London Buses Route 326 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Brent Cross and Barnet, The Spires, it is operated by London Sovereign RATP.
History[]
Route 326 commenced operation on 2 February 1991. The route originally ran between Brent Cross Shopping Centre and Potters Bar Garage via Brent Cross Flyover - Hendon Way - Hendon Central Station - The Burroughs - Hendon - Church Road - Finchley Lane - Hendon Lane - Regents Park Road - Finchley Central Station - Nether Street - Argyle Road - Southover - Longland Drive - Totteridge & Whetstone Station - Whetstone - High Road Whetstone - Great North Road - Longmore Avenue - East Barnet Road - New Barnet Station - Meadway - Barnet - Hadley Highstone. The route was initially operated by London Northern from their Potters Bar (PB) garage using Optare StarRiders. The route was introduced to replace withdrawn route 26 between New Barnet and Whetstone.
On 15 May 1993, the Optare StarRiders were replaced by Wright bodied Mercedes Benz 811Ds.
On 26 October 1994, the route was included in the sale of London Northern to MTL London.
On 8 October 1995, the Sunday service was extended from Hendon to Brent Cross.
On 29 November 1997, the Evening service was extended from Hendon to Brent Cross.
On 3 July 1998, the route was included in the sale of MTL London to Metroline.
On 25 July 1998, the route was extended from New Barnet to The Spires but was withdrawn between Barnet and Potters Bar, this section replaced by new Route 383 and the routing via Meadway was withdrawn in favour of the routing via Dollis Valley Way replacing withdrawn route 385. The Wright bodied Mercedes Benz 811Ds were replaced by low-floor Marshall Capital bodied Dennis Dart SLFs at the same time.
On 30 November 2002, the late evening service was extended to Brent Cross Shopping Centre.
On 26 July 2003, the route was retained by Metroline and the allocation was transferred from Potters Bar (PB) garage to Cricklewood (W) garage. The Marshall Capital bodied Dennis Dart SLFs were replaced by Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart SLFs at the same time.
On 21 May 2005, the route passed to Thorpes operating from their Perivale West (PA) garage with Marshall Capital bodied Dennis Dart SLFs introduced.
On 6 January 2007, the route was transferred to Metroline but still operating from Perivale West (PA) garage using Marshall Capital bodied Dennis Dart SLFs.
On 26 July 2008, the route was retained by Metroline with brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts introduced.
On 9 June 2012, the allocation was transferred to Cricklewood (W) garage.
On 25 July 2015, the route passed to London Sovereign RATP operating from their Edgware (BT) garage using existing Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts.
On 25 May 2019, the route was rerouted eastbound directly via Hendon Lane and Regents Park Road instead of Gravel Hill.
In January 2020, existing Enviro 200 MMC bodied Alexander Dennis E20Ds were introduced alongside the existing Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts.
On 25 July 2020, the route was retained by London Sovereign.
On 10 March 2023, existing 9.7m Enviro 200 MMC bodied Alexander Dennis E20Ds were introduced alongside the existing 10.5m variants and existing Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts.
On 13 March 2024, the route reverted to a full Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Dart and 10.5m Enviro 200 MMC bodied Alexander Dennis E20D operation.
The route will be extended to Brent Cross West Station from Spring 2024.[1]
Current Route[]
Routes 326 operates via these primary locations:
- Brent Cross Shopping Centre Bus Station
- Hendon Central Station
- Hendon Town Hall
- Hendon The Quadrant
- Finchley Central Great North Way
- Finchley Central Station
- West Finchley Nether Street
- Totteridge & Whetstone Station
- Whetstone Griffin
- New Barnet Station
- Barnet Everyman Cinema
- Dollis Valley Way
- High Barnet Station
- Barnet Church
- Barnet The Spires (Stapylton Road)
Gallery[]
