dartford, and takes a different route to 96 and 428 as well as stopping regularly.  Route 493 does a similar thing to 472, by starting at North Sheen, and doing a massive turn around Richmond, before serving south of North Sheen, meaning it would be worth to walk down the street 5 minutes to be on the bus in front for the remainder of the route to Tooting, St George's Hospital. The final day on the 400 routes took me to Romford, for their final routes and the last 3 consecutive normal numbered routes, 496, 498, 499. Route 496 is a rather uninteresting route just serving housing streets the entire time from Harold Wood to Romford, Queen's Hospital, where Route 498 starts. This route is London's Most Easterly Route, stretching all the way out to Brentwood, travelling along the Southend Arterial Road most of the way, and is probably my least favourite extremity route of the 4. Finally, is Route 499, one of the rare examples of running between two terminuses no other routes terminate at, them being Gallows Corner, Tesco and Heath Park Estate. Near the end of the route, you race right alongside the railway out of Romford, and there's a rather interesting park at the terminus. With there no being a Route 500, and numbered routes starting to cease after this, it was a big monument to finish all routes from 1-499.