London Buses route 88

London Buses route 88 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Parliament Hill Fields and Clapham Common, it is operated by London General. The route used to be known as "the Clapham Omnibus" when it was run by London General with single-decker buses.[1][2][3]

88
Go-Ahead London New Routemaster in August 2015
Overview
Operator	London General
Garage	Stockwell (SW)
Vehicle	Alexander Dennis Enviro400H
Route
Start	Parliament Hill Fields
Via	Kentish Town Camden Town Albany Street Great Portland Street Oxford Circus Piccadilly Circus Trafalgar Square Parliament Square Vauxhall Stockwell
End	Clapham Common

History

Route 88 was the first "Metropolitan" route to receive AEC NS-type buses, running between Acton Green and Mitcham.[4]

Between 1993 and 1997, Volvos were used to run the route. For some time, the route was the only one to use the buses.[5]

London General has successfully retained route 88 with new contracts starting on 13 December 2003 and 11 December 2010.[6][7]

New Routemasters were introduced on 22 August 2015.[8]

On 30 March 2019, the route was extended from Camden Town to Parliament Hill Fields and re-routed between Camden Town and Great Portland Street Station to go via Albany Street and ultimately replace the C2, which ceased operation entirely.[9]

Current route

Route 88 operates via these primary locations:[10]

• Parliament Hill Fields for Hampstead Heath
• Kentish Town Station
• Camden Town station
• Great Portland Street station
• Oxford Circus station
• Regent Street
• Piccadilly Circus station
• Trafalgar Square for Charing Cross station
• Whitehall
• Westminster station
• Tate Britain
• Vauxhall Bridge
• Vauxhall bus station for Vauxhall station
• Stockwell station
• Clapham North & Clapham High Street stations
• Clapham Common station
• Clapham Common Omnibus Clapham

References

1. Time out London guide. Penguin Books. 1995. p. 103. The 88 bus, recently and rather self-consciously styled "The Clapham Omnibus", starts its pleasantly circuitous route from here, to points north of the River.
2. Rainford, Paul (1993). "Paul Rainford on bus branding". Design (533): 43. The Clapham Omnibus is the shape of things to come. Run by London General (an LT company) on route 88 between Clapham Common and Oxford Circus, this single- decker, Wigan- built Volvo B10B model sports its own jaunty graphics, designed by the Best Impressions consultancy
3. Milne, Ian (2004). A Cost Too Far? (PDF). Civitas. p. 24. ISBN 9781903386378. bus seats on the number 88 London bus — the Clapham omnibus — are made in Australia
4. Graeme Bruce, J; Curtis, Colin (1977). The London Motor Bus: Its Origins and Development. London Transport. p. 43. ISBN 0853290830.
5. Reed, John (2000). London Buses: A Brief History. Capital Transport Publishing. p. 69. ISBN 9781854142337.
6. 2003 Bus Tender Result Transport For London
7. 2010 Bus Tender Result Transport For London
8. Press Release Transport For London
9. http://camdennewjournal.com/article/confirmed-c2-bus-route-will-be-axed
10. Route 88 Map Transport for London

External links

• Media related to London Buses route 88 at Wikimedia Commons
• Timetable