London Buses route 205 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England. Running between

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

and Bow Church, it is operated by

Stagecoach London Stagecoach London is a major bus operator in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach and operates services under contract to Transport for London mostly in East and South East London as well as some services into Central London. It i ...

. This bus has operated at Bow Bus Garage, upon its expansion from Mile End to Bow Church. 2015 statistics from Transport for London stated that this route was responsible for the most injuries to cyclists of any TfL bus route in London.

History

Route 205 commenced operating on 31 August 2002, replacing the former SL1 (''StationLink 1'') service, which had begun as an accessible route called Carelink for disabled people operated by National Bus Company owned

Beeline A bee line is an idiom for the shortest route or a straight line between two points (see "as the crow flies"): bee line, bee-line, or beeline may also refer to: Brands and enterprises * Beeline (brand), a telecommunications brand by VimpelCom L ...

. This route was withdrawn in 1988, and it became a London Transport contracted route. It was initially operated by

London General London General is a bus company operating in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and operates services under contract to Transport for London. The company is named after the London General Omnibus Company, the principal ...

, but in 1992 the contract was won by

Thorpes Thorpes was an English bus operator. It operated services under contract to Transport for London. History Thorpes was a coach operator that diversified into operating bus services under contract to Transport for London in the 1990s. Their St ...

. For a short period the route continued to be branded as Stationlink.London transport - London - TFA - Tourism For All
/ref> Route 205 was introduced as part improvements in preparation for the introduction of London congestion charge in February 2003. It connects

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it me ...

, Euston, King's Cross and Liverpool Street termini stations, as well as many

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

stations following the northern part of the Circle line. A route 705, linking stations on the southern section of the Circle Line, was also created but later withdrawn. The contract to operate the new route was won by

Metroline Metroline is a bus company operating services in Greater London and south Hertfordshire. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Corporation and operates services under contract to Transport for London. As at March 2021, the fleet consisted of 1,5 ...

. It was extended from

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

Mile End tube station Mile End is a London Underground station in Mile End, London. It is served by the Hammersmith & City, District and Central lines. This station features a cross-platform interchange in both directions, District and Hammersmith & City lines stop ...

on 16 June 2007, and was converted into 24-hour service at the same time. Seven new

Scania N230UD The Scania N series is a line of low-floor bus chassis with straight-up, transversely mounted Euro IV or newer engine at the rear, built by Scania AB, Scania since 2006, replacing the Scania N94. It is available as the N UB (N230UB, N270UB, N280 ...

s arrived in summer 2007 to increase the frequency of the route. Upon being re-tendered, on 29 August 2009 the route passed to East London Bus Company. At the same time the route was extended further east, from Mile End to Bow Church. The contract required 25 new buses. On 31 August 2013, the night service on this 24 hour route was withdrawn and replaced by night bus route N205, the existing night-time services on the 205 was simply re-numbered as N205 and extended to

Leyton Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...

, Drapers Field via Stratford. Upon being re-tendered the route was retained by

with a new contract to commence on 30 August 2014 with new Alexander Dennis Enviro400Hs. In 2018, Transport for London consulted on reducing the frequency of the route.

Current route

Route 205 operates via these primary locations:Route 205 Map
Transport for London *

''Cleveland Terrace'' *

Paddington station Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great ...

Edgware Road station Edgware Road is the name of two London Underground stations near the junction of Edgware Road and Marylebone Road in Central London: * Edgware Road tube station (Bakerloo line) * Edgware Road tube station (Circle, District and Hammersmith & City l ...

Marylebone station Marylebone station ( ) is a Central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the Marylebone area of the City of Westminster. On the National Rail network it is also known as London Marylebone and is the southern ter ...

* Baker Street station * Regent's Park station * Great Portland Street station * Euston Square station *

Euston bus station Euston Bus Station serves the Euston area of Camden, London, England. The station is owned and maintained by Transport for London. It is situated next to Euston main line railway station and above Euston Underground station and near Eust ...

for

Euston station Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city railw ...

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

* St Pancras International * Kings Cross station *

Angel station ''Angel Station'' is the ninth album released by Manfred Mann's Earth Band, released in 1979. Several line-up changes were made for this album. Ex-Wings drummer Geoff Britton replaced founding drummer Chris Slade and Steve Waller replaced g ...

Moorfields Eye Hospital Moorfields Eye Hospital is a specialist NHS eye hospital in Finsbury in the London Borough of Islington in London, England run by Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Together with the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, which is adjacen ...

Old Street station Old Street is a National Rail and London Underground station at the junction of Old Street and City Road in central London, England. The station is on the Bank branch of the Northern line between Angel and Moorgate stations and on the North ...

* Liverpool Street station * Bishopsgate * Aldgate station *

Aldgate East station Aldgate East is a London Underground station on Whitechapel High Street in Whitechapel, in London, England. It takes its name from the City of London ward of Aldgate, the station lying to the east of the ward (and the City). It is on the Hamm ...

Whitechapel station Whitechapel is an interchange station in Whitechapel, East London for London Underground, London Overground and Elizabeth line services. The station is located behind a street market of the same name and opposite the Whitechapel Civic Centre. I ...

for the

Royal London Hospital The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and Tower Hamlets and s ...

* Stepney Green station * Mile End station * Bow Road station *

Bow Church station Bow Church is a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station in Bow, London, England. It is between Devons Road DLR station, Devons Road and Pudding Mill Lane DLR station, Pudding Mill Lane stations. It is interlinked by an Oyster card#Out-of-Station ...

References

External links

*
London Bus Routes galleryTimetable
{{DEFAULTSORT:205, London buses route Bus routes in London Transport in the London Borough of Camden Transport in the London Borough of Islington Transport in the City of Westminster Transport in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets