London Buses route 9

London Buses route 9 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The regular service on route 9 is currently contracted to Transdev London and operated with modern double-decker buses. Heritage route 9 operates using traditional Routemaster buses over a shortened version of the regular route.

History
Route 9 was introduced on 1 November 1908, when a previously un-numbered London General Omnibus Company route, formerly Road Car route L, operating daily between Shoreditch Church and Hammersmith with a Sunday extension to Kew Green via Kew Bridge commenced operation. As from 10 December 1908, it was withdrawn between Turnham Green and Kew, but extended in the other direction to Leyton (Bakers Arms), now running daily Turnham Green Church - Shoreditch Church, with a Monday - Saturday extension to Leyton via Hackney Road, Mare Street, Clapton and Lea Bridge Road; being further extended to Snaresbrook via Whipps Cross and Snaresbrook Road on 10 June 1909.

The 9 is one of Central London's shortest major trunk routes, and always has been, although it traditionally ran a bit further at each end from Mortlake to Liverpool Street via what are now the 209, 9 and 11. Frequency then was by all accounts impressive, with a 3-minute service on offer from Monday to Saturday (referenced 1936). On Sundays it ran every 5 minutes with an intriguing diversion at Bank to Romford over the 5, 15 and 23A, as the 23A did not run on that day. That made it a rather lengthy, with a through running time of just over 2 hours. The section between Becontree Heath and Romford only ran every 10 minutes and was later lost when the 87 was extended to Romford.

The Sunday 9 extension was finally removed when the 23 gained a Sunday service in the late 1960s, although a token service was maintained as far as Aldgate until 2 p.m. on Sundays to serve the local markets, the afternoon service being curtailed at Aldwych. The Saturday service was also curtailed to Aldwych a few years later, but the Sunday service was renumbered 9A to avoid the unusual bifurcation, being further diverted via Monument and Tower Hill instead of Bank and Leadenhall Street. This variation had been dropped completely by 1990, and the route thus then ran daily from Mortlake to Aldwych with a Monday to Friday extension to Liverpool Street. The whole route was cut back to Aldwych in the central area changes of July 1992, the replacement to Liverpool Street (also on Mondays to Fridays only until relatively recently) being the 'new' 23.

Meanwhile, problems with the bridge at Hammersmith led to the imposition of a severe weight restriction. Double deck buses were thus barred, which created a particular problem for the 9 which would have been totally unsuitable for the small Dennis Darts that were introduced on the other routes crossing the bridge. The 9 was thus curtailed to Hammersmith from early 1992, new route 9A taking over the short section to Mortlake with an overlap as far as Kensington. On Sundays, however, the 9 continued to run right through, and this pattern was adopted in the evenings also from the end of 1993. In 1997 however, the 9 routing was standardised as Hammersmith to Aldwych daily, while the 9A was replaced by new daily route 209 (Mortlake to Hammersmith only).

Traditionally the 9 had been the main route of the little garage at Mortlake, which was its terminus, with some assistance from Dalston, while Riverside and Barking garages ran on the extended Sunday service. The closure of both Mortlake and Riverside resulted in the allocation settling down at Shepherd's Bush for some years. The 9A was operated from a new base in the London Underground depot in White City, known as Wood Lane but which has since closed again, its allocation absorbed by Shepherd's Buish. The eventual end of crew operation on 4 September 2004 resulted in transfer of the route to Stamford Brook, in an economy swap with the 49.

Route departing Hammersmith

 * Hammersmith (District/Piccadilly Lines) Station Bus Station (for Hammersmith (Hammersmith & City Line) Station)
 * Hammersmith Road
 * Olympia Station
 * Kensington High Street
 * High Street Kensington Station
 * Kensington High Street
 * Kensington Road
 * Kensington, Royal Albert Hall
 * Kensington Road
 * Knightsbridge Station
 * Knightsbridge
 * Hyde Park Corner Station
 * Piccadilly
 * Green Park Station
 * Piccadilly
 * Piccadilly Circus Station
 * The Haymarket
 * Cockspur Street
 * Trafalgar Square
 * Charing Cross
 * Strand
 * Charing Cross Station
 * Strand
 * Aldwych

Route departing Aldwych

 * Aldwych
 * Strand
 * Charing Cross Station
 * Strand
 * Trafalgar Square
 * Charing Cross
 * Cockspur Street
 * Pall Mall
 * Waterloo Place
 * Lower Regent Street
 * Piccadilly Circus Station
 * Piccadilly
 * Green Park Station
 * Piccadilly
 * Duke of Wellington Place
 * Grosvenor Place
 * Hyde Park Corner Station
 * Knightsbridge
 * Knightsbridge Station
 * Kensington Road
 * Kensington, Royal Albert Hall
 * Kensington High Street
 * High Street Kensington Station
 * Kensington High Street
 * Olympia Station
 * Hammersmith Road
 * Butterwick
 * Talgarth Road
 * Hammersmith (District/Piccadilly Lines) Station Bus Station (for Hammersmith (Hammersmith & City Line) Station)