London Buses route 166
Encyclopedia
London Buses route 166 is a Transport for London
contracted bus route in London
, United Kingdom
. The service is currently contracted to Arriva London
.
, as part of bus deregulation
. As a replacement, Epsom Buses
started route 598, under contract to Surrey County Council
, running between Epsom
and Croydon
on a similar route to the current 166.
In July 1992, route number 498 started, representing commercial journeys operated by Epsom Buses
rather than under a Surrey Council
contract.
Routing around the Epsom
area has changed several times. For a number of years, route 498 from Epsom to the cluster of hospitals west of it. Route 598 was withdrawn for a while, but then returned as a Sunday service that ran into Sutton
in place of Croydon, but then disappeared again.
By 1996 the routing in the Epsom
area was standardised, running only as far as Epsom. The service to The Wells was covered by new local route E5, and the housing built on the now-closed cluster of hospitals route E9.
Meanwhile, London Transport
route 166 was running between Chipstead Valley and Croydon
. As part of the bus changes for the introduction of the Tramlink
scheme, it was proposed that route 166 would be withdrawn from Chipstead Valley and instead run to Caterham-on-the-Hill.
To maintain the frequency to Chipstead Valley, route 412 was to be extended from Purley, but this operates via a very indirect route via Selsdon. This would have left the hourly 498 as the only direct service from Chipstead Valley to Croydon, with no evening or Sunday service.
However, there was lots of protest from residents of Chipstead Valley, as they only replacements would be an indirect extension route 412, or the 498, which didn’t run on evenings or Sundays. The plans for the route 412 extension were scraped, with the buses saved used to increase the frequency on route 498. Arriva
provided a half-hourly service, with a co-ordinated timetable that provided a service every 20 minutes between Chipstead Valley and Croydon
.
Confusingly, the 498 was renumbered 166, and the diverted 166 (to Caterham-on-the-Hill became 466
instead.
Arriva
won the contract for the 412, and so the buses were introduced to route 166 with Epsom Buses
.
Soon after though, Epsom Buses
made the decision to stop operating their journeys on the 166 commercially. As a result, the entire route was taken into the London Buses
network from 28 July 2001. London Buses fare scales were introduced, and everything was taken over by Arriva
. Extra 9.8 m Dennis Dart
s were cascaded in from route 307, which at the time was gaining double deckers.
Currently, route 166 is the lowest route number to be found in the Epsom
area. Most routes still are numbered in the old London Country
system with “4xx” numbers or in more recent times with letter prefixes.
The DAF SB120
/Wright Cadet
s are very often mixed with some of the other buses in Croydon garage, with Dennis Dart SLF
/Alexander ALX200
s from route 407 (up until October 2009 when Arriva stopped running route 407) and Dennis Dart SLF
/Alexander Dennis Pointers from route 312.
A new batch of Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Darts began running on the route from March 2009.
Notes:
Transport for London
Transport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...
contracted bus route in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The service is currently contracted to Arriva London
Arriva London
Arriva London is a division of Arriva which operates bus services in London, UK. It is made up of many previous bus operators including previously independent Grey Green...
.
History
The history of route 166 begins in the 1980s, when route 164 was cut back to BelmontBelmont, Sutton
Belmont is a village in the London Borough of Sutton in southwest Greater London, England. It is located off the A217 road and near to Banstead Downs in Surrey. It is a suburban development situated 10.8 miles south-southwest of Charing Cross....
, as part of bus deregulation
Bus deregulation
Bus deregulation in Great Britain came into force on 26 October 1986, as part of the Transport Act 1985.The 'Buses' White Paper was the basis of the Transport Act 1985, which provided for the deregulation of local bus services in the whole of the United Kingdom except for Northern Ireland and...
. As a replacement, Epsom Buses
Epsom Coaches
Epsom Coaches is a coach operator in the United Kingdom, based in the Surrey town of Epsom. The coach business was established in the 1920s and has prided itself on being one of the best coach operators in the UK. It operates a luxury fleet of mostly Setra coaches, and provides a number of tours...
started route 598, under contract to Surrey County Council
Surrey County Council
Surrey County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Surrey in England. The council is composed of 80 elected councillors.The council is controlled by the Conservative party.The leader of the council is David Hodge....
, running between Epsom
Epsom
Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England. Small parts of Epsom are in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. The town is located south-south-west of Charing Cross, within the Greater London Urban Area. The town lies on the chalk downland of Epsom Downs.-History:Epsom lies...
and Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
on a similar route to the current 166.
In July 1992, route number 498 started, representing commercial journeys operated by Epsom Buses
Epsom Coaches
Epsom Coaches is a coach operator in the United Kingdom, based in the Surrey town of Epsom. The coach business was established in the 1920s and has prided itself on being one of the best coach operators in the UK. It operates a luxury fleet of mostly Setra coaches, and provides a number of tours...
rather than under a Surrey Council
Surrey County Council
Surrey County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Surrey in England. The council is composed of 80 elected councillors.The council is controlled by the Conservative party.The leader of the council is David Hodge....
contract.
Routing around the Epsom
Epsom
Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England. Small parts of Epsom are in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. The town is located south-south-west of Charing Cross, within the Greater London Urban Area. The town lies on the chalk downland of Epsom Downs.-History:Epsom lies...
area has changed several times. For a number of years, route 498 from Epsom to the cluster of hospitals west of it. Route 598 was withdrawn for a while, but then returned as a Sunday service that ran into Sutton
Sutton, London
Sutton is a large suburban town in southwest London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Sutton. It is located south-southwest of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. The town was connected to central London by...
in place of Croydon, but then disappeared again.
By 1996 the routing in the Epsom
Epsom
Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England. Small parts of Epsom are in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. The town is located south-south-west of Charing Cross, within the Greater London Urban Area. The town lies on the chalk downland of Epsom Downs.-History:Epsom lies...
area was standardised, running only as far as Epsom. The service to The Wells was covered by new local route E5, and the housing built on the now-closed cluster of hospitals route E9.
Meanwhile, London Transport
London Regional Transport
London Regional Transport was the organisation responsible for the public transport network in Greater London, UK from 1984-2000. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operational brand of the organisation was London Transport.The organisation was...
route 166 was running between Chipstead Valley and Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
. As part of the bus changes for the introduction of the Tramlink
Tramlink
Tramlink is a tramway system in south London in the United Kingdom which began operation in May 2000...
scheme, it was proposed that route 166 would be withdrawn from Chipstead Valley and instead run to Caterham-on-the-Hill.
To maintain the frequency to Chipstead Valley, route 412 was to be extended from Purley, but this operates via a very indirect route via Selsdon. This would have left the hourly 498 as the only direct service from Chipstead Valley to Croydon, with no evening or Sunday service.
However, there was lots of protest from residents of Chipstead Valley, as they only replacements would be an indirect extension route 412, or the 498, which didn’t run on evenings or Sundays. The plans for the route 412 extension were scraped, with the buses saved used to increase the frequency on route 498. Arriva
Arriva London
Arriva London is a division of Arriva which operates bus services in London, UK. It is made up of many previous bus operators including previously independent Grey Green...
provided a half-hourly service, with a co-ordinated timetable that provided a service every 20 minutes between Chipstead Valley and Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
.
Confusingly, the 498 was renumbered 166, and the diverted 166 (to Caterham-on-the-Hill became 466
London Buses route 466
London Buses route 466 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Arriva London.-History:Route 466 is similar to the original route 166...
instead.
Arriva
Arriva London
Arriva London is a division of Arriva which operates bus services in London, UK. It is made up of many previous bus operators including previously independent Grey Green...
won the contract for the 412, and so the buses were introduced to route 166 with Epsom Buses
Epsom Coaches
Epsom Coaches is a coach operator in the United Kingdom, based in the Surrey town of Epsom. The coach business was established in the 1920s and has prided itself on being one of the best coach operators in the UK. It operates a luxury fleet of mostly Setra coaches, and provides a number of tours...
.
Soon after though, Epsom Buses
Epsom Coaches
Epsom Coaches is a coach operator in the United Kingdom, based in the Surrey town of Epsom. The coach business was established in the 1920s and has prided itself on being one of the best coach operators in the UK. It operates a luxury fleet of mostly Setra coaches, and provides a number of tours...
made the decision to stop operating their journeys on the 166 commercially. As a result, the entire route was taken into the London Buses
London Buses
London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London that manages bus services within Greater London, UK. Buses are required to carry similar red colour schemes and conform to the same fare scheme...
network from 28 July 2001. London Buses fare scales were introduced, and everything was taken over by Arriva
Arriva London
Arriva London is a division of Arriva which operates bus services in London, UK. It is made up of many previous bus operators including previously independent Grey Green...
. Extra 9.8 m Dennis Dart
Dennis Dart
The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined midibus built by Dennis in the United Kingdom. More than 11,000 were built during 18 years of production....
s were cascaded in from route 307, which at the time was gaining double deckers.
Currently, route 166 is the lowest route number to be found in the Epsom
Epsom
Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England. Small parts of Epsom are in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. The town is located south-south-west of Charing Cross, within the Greater London Urban Area. The town lies on the chalk downland of Epsom Downs.-History:Epsom lies...
area. Most routes still are numbered in the old London Country
London Country Bus Services
London Country Bus Services was a bus company that operated in South East England from 1969 until split up and sold in 1986 under Margaret Thatcher's government's bus deregulation scheme.-Creation:...
system with “4xx” numbers or in more recent times with letter prefixes.
The DAF SB120
VDL SB120
The VDL SB120 is a low-floor light-weight midibus produced from 1999 by VDL Bus International of the Netherlands primarily for the UK market....
/Wright Cadet
Wright Cadet
The Wright Cadet was a midibus body built by British coachbuilder Wrightbus, solely on the DAF/VDL SB120; it was sold via VDL dealer Arriva Bus & Coach. For a time, Volvo additionally sold the chassis/body combination, however the body was marketed as the Merit.The Cadet was replaced by the Wright...
s are very often mixed with some of the other buses in Croydon garage, with Dennis Dart SLF
Dennis Dart
The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined midibus built by Dennis in the United Kingdom. More than 11,000 were built during 18 years of production....
/Alexander ALX200
Alexander ALX200
The Alexander ALX200 was a midibus body built by Alexander of the United Kingdom. It was one of the ALX-series, which accounted for 5 different models , built for new generation bus chassis produced since late 1990s.It was designed by John Worker, and was launched in summer...
s from route 407 (up until October 2009 when Arriva stopped running route 407) and Dennis Dart SLF
Dennis Dart
The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined midibus built by Dennis in the United Kingdom. More than 11,000 were built during 18 years of production....
/Alexander Dennis Pointers from route 312.
A new batch of Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Darts began running on the route from March 2009.
Vehicle types used since service began
- MCW MetrobusMCW MetrobusThe MCW Metrobus is a double decker bus model manufactured by MCW from 1977 until 1989, with over 4,000 examples built. The original MkI model was superseded by the MkII model in 1981/1982, although production of the original MkI continued for London Transport until 1985...
from April 1985. - Daimler FleetlineDaimler FleetlineThe Daimler Fleetline is a rear-engined double-decker bus chassis built between 1960 and 1973 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, and from 1973 until 1980 in Farington, Lancashire, England. However, the last complete vehicle did not enter service until 1983...
until March 1992. - Leyland TitanLeyland Titan (B15)The Leyland Titan was a model of double-decker bus produced by the Leyland Truck & Bus division of British Leyland from 1977 until 1984, almost exclusively for London Transport.-Development:...
from November 1991. - Dennis Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointer 1Plaxton PointerThe Plaxton Pointer is a successful single-decker bus body manufactured during the 1990s by Plaxton and latterly built by Alexander Dennis.With the launch of the Dennis Dart in 1989, Plaxton's subsidiary Reeve Burgess made the Pointer body on the short 8.5 m...
from September 1998. - Dennis Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointer 2 from 2002
- DAF SB120VDL SB120The VDL SB120 is a low-floor light-weight midibus produced from 1999 by VDL Bus International of the Netherlands primarily for the UK market....
/Wright CadetWright CadetThe Wright Cadet was a midibus body built by British coachbuilder Wrightbus, solely on the DAF/VDL SB120; it was sold via VDL dealer Arriva Bus & Coach. For a time, Volvo additionally sold the chassis/body combination, however the body was marketed as the Merit.The Cadet was replaced by the Wright...
from 2006. - Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart from early 2009.
Current route
- West CroydonWest Croydon stationWest Croydon station is a transport interchange for National Rail and Tramlink services, as well as London Buses. It is in the London Borough of Croydon and Travelcard Zone 5...
Bus Station - South CroydonSouth CroydonSouth Croydon is a locality in Greater London, the area surrounding the valley south of central Croydon about 1 km in radius, centred on the Red Deer public house on the Brighton Road. It is part of the South Croydon post town and in the London Borough of Croydon...
Swan & Sugar Loaf - Purley CrossPurley, LondonPurley is a place in the London Borough of Croydon, England. It is a suburban development situated 11.7 miles south of Charing Cross.The name derives from "pirlea", which means 'Peartree lea'. Purley has a population of about 72,000....
'Tesco - CoulsdonCoulsdonCoulsdon is a town on the southernmost boundary of the London Borough of Croydon. It is surrounded by the Metropolitan Green Belt of the Farthing Down, Coulsdon Common and Kenley Common...
Red Lion - Chipstead Valley Rectory Lane
- Woodmasterne St. Peter’s Church
- BansteadBansteadBanstead is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in the county of Surrey, England, on the border with Greater London. It lies south of London, west of Croydon and of the county town of Kingston-Upon-Thames. Banstead is on the North Downs and is protected by the Metropolitan Green Belt;...
Marks & Spencer - Drift Bridge Hotel †
- Yew TreeYew TreeYew Tree may refer to:*Yew, any of various coniferous plants *Yew Tree, West Bromwich, West Midlands, England...
Bottom Road Rose Buses † - Epsom CollegeEpsom CollegeEpsom College is an independent co-educational public school in Epsom, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 13 to 18. Founded in 1853 to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orphans , Epsom's long-standing association with medicine was estimated in 1980 as...
College Road † - EpsomEpsomEpsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England. Small parts of Epsom are in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. The town is located south-south-west of Charing Cross, within the Greater London Urban Area. The town lies on the chalk downland of Epsom Downs.-History:Epsom lies...
High Street † - Epsom General Hospital †
Notes:
- † - Service extends over this part of route hourly, as opposed to the normal 20 minute frequency.