London Buses route C1

London Buses route C1 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Transdev London.

History
The route has always been operated by minibuses since London Transport operation. The route was previously operated by Connex bus using Optare Solos.

The route started on 25 October 1986 running between the Embankment to Kensington weekdays, via Victoria, Sloane Square and South Kensington using OV class Optare City Pacer minibuses from Victoria Bus Garage.

The following year, on 1 August 1987 the route was extended to Waterloo, and renamed Central Hoppa C1. The route also gained a Saturday service, and early evening journeys between Victoria and Waterloo Stations. The Victoria to Waterloo section was transferred to Red Arrow route 511 in 1991 (now route 211). In February 1993, the route was diverted between South Kensington and Kensington High Street via Earl’s Court. In July 1998, the route was awarded to Travel London, having previously been operated by London General.

The route was extended from Kensington to Shepherd's Bush on 6 January 2007. This extension caused a lot of controversy as it was intended to run through previously unserved roads, although the extension went ahead, but with the buses not serving the originally planned route via Blythe Road, and difficulties with the narrow roads mean the route is currently running direct via Holland Road.

The extension required extra new buses, these are Enviro200 Darts, operating in addition to the Dennis Dart SLFs on the route. For a short while the buses had to circumnavigate Shepherd's Bush Green twice to get to and from the bus stand, although at certain times of day buses were permitted to stand in Transdev's Shepherd's Bush garage. This has now been resolved since the route was diverted at Shepherd's Bush Green via the Westfield Complex to serve the new White City Bus Station on 29 November 2008.

From 3rd July 2010, Transdev London successfully gained the contract of route C1.

Current route

 * White City Bus Station
 * Shepherd's Bush Interchange London Underground and ''London Overground and Southern
 * Kensington High Street
 * Earl's Court Station
 * South Kensington Station
 * Harrods
 * Knightsbridge Station
 * Sloane Square Station
 * Victoria Coach Station
 * Victoria Station Terminus Place