Bus-buffs and transport-lovers, gather round. I know you’ve all been on the edge of your moquette-covered seats, waiting to find out which of London’s bountiful bus routes is, in fact, the oldest. And the results are now in. Following a recent Freedom of Information request, our trusty TfL has revealed which lovely London bus route has been meandering through the streets of our capital city for the longest. And the answer is: the number 24, of course.
Now, big red buses are about as synonymous with London as the grumpy commuters sat on board them. So it makes sense that they’ve been around for a while. But for how long exactly has the oldest bus route been transporting Londoners about town, I hear you ask? Well, we’re going to need to take it back for a moment. Waaay back. To a time with no smartphones, no Oyster cards, and – wait for it – no Citymapper. Can you even imagine?
The number 24 bus route
The number 24 bus route was first created on August 19, 1912, and it ran between Victoria and Pimlico for two years. It didn’t become the route we know it as now until May 21, 1914, when it began shuttling passengers between Pimlico and Hampstead Heath. But the bus route has remained completely unchanged since that very day in 1914, making it the oldest bus route in the entire city.
The route serves 34 stops between Pimlico’s Grosvenor Road and Hampstead Heath’s South End Green. The route, in its entirety, covers just over seven miles and takes between 40-66 minutes in total. Passing the much-loved likes of Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Horse Guards Parade, and Camden High Street; the number 24 is a pretty perfect bus to hop on if you’re wanting to partake in a spot of sightseeing.
As well as being the oldest in town, the number 24 bus route boasts some other shiny awards in its trophy cabinet, too. In 1965, it was the first route to trial the Atlantean-style bus (the bus with electronic doors at the front and back). It was also the first London bus route to be privatised, and the first route to introduce the shiny new Routemasters in 2013.
So, there you have it. Who’d have thought a London bus route would be full of so much history, hey?