Worcester Park 2008

Route 725

It is well-known that RTs never worked the 725, so here's a photo of one. Staines' RT2512 passes RF149 at Worcester Park Station in July 1963, shortly after the northbound part of the bridge had been lowered, permitting RT operation of the 213. No more need for RLHs on the 725!

Photo © Andrew Hicks

Green Line route 725 was the first orbital route, introduced in 1953 with RFs. In the early years, before the rebuilding of Worcester Park bridge, the route operated RLHs as summer reliefs, making Worcester Park the only bridge with scheduled RLH operation by both Central and Country Areas.

The original route ran from WINDSOR, via Staines, Kingston, North Cheam, Sutton, Croydon, Bromley, Dartford to GRAVESEND.

Route

KINGSTON, Malden, Worcester Park, North Cheam, Cheam, Sutton, SUTTON GARAGE

Timetable

The 213 and 725 will together provide a service every 10-20 minutes between Sutton Garage and Malden, with about two journeys per hour extended to Kingston. Timetable attached. Feeder services will cover the entire original route.

Main boarding points

Kingston Cromwell Road Bus Station stop A3, Norbiton Church, New Malden Fountain stops J and K, Worcester Park stops B and C, North Cheam stops B and G, Sutton Library stop V, Police Station stop K and Post Office stop S, Sutton Garage.

Route history

A post-war addition to the network, the 725 was the first orbital Green Line route, providing a service around the south of London. Introduced in July 1953 with RFs between Windsor and Gravesend, the route was immediately successful and was soon doubled in frequency as far as Dartford. In fact, so successful that in 1955 approval was given for the operation as summer reliefs of lowbridge RLH double-deckers between Windsor and West Croydon, passing under the restricted Worcester Park bridge (alongside red RLHs on the 127 and RFs on the 213).

The route was worked from Northfleet (NF), Dartford (DT, from 1954), Staines (ST) and Windsor (WR) garages, the RLHs running out of ST on loan from Addlestone (WY).

Seen at New Malden Fountain in about 1954, RF276 works the long route from Windsor as far as Dartford. Although bearing Staines garage plates, the bus was at the time based at Dartford but would have overnighted at the other end of the route. Note the trolleybus on the 604/605 in the background.

Little changed through the rest of the LT years, although the route saw operation by the unreliable RCs in 1968 as back-up for the RFs. London Country upgraded the service with the purchase in 1972 of 21 Willowbrook-bodied SMA class, although these lasted only 6 years before being scrapped.

During the 1970s, the route was joined by the 726, also SMA-operated and running a similar route from the east as far as Ashford, then heading north to serve Heathrow. While the 725 suffered a number of reroutings and shortenings in the 1980s before vanishing altogether, the 726 prospered and its ghost lives on in the (hopelessly inadequate) X26 Heathrow to Croydon service.

North Cheam showing the futuristic architecture that replaced the Queen Vic. Windsor-based RF157 flies the polo on 1 July 1972, by which time this 'modernised' RF had theoretically been demoted to bus duties. Note the early Tesco.