The original RT route ran as follows: CRYSTAL PALACE,
Anerley, Norwood Junction, WEST CROYDON, Waddon, Stafford Road,
Wallington Stanley Park Road, Stanley Park Road, Boundary
Road, Park Lane, Ruskin Road, Carshalton Windsor Castle,
Carshalton Road, Ringstead Road, Westmead Road, Benhill Avenue,
SUTTON GREEN, St Helier, MORDEN STATION
On 15 April 2007, the free service will follow the original
routing, but operate mainly between Wallington and Sutton Garage,
passing the site of the former
Carshalton depot in Westmead Road,
Sutton. See the timetable
here.
RT4173 turns from Boundary
Road into Stanley Park Road at
Boundary
Corner, site in
654 days of a
trolleybus turning
circle. Photo
© John Parkin
Main boarding points
Wallington Stanley Park Road, Carshalton Windsor
Castle, Carshalton Depot, Sutton Green
Route history
A trolleybus conversion route, the 154 replaced trolleybus 654
in phase I, March 1959. The 654 ran from Crystal Palace to
Sutton Green along the original tram route; on conversion to motor
buses, the route was extended to Morden on Mondays to
Saturdays and was operated by RTs based at the former
trolleybus depot at Carshalton (CN). When
CN closed in January 1964, the main allocation moved to Sutton (A),
with substantial support from Thornton Heath (TH) at
weekends.
In January 1966, the Sunday workings were withdrawn, and at
the end of that year, the Sutton allocation was withdrawn on
Saturday, leaving the route working solely from TH on that
day. The final change to the RT operation was in September
1968, when the service was withdrawn between Sutton Green and
Morden on M-F evenings - this section anyway being covered by
the 164 and 164A.
RT working ended on 11 May 1973, the last journey being worked
by RT1110, a bus which had worked the route from CN for three years
in the early 60s. The following day, one-man operation by
DMSs commenced, with A and TH being supplemented by a Croydon (TC)
allocation from 1974.
On 23 April 1977, the route was diverted between Stanley Park
Road and Carshalton
Windsor Castle, to serve Carshalton
Beeches Stn, moving away significantly from the original tram
tracks for the first time. The route was further altered in
1981, when it was cut back to West Croydon and diverted to serve
Roundshaw, replacing the
233. From
this date, Sutton garage took sole ownership of the route, a
position which remains today.
