London Buses route 42

London Buses route 42 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to East Thames Buses.

History
Route 42 commenced operation on 25 July 1912 as a daily route between Finsbury Park Station and Clapton Pond via Seven Sisters Road, Amhurst Park and Upper Clapton Road. A month later, on 26 August 1912, it was extended from Clapton to Tower of London via Hackney, Whitechapel Road, Aldgate and Minories. The 42 became more like the route known today, when as from 14 April 1913 it was extended on Mondays to Saturdays from Tower of London to Camberwell Green via Tower Bridge, Old Kent Road and Albany Road. This extension must have been successful because as from 18 May 1913, the 42 was also extended on Sundays to Camberwell, thus becoming a daily Finsbury Park Station - Camberwell Green service. From this point onwards, the 42 became a very stable operation, the next change occurring some ten years later in spring 1923, when it was extended on Saturdays and Sundays from Camberwell Green to Clapham Common (Old Town) via Coldharbour Lane and Acre Lane.

As from 1 April 1924, the London County Council extended its Tram route 53 (Stamford Hill (Clapton Common) to Aldgate) over new tracks along Amhurst Park to run from Euston Road (Hampstead Road) via Camden Town, Holloway, Finsbury Park, Hackney to Aldgate. Up to this time the 42 had been the main "direct link" between Stamford Hill and Finsbury Park. The tramway extension increased even more the amount of parallel working between the 42 and Tram 53 which had already existed between Stamford Hill and Aldgate and now increased to Finsbury Park - Aldgate. In later years this would become a significant factor in the withdrawal of the 42 north of Aldgate.

Also in 1924, on 1 December a new system of route numbering on London Buses came into force under The London Traffic Act of 1924. This made the Metropolitan Police responsible for bus operation and route numbering in London. The new system was designed to make route numbering easier to understand for the travelling public. In fact, the reverse was often the result, as can seen by the changes to route 42 that occurred.

42 group routes:- 42 remained 42, Finsbury Park Station to Clapham Common (Old Town) Saturdays and Sundays; This was further complicated in that the route had short working suffixed journeys, with the plain route number being only used for journeys for the whole length of the route. The main Monday to Friday route became 42A Finsbury Park - Camberwell Green; with 42B Finsbury Park - Hackney (Well Street) and 42C Finsbury Park - Aldgate short working journeys. By June 1925, these routes were supplemented with 42D Hackney Station - Aldgate and 42E Finsbury Park - Hackney Station short working journeys. The 42D changing again in late 1925 to run Hackney Station - Camberwell Green.

This situation remained until 3 October 1934, when the newly constituted London Passenger Transport Board instituted its own numbering system, which generally re-instated the situation previous to December 1924 and all workings again carried just the plain 42 route number.

During 1938, London Transport's Tram to Trolleybus conversion scheme had been moving across North London. On 16 October 1938, Tram routes 49, 49A, 59 and 79 were replaced by trolleybuses. As part of this scheme, as well as a way of cutting parallel mileage between buses and electric transport, the 42 was withdrawn completely on Sundays, also withdrawn between Stamford Hill and Finsbury Park, being re-routed to Turnpike Lane Station via Seven Sisters Corner and West Green Road, replacing the withdrawn 76A over this section of route. It was run in two sections(i) Turnpike Lane Station - Aldgate & (ii) Aldgate - Camberwell Green. A supplementary daily route 42A was also introduced, running Finsbury Park Station - Camberwell Green with an extension to Clapham Common on Saturdays only. This complicated system of routes was tidied-up as from 5 February 1939, when the 42 was re-introduced on Sundays but only between Tottenham Garage and Camberwell Green with a Saturday P.M. extension to Clapham Common which replaced the withdrawn 42A.

As a wartime economy measure, the 42 was withdrawn North of Aldgate and south of Camberwell Green as from 22 November 1939 to become a daily Aldgate - Camberwell Green route.

After thirteen years of stability, as from 18 May 1952, the 42 was extended on Sundays from Camberwell Green to Norwood Garage via Loughborough Junction and Herne Hill, replacing Tram replacement route 48 on that day. For the next few years, the changes to the routing seemed to occur annually. On 10 October 1954, the 42 was withdrawn Sundays between Herne Hill and Norwood Garage. On 19 February 1955 extended on Saturdays between Camberwell and Norwood Garage, again replacing the 48 that was now withdrawn on Saturdays. This extension was again cut back to Herne Hill as from 20 October 1956. Eventually on 20 August 1958, in the service cuts brought about by the Busman's Strike of 1958, the 48 was completely withdrawn, with the 42 now running daily Aldgate - Camberwell Green with a Monday to Saturday extension to Herne Hill, albeit in peak hours only on Mondays to Fridays.

The next changes to the 42 were made as from 27 January 1965, when the route was withdrawn on Saturdays between Camberwell Green and Herne Hill, with the Monday to Friday service to Herne Hill being withdrawn two years later on 2 January 1967. As from 24 January 1970, the 42 was converted to one-person operation. After this, the route gradually went into a decline, being reduced from a daily allocation of 8 vehicles at the beginning of 1970 to only 3 by 1985, when the evening service was also withdrawn. The operation of the route was lost by London Buses in 1987 and the route has had numerous operators ever since.

A slight upturn occurred in 1994, when the route was extended from Aldgate to terminate at Liverpool Street Station as from 11 June, as well as the restoration of the evening service as from 4 May 1996. As from 19 April 1997, the route was extended from Camberwell Green to Denmark Hill (Red Post Hill) and since that time the vehicle allocation has increased from 7 vehicles to 12 vehicles daily.

Route departing Liverpool Street

 * Liverpool Street station Bishopsgate
 * Camomile Street
 * Outwich Street
 * Houndsditch
 * St. Botolph Street
 * Middlesex Street
 * Aldgate High Street
 * Aldgate Station
 * Minories
 * Tower Gateway Station
 * Goodmans Yard
 * Mansell Street
 * Tower Bridge Approach
 * Tower Bridge
 * Tower Bridge Road
 * Bricklayers Arms
 * Old Kent Road
 * East Street
 * Thurlow Street
 * Albany Road
 * Camberwell Road
 * Camberwell Green
 * Denmark Hill
 * Denmark Hill Sunray Avenue

Route departing Denmark Hill

 * Denmark Hill Sunray Avenue
 * Casino Avenue
 * Red Post Hill
 * Denmark Hill
 * Camberwell Green
 * Camberwell Road
 * Albany Road
 * Thurlow Street
 * East Street
 * Old Kent Road
 * Bricklayers Arms
 * Tower Bridge Road
 * Tower Bridge
 * Tower Bridge Approach
 * Tower Hill
 * Minories
 * Tower Gateway Station
 * Goodmans Yard
 * Mansell Street
 * Aldgate High Street
 * Aldgate Station
 * Duke's Place
 * Bevis Marks
 * Camomile Street
 * Outwich Street
 * Houndsditch
 * Liverpool Street Station Bishopsgate

Previous route 42s in London
This has been the only route to carry the number 42 on a motor-bus route in London.

There were also in London:
 * Between 1913 - 1915 an Abbey Wood - Woolwich (Free Ferry) Tram route 42.
 * Between 1933 - 1951 a Thornton Heath - Croydon Tram route 42.