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 Red RF routes
Route 201
Notable for a while for occupying no less than three
garages to run a route needing at most 5 buses, the 201 was also
one of first four Central Area routes converted to one-man
operation in London, in 1964.
RF486 on the 201, on diversion in
Kingston in about 1970.
Photo Ian Armstrong
collection
Dates of RF operation
12 Oct 55 to 19 Nov 58 (Sun only)
and
13 May 59 to 6 Nov 76
Converted to OMO 18 Nov 64
(total 20 years 7 months, of which 8 years 7
months crew operation).
Destinations
KINGSTON and HAMPTON COURT STATION
RF Garages
Crew operation:
NB Norbiton (Sun from 12 Oct 55 to
19 Nov 58, daily from 13 May 59 to 8 May 62, Mon-Sat 9 May 62
to 17 Nov 64)
K Kingston (Sun 9 May
62 to 17 Nov 64)
OMO operation:
NB Norbiton (daily 18 Nov 64 to 11
May 73, Mon-Fri 12 May 73 to 6 Nov 76)
FW Fulwell (weekends
12 May 73 to 6 Nov 76)
K Kingston (Sat 10 Apr
76 to 6 Nov 76)
 Reason for single-deck operation
The low bridge at Thames Ditton Station, which remains
unchanged to date.
Kingston's RF458 leaving
Hampton Court along Creek Road towards East Molesey, on a wet last
day of operation, Saturday 6 Nov 76.
Photo ©
John Parkin
Route history
Originally introduced as the 105 and renumbered in October 1934, the 201 route was
then more significant, running every 15 minutes from Kingston
via Hampton Court and Hanworth to Hounslow and Lampton. It
was operated by Hounslow (AV) and Kingston (K) garages using
LTL Scooters and the early T-class Regals. Included in
the Hounslow allocation were extra weekend buses for the
Hounslow to Hanworth short workings; in the spring of 1936,
these journeys were replaced by double-deck workings with STs
(AV, Mon-Sat) and STLs (Southall, HW, Sun).
This section of the route became the 110 when the 201 was
shortened in May 1936, with the Hanworth to Teddington section
becoming new route 255 and the 201 going
no further than Hampton Court. The route was extended
again, on Sundays from August 1936 then daily from October 1937,
via Hanworth to Feltham, replacing the short-lived 255.
Through all this change however, the core route between
Kingston and Hampton Court served the back roads east and west of
Surbiton that were the 201's trade mark. As was often the
case with the Kingston area's single-deck routes, there was
considerable shuffling of vehicle allocations before the advent of
RFs, with post-war Ts and TDs both operating in the late 40's and
through the 50's.
The route was cut back again in June 1951 from Feltham to
Hampton Court, and in the following year the allocation moved from
Kingston to Norbiton when the latter garage opened.
RFs were introduced at first on Sundays only, officially from
October 1955, by which time the 213 was
fully RF operated and the increased RF allocation at
Norbiton provided the 3 spare buses required on Sundays.
Briefly in 1958-59, the Mon-Sat allocation reverted to Kingston, at
which point the Sunday Norbiton allocation reverted to TD, but the
route was fully converted to RF in 1959, again fully from NB.
A Sunday Kingston allocation reappeared in 1962, up to OMO
conversion in 1964. This was one of the first four 'big bus'
OMO routes in London (there had been one-man buses before the war, using 20-seat Leyland Cubs and
their predecessors), the others being the 206 and 216 in the
Kingston area and the very rural 250 out
of Romford North Street.
In 1973, the garage allocations started to change again, firstly
with Fulwell taking over weekend workings, then in 1976 Kingston
took part of the Monday to Saturday allocations, leading to the
position when a route needing at most 5 buses was operated out of
three garages. Operations were converted to BL in November
that year, leaving only the jointly worked 218/219 in the Kingston
area as RF operated.
The route withered and died not long after, but not before a
Mon-Fri peak hour variation to serve Lower Green at the back of
Esher, following withdrawal of the 206. The route ended in September 1980,
being replaced in part by an independent operator and by a
single extra journey on the (already heavily distorted) 215.
 RF
route in detail, with timing points
KINGSTON Bus Station, Clarence Street, Fairfield
West, Fairfield South, Villiers Road, Lingfield Avenue, Beaufort
Road, Maple Road, Claremont Road, Surbiton Station, Victoria Road,
Brighton Road, Balaclava Road, Effingham Road, Ewell Road,
Thorkhill Road, Long Ditton
Portsmouth Road, St Leonard's Road, High Street,
Station Road, Thames Ditton
Station, Ember Court Road, Ember Lane, Esher Road,
Bridge Road, HAMPTON COURT STATION (return via Creek Road, Bridge
Road) (to 30 Jun 64)
KINGSTON Bus Station, Clarence Street (return via
Clarence Street, Wood Street), Fairfield West, Fairfield South,
Villiers Road, Villiers Avenue, Lamberts Road, St Mark’s Hill,
Surbiton Station,
Victoria Road, Brighton Road, Balaclava Road, Effingham Road, Ewell
Road, Thorkhill Road, Dittons
Winters Bridge, St Leonard's Road, Thames Ditton
High Street, Station Road, Thames
Ditton Station, Ember Court Road, Ember Lane, Esher
Road, Bridge Road, HAMPTON COURT STATION (return via Creek Road,
Bridge Road) (from 1 Jul 64)
Garage journeys (Fulwell): HAMPTON COURT STATION, Hampton
Court Road, High Street Hampton, Hampton Hill, Wellington Road,
FULWELL GARAGE
1961 bus map © London Transport
RF allocation
PVR 1955 (Oct): Mon-Fri [4 TD], Sat [4 TD], Sun 3
(NB)
PVR 1957 (May) to 1958 (Nov): Mon-Fri [4 T], Sat [4 T],
Sun 3 (NB)
PVR 1959 (May): Mon-Fri 3, Sat 3, Sun 2 (all
NB)
PVR 1961 (Aug): Mon-Fri 3, Sat 3, Sun 1 (all
NB)
PVR 1962 (May): Mon-Fri 3 (NB), Sat 3 (NB), Sun 2
(K)
PVR 1964 (Nov, OMO): Mon-Fri 4, Sat 5, Sun 2 (all
NB)
PVR 1965 (Aug): Mon-Fri 4, Sat 4, Sun 2 (all NB)
PVR 1967 (Jun): Mon-Fri 5, Sat 4, Sun 2 (all NB)
PVR 1969 (Oct): Mon-Fri 5, Sat 4, Sun 1 (all
NB)
PVR 1973 (May): Mon-Fri 5 (NB), Sat 4 (FW), Sun 2
(FW)
PVR 1976 (Apr): Mon-Fri 2 (K), 3 (NB), Sat 2 (K), 2
(FW), Sun 2 (FW)
PVR 1976 (Aug): Mon-Fri 2 (K), 3 (NB), Sat 2 (K), [2
BL] (FW), Sun [2 BL] (FW)
Memories
Stan Attewell started work driving the 201 when it was
crew-operated. Read his memories here.
Re-creation
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