London Buses route 42 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. Running between

East Dulwich East Dulwich is an area of South East London, England in the London Borough of Southwark. It forms the eastern part of Dulwich, with Peckham to the east and Camberwell to the north. This South London suburb was first developed in the nineteen ...

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...

'' and

Liverpool Street bus station Liverpool Street bus station is located within Liverpool Street station and is next to the Broadgate Broadgate is a large, office and retail estate in the Bishopsgate Without area of the City of London. It is owned by British Land and ...

, it is operated by

London Central London Central is a bus company operating in South London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and operates services under contract to Transport for London. History London Central commenced operating on 1 April 1989 when London Buse ...

History

Route 42 commenced operation on 25 July 1912 as a daily route between

Finsbury Park station Finsbury Park is an intermodal interchange station in north London. It serves a number of National Rail, London Underground and bus services. The station is the third busiest Underground station outside Zone 1, with over 33 million passengers u ...

and

Clapton Pond Clapton Pond is a pond and garden at Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney. The name ‘Clapton’ or ‘farm on the hill’ is derived from the Old English words ‘clop’, meaning a lump or hill, and ‘ton’, meaning a farm. For centuri ...

via

Seven Sisters Road Seven Sisters Road is a road in north London, England which runs within the boroughs of Islington, Hackney and Haringey. It is an extension of Camden Road, running from Holloway Road (the A1 road) at the Nags Head crossroads then on to another c ...

, Amhurst Park and Upper Clapton Road. On 26 August 1912, it was extended from Clapton to

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

via Hackney,

Whitechapel Road Whitechapel Road is a major arterial road in Whitechapel, Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. It is named after a small chapel of ease dedicated to St Mary and connects Whitechapel High Street to the west with Mile End Road to the east. ...

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate. The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...

and

Minories Minories ( ) is the name of a small former administrative unit, and also of a street in central London. Both the street and the former administrative area take their name from the Abbey of the Minoresses of St. Clare without Aldgate. Both are ...

. From 14 April 1913 it was extended on Mondays to Saturdays from Tower of London to

Camberwell Green Camberwell Green is of common land in Camberwell, south London laid out as a formal park. Its south-west corner is the junction of Camberwell Road/Denmark Hill and Camberwell New Road/Camberwell Church Street. Its other edges share one point ...

via

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule and Suspended-deck suspension bridge, suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones (architect), Horace Jones and e ...

Old Kent Road Old Kent Road is a major thoroughfare in South East London, England, passing through the London Borough of Southwark. It was originally part of an ancient trackway that was paved by the Romans and used by the Anglo-Saxons who named it Wæceli ...

and Albany Road. The route was reduced from a daily allocation of eight vehicles at the beginning of 1970 to only three by 1985, when the evening service was also withdrawn. Upon being tendered, in 1987 the route passed to

London Country South East London Country South East (LCSE) was a bus operator in South East England and London. It was formed from the split of London Country Bus Services in 1986 and operated a fleet of around 170 buses from four garages, with its headquarters located ...

. Route 42 was included in the sale of Limebourne Buses to Connex in July 2001. Upon being re-tendered, it passed to London Easylink on 20 April 2002. However, on 21 August 2002, London Easylink went into liquidation. Route 42 was taken over by Transport for London subsidiary

East Thames Buses East Thames Buses was the trading name of London Buses Limited, an arms length subsidiary of Transport for London. In 2009, it was sold to the Go-Ahead Group. History East Thames Buses was formed in 1999 to take over the services operated ...

. On 3 October 2009, East Thames Buses was sold to

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 ...

, which included a five-year contract to operate route 42. On 1 October 2016, the route was extended from

Denmark Hill Denmark Hill is an area and road in Camberwell, in the London Borough of Southwark. It is a sub-section of the western flank of the Norwood Ridge, centred on the long, curved Ruskin Park slope of the ridge. The road is part of the A215 road, A21 ...

Sunray Avenue to

Sainsburys via Dulwich Hospital with double-decker buses introduced. On the same date, the route was temporarily withdrawn between Tower Bridge Road and

until 23 December 2016 while

was closed for refurbishment. In 2021, the frequency of the service was reduced from 4.8 buses per hour to 4 during Monday-Friday peak times, and from 5 buses per hour to 4 during Monday-Saturday daytimes.

Current route

Route 42 operates via these primary locations:Route 42 Map
Transport for London *

''Sainsburys'' * East Dulwich station * North Dulwich station *

* Denmark Hill station *

King's College Hospital King's College Hospital is a major teaching hospital and major trauma centre in Denmark Hill, Camberwell in the London Borough of Lambeth, referred to locally and by staff simply as "King's" or abbreviated internally to "KCH". It is managed by K ...

Bricklayers Arms Bricklayers Arms is the road intersection of the A2 and the London Inner Ring Road where Bermondsey meets Walworth and Elephant & Castle in south London. It is the junction of Tower Bridge Road, Old Kent Road, New Kent Road and Great Dover St ...

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

Tower Bridge Road The London Inner Ring Road, or Ring Road as signposted, is a route with an average diameter of formed from a number of major roads that encircle Central London. The ring road forms the boundary of the London congestion charge zone, although t ...

Tower Gateway station Tower Gateway is a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station in the City of London and is located near the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. It adjoins the tracks to Fenchurch Street station and is located on the site of a former station called Min ...

* Aldgate station *

for

Liverpool Street station Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

References

External links

*
Timetable
{{DEFAULTSORT:042, London buses route Bus routes in London Transport in the London Borough of Southwark Transport in the City of London Transport in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Transport in the London Borough of Hackney