London Buses route 18

London Buses route 18 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to First London.

History
Route 18 was the first London route to undergo a straight conversion from double deckers to articulated single deckers - all the more surprising in this case given that the route already had low floor vehicles in place.

Prior to its conversion, the 18 had been operated from Westbourne Park garage using Dennis Tridents. However, there was not enough space for the larger buses (especially as route 10 was already temporarily outstationed) so a new base was obtained near Willesden Junction station.

This particular conversion went with more than the usual number of teething troubles, no doubt partly because of the new garage. There were also problems with crowding, because a substantial cut in frequency was implemented at the same time - this caused some controversy, as unlike the previous 436 and 453 routes, most passengers on the 18 have no alternative routes to choose from.

Despite cutbacks, the 18 is still quite a long bus route by today's standards, running from the central terminus at Euston out to Sudbury. However, the service structure has been very much simplified.

1930s
In 1934 there were four routes, 18, 18A, 18B and 18C. The 18, 18A, plus 18B on weekdays, started from London Bridge station, via Southwark Bridge, St. Paul's and Grays Inn Road to King's Cross. From here the 18 and 18B ran daily, the 18A on Mondays to Saturdays and the 18C on Sundays, via Paddington and the Harrow Road to Harlesden, where the 18A diverted off to Park Royal. The other three routes continued to Stonebridge Park, where the 18B diverted off via the North Circular Road to Brent Cross. The 18C peeled off here to pick up its daily function from Wembley (Empire Pool, near Wembley Park tube station), so that just the 18 and 18C served Wembley and Sudbury. Here, the 18C headed south to Greenford and Hanwell, while the 18 headed north to Harrow and Harrow Weald.

There were very many changes to the routes, too many to list in detail here, but interestingly the 18 was withdrawn between central London and Harlesden except on Saturday afternoons and Sundays, times at which the 18A no longer ran. It should therefore be noted that at this time there was no through service from Wembley to central London, except that provided on Saturday afternoons and Sundays by the 18 and 18C, since the 18A and 18B did not serve Wembley.

The 18A was very much the main service, running every 4 minutes, but was withdrawn without replacement after operation on 17 October 1939, new trolleybus 662 (Paddington Green to Sudbury) having taken away a fair proportion of the passengers. The 18C Sunday extension into the centre was also withdrawn, leaving the route with very little in common with its parent. Similarly the 18 was cropped back to Wembley (Empire Pool) on Mondays to Saturdays, but on the other hand was diverted at Wealdstone to serve Canons Park and Edgware, with a peak hours and Sundays extension to provide the only 'normal' bus service to the famous Aldenham Works in Elstree. The 18C was sensibly renumbered 92 on 14 June 1944, with a 92A variant running to Wembley Trading Estate at certain times of the week.

1960s
These arrangements lasted for some years, but trolleybus replacement in the 1960s saw the 18 extended back to Paddington Green replacing the 662. The 18B was also taken off, and in consequence the 18 continued except on Monday to Saturday evenings to London Bridge. But a surprise was the re-appearance at peak hours of the long-lost 18A, running between Acton and Paddington Green via a slightly different route. This was extended to Baker Street in 1978, but did not survive the September 1982 bus cuts.

1970s
In 1970, the 18 was cut back to run only as far out as Sudbury, with new route 182 covering the section between Wembley and Harrow Weald (and on to Watford), and the 186 the section between Harrow and Edgware, both routes later being extended to new shopping centre at Brent Cross.

1980s
In 1985 the 18 was also cut back at the other end to King's Cross, apart from a peak hours service as far as Farringdon Street, still with no evening or Sunday service east of Baker Street. The section between King's Cross and London Bridge was covered by new route 17 instead, though that route no longer serves Southwark Bridge.

1990s
The King's Cross to Farringdon Street extension was also lost in 1991, and all evening, Saturday and Sunday service east of Baker Street was removed in 1992. The service structure was then to have a 6 minute service (12 evenings and Sundays) as far as Baker Street, with alternate buses extended during the day on Mondays to Fridays to King's Cross. London Transport's drive for standardisation saw an end to this potentially confusing practice, with a compromise terminal of Euston introduced in the mid-1990s. No further changes have been made since then.

Route departing Sudbury

 * Sudbury
 * Harrow Road
 * Wembley High Road
 * Harrow Road
 * Brentfield
 * Hillside
 * Craven Park Western Arm
 * Craven Park Road
 * Manor Park Road
 * Harlesden High Street
 * Harrow Road
 * Harrow Road Bridge
 * Harrow Road
 * Edgware Road
 * Chapel Street
 * Old Marylebone Road
 * Marylebone Road
 * Euston Road
 * Churchway
 * Grafton Place
 * Euston Bus Station

Route departing Euston

 * Euston Bus Station
 * Euston Place
 * Euston Road
 * Gower Street
 * Grafton Way
 * Tottenham Court Road
 * Euston Road
 * Marylebone Road
 * Harrow Road
 * Harlesden High Street
 * Craven Park Road
 * Craven Park Western Arm
 * Hillside
 * Brentfield
 * Harrow Road
 * Wembley High Road
 * Harrow Road
 * Sudbury