London Buses route 5 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Romford Market and Canning Town bus station, it is operated by Go-Ahead London.

5
Overview
OperatorGo-Ahead London
GarageRiver Road
Henley Road (Early/late trips from route N15s allocation)
VehicleAlexander Dennis Enviro400H MMC
New Routemaster
Peak vehicle requirement30
Began service11 November 1959
Former operator(s)Stagecoach London
Night-timeNight Bus N15
Route
StartRomford Market
ViaBecontree
Barking
East Ham
Upton Park
Plaistow
EndCanning Town bus station
Length10 miles (16 km)
Service
LevelDaily
FrequencyAbout every 6-10 minutes
Journey time43-82 minutes
Operates05:30 until 01:00
Annual patronage11.3 million (2018/19)
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History

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Stagecoach London TransBus ALX400 bodied TransBus Trident at Canning Town bus station in October 2014

Route number 5 was used for an experimental service which ran between November 1953 and May 1954. The route, which ran from Shepherd's Bush Green to Ladbroke Grove, was withdrawn due to low ridership.[1][2]

The current route 5 was introduced on 11 November 1959 as a replacement for trolleybus routes 567 and 665 between East Ham and Bloomsbury being operated by AEC Routemasters.[3] On 17 April 1971 it was converted to one man operation with Daimler Fleetlines introduced.[4]

Having been altered to operate between Becontree Heath bus station and Canning Town bus station, from privatisation it was operated by East London. On 25 March 2006 it was extended east to Romford Market replacing route 87.[5] On 14 May 2011, the last AEC Routemaster, RML2760 built, operated a special service for charity on route 5 between Romford and Barking.[6]

Upon being re-tendered it passed to Go-Ahead London on 26 August 2017.[7][8] On the same date it was altered in Romford to serve Queen's Hospital.[9] The route is operated out of River Road garage for the main services and Henley Road garage for the early/late trips from route N15s allocation.[10]

Current route

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Route 5 operates via these primary locations:[11]

References

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  1. ^ "New bus route run at a loss". West London Observer. 5 February 1954. p. 5.
  2. ^ "Bus route 5 to be withdrawn". West London Observer. 14 May 1954. p. 5.
  3. ^ *Taylor, Hugh (1994). London Trolleybus Routes. Harrow Weald: Capital Transport Publishing. ISBN 9781854141552.
  4. ^ Wharmby, Matthew (2016). The London DMS. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 9781783831739.
  5. ^ Route 5 to be extended to Romford Stagecoach London 23 March 2006
  6. ^ David Moth (2019), Buses in Outer London Since 1990, Amberley Publishing, p. 182, ISBN 9781445687858
  7. ^ Stagecoach lose out in bus tendering Coach & Bus Week issue 1285 5 April 2017
  8. ^ Tender News Bus Talk issue 46 June 2017 page 10
  9. ^ Proposed change to bus route 5 in Romford Transport for London 25 August 2017
  10. ^ Lost Property Go-Ahead London
  11. ^ Route 5 Map Transport for London
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  Media related to London Buses route 5 at Wikimedia Commons