London Buses route 496 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Harold Wood and Romford, Queens Hospital, it is operated by Stagecoach London.
History[]
Route 496 commenced operation on 14 October 2000 between Harold Wood Station and Romford Market. The route was initially operated by Stagecoach London from their Romford (NS) garage using Leyland Titans and Volvo Olympians. The route was introduced to replace the withdrawn section of route 296 between Romford and Harold Wood.
On 30 August 2003, the route was extended from Romford Market to The Brewery and was converted to low floor operation using Alexander ALX400 bodied Dennis Tridents.
On 15 October 2005, the route was retained by Stagecoach London.
On 25 November 2006, the route was extended from The Brewery to Queen's Hospital via Waterloo Road and Rom Valley Way.
On 30 August 2006, the route was included in the sale of Stagecoach to Australian Bank Macquarie trading as East London Group.
On 14 October 2010, the route was included in the sale of Australian Bank Macquarie trading as East London Group to Stagecoach once again rebranding Stagecoach London.
On 16 October 2010, the route was retained by Stagecoach London.
In May 2011, the Alexander ALX400 bodied Dennis Tridents were replaced by brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s.
On 17 October 2015, the route was retained by Stagecoach London.
On 12 October 2019, the allocation was transferred to Rainham (RM) garage.
On 17 October 2020, the route was retained by Stagecoach London.
Current Route[]
- Harold Wood Station Station Road
- Harold Park
- Harold Hill
- Gallows Corner
- Gidea Park Station
- Romford Bus Station
- Romford Queen's Hospital, Rom Valley Way