South

An evocative shot of half-a-dozen of Sutton garage's LTs in 1951, by then used only on the 213 and with a year to go before replacement by new RFs. The line is headed by LT1026; this looks like Bushey Lane, to the right of the garage entrance.

Photo © Alan Cross

The single-deck routes operated in the south of London at any time between October 1934 and the introduction of RF operation on the relevant routes are summarised in the table below the map. Minor re-routings are not shown; in some cases, vehicle allocations varied during the period.

An approximation of the routes operated is shown on the following map (click on the map for a larger version) - note that not all routes operated at the same time. Routes operated only before or during the war are shown in orange, both during and after the war in red and purple are post-war introductions. See the table for more detail.

Map based on 1949 bus map © London Transport

Single-deck routes in south London, October 1934 to RF conversion

Route	Destinations (daily unless shown)	Garage(s)	Bus types	Dates of operation (pre-RF) and notes
127	Single-deck journeys South Wimbledon Station and Morden Station (M-Sa)	A (to 28 Oct 41), AL (from 29 Oct 41)	LTL LTL, Q (Oct 42)	Double-decked and renumbered from 245 22 Jan 41 Due to low-height double-deck bus shortage, single-deckers were scheduled 13 Aug 41 to 20 Apr 43
200	Wimbledon Station and Raynes Park Station	AL	LTL, Q (Apr 36)	Renumbered from 103 3 Oct 34 to 26 May 36
	Wimbledon Station and Copse Hill Coombe Lane	AL	Q, also T (Dec 43 to Apr 44)	27 May 36 to RF conversion
203	Purley (also referred to as Old Coulsden) Old Lodge Lane and Purley (also referred to as Riddlesdown or Sanderstead) Mitchley Avenue	TC	GF (OMO), DA (OMO, Apr 36)	New route 11 Sep 35 to 1 Aug 38 Replaced by 234/234^A
207	Barnes Railway Hotel and Richmond Park Golf Course (circular)	M	DA (OMO), C (OMO, Apr 36)	30 Aug 31 to 17 Oct 39 Route withdrawn
213	Kingston Bus Station and Belmont California. Journeys Kingston Bus Station and Sutton Garage (varying days from 4 May 38, daily from 29 Oct 41)	A K (daily, except M-Sa 17 Apr 35 to 5 Dec 39 and 30 Oct 40 to 12 Mar 46, M-F 6 Dec 39 to 29 Oct 40) NB	LTL LTL, also T, Q, T (summer 50) In practice, the buses operated varied T	Renumbered from 113 3 Oct 34 to RF conversion
225	Raynes Park Station and Grand Drive Crossway. Extended Su to Lower Morden Cemetary	AL	DA/C (OMO), Q (29 Apr 36)	New route 16 May 34 to 30 Jan 39 Route extended and double-decked as 50
234	Purley Railway Hotel and Streatham Common Greyhound	A	LTL	Renumbered from 87 3 Oct 34 to 27 May 37 Streatham section replaced by double-deck route 115
	Purley Railway Hotel and Carshalton Park Lane	A	LTL	28 May 37 to 2 Aug 38
	Purley Mitchley Avenue and Carshalton Park Lane	A	LTL	3 Aug 38 to 27 Oct 42 Replaces part of 203
	Purley Mitchley Avenue and Wallington Grosvenor Road (Belmont Road from 8 Jan 43)	A (to 18 Apr 44), TC (from 19 Apr 44)	LTL LTL	28 Oct 42 to 25 Oct 49
	Selsdon Farley Road and Wallington Belmont Road	TC	LTL	26 Oct 49 to 21 Feb 50 Route shortened in Wallington and double-decked
234^A	Purley Old Lodge Lane and Carshalton Park Lane	A	LTL	New route Part replaces 203 3 Aug 38 to 27 Oct 42
	Purley Old Lodge Lane and Wallington Grosvenor Road (Belmont Road from 8 Jan 43)	A (to 18 Apr 44), TC (from 19 Apr 44	LTL	28 Oct 42 to 21 Feb 50
	Purley Old Lodge Lane and Hackbridge Elm Lane	TC	LTL	22 Feb 50 to RF conversion
235	Cheam Station and Banstead Victoria (M-Sa)	A	DA (OMO)	New route 12 Dec 33 to 12 Oct 34
235	South Croydon Swan & Sugar Loaf and Selsdon Farley Road (M-Sa)	TC	S, T (Apr 36), LTL (Apr 39)	New route 5 Jun 35 to 12 May 42
245	South Wimbledon Station and Morden Station (daily, M-Sa from 6 Dec 39)	A	LTL	Renumbered from 155^B/^C 3 Oct 34 to 21 Jan 41 Route double-decked as 127
	Double-deck journeys South Wimbledon Station and New Malden Duke of Cambridge (Fountain from 27 Feb 35) (M-Sa peaks)	A	NS	3 Oct 34 to 3 Mar 36 Replaced by 152 shorts

Note on routings: see the map for an outline; in several cases, detailed changes took place but are not shown.

Note on bus types: in many cases, allocations were mixed or changed too frequently over time to list full details above; in both cases, all classes are shown but did not all work throughout the relevant period. LTL is used for LT single-deckers ('Scooters').

Central Area single-deck routes

The South