London Buses route 257 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Walthamstow Central and Stratford, it is operated by Stagecoach London.
History[]
Route 257 commenced operation on 19 November 1988 between Stratford and Walthamstow Central station with a daytime extension to Chingford Mount replacing part of route 262. It was initially operated by East London from its West Ham (WH) garage using Leyland Titans.
On 4 March 1989, the allocation was transferred to Leyton (T) garage.
On 25 August 1990, the route was extended from Chingford Mount to Fantaseas.
On 10 October 1992, the route passed to Capital Citybus and the Chingford Mount extension was withdrawn. A batch of newish Dennis Dominators was acquired second-hand from Southampton Citybus for the route, although the enhancement the following year saw them diluted somewhat by a medley of other types. In the last couple of years, they were replaced by the more capacious Dennis Arrows, these having been displaced from route D6.
On 14 December 1996, the allocation was transferred to Hackney (H) garage.
On 8 July 1998, the route was included in the sale of Capital Citybus to First London.
On 14 October 2000, the route was retained by First London.
In January 2001, the route converted to low floor single deck operation using new Marshall Capital bodied Dennis Dart SLFs.
On 27 October 2001, the route was converted back to double deck using Plaxton President bodied Dennis Tridents.
On 15 October 2005, the route passed to Stagecoach East London operating from their Stratford (SD) garage with Alexander ALX400 bodied Dennis Tridents introduced.
On 23 February 2008, Stratford (SD) garage was announced closed and the allocation was transferred to new West Ham (WH) garage.
On 14 October 2010, the route was included in the sale of Australian Bank Macquarie trading as East London Group to Stagecoach.
On 13 October 2012, the route passed to London General operating from their Northumberland Park (NP) garage using existing Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B7TLs.
On 14 October 2017, the route passed back to Stagecoach London operating from their Leyton (T) garage using existing Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s and brand new Enviro 400 MMC bodied Alexander Dennis E40Hs.
The route will be retained by Stagecoach London using brand new electric double deckers from 12 October 2024.
Current Route[]
- Stratford Station Bus Station
- Maryland Station
- Leytonstone High Road Station
- Leytonstone Bus Station
- Whipps Cross
- Leyton Bakers Arms
- Walthamstow Central Station Bus Station