London Buses route U1 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between West Drayton and Ruislip, it is operated by Metroline.
History[]
Route U1 commenced operating on 27 May 1989 between Ruislip and Uxbridge stations via Swakeleys Road - Ickenham - West Ruislip. The route was initially operated by CentreWest from their Uxbridge (UX) garage using Alexander bodied Mercedes-Benz 811Ds. The route was introduced in order to replace the withdrawn section of route 223.
On 8 June 1991, the Sunday service was withdrawn.
On 29 February 1992, the route was extended from Ruislip to Harefield, Rickmansworth, and Chorleywood, with some journeys continuing via Maple Cross and Denham back to Uxbridge.
However, 1 October 1994 saw the introduction of new route 331 serving the London parts of this section, between Ruislip and Harefield (as well as running on into Uxbridge in order to replace Luton & District routes 347/348), while local Rickmansworth route R1 (now R21) replaced much of the remainder.
On 31 August 1996, the route was extended from Uxbridge to Stockley Estate via withdrawn U5 and further extended Mon-Sat to Hayes via withdrawn Route U6. A Sunday service was introduced between Ruislip and Stockley Estate at the same time.
On 2 May 1998, the route was retained by First London and was converted to low floor using brand new Marshall Capital bodied Dennis Dart SLFs.
On 3 May 2003, the route was retained by First London.
On 24 January 2004, the route was withdrawn between Hillingdon Hospital and Hayes, this section was replaced by route U5.
On 3 May 2008, the Marshall Capitals were replaced by Caetano Nimbus bodied Dennis Dart SLFs. The route was withdrawn between Uxbridge and Hillingdon via Kingston Lane instead of Cleveland Road and was extended from Hillingdon Hospital to West Drayton Station at the same time.
On 1 May 2010, the route was retained by First London with brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts introduced.
On 22 June 2013, the route was included in the sale of First London's Uxbridge (UX) garage to Metroline.
On 29 April 2017, the route was retained by Metroline.
On 27 August 2022, the route was rerouted towards West Drayton direct via Belmont Road in Uxbridge, not serving Bakers Road and Uxbridge Station.[1]
The route will be retained by Metroline using brand new electric single deckers from 26 October 2024.
The route is being proposed to merge with route U3.[1]
Current Route[]
Route U1 operates via these primary locations:
- West Drayton Station Station Approach
- Yiewsley High Street
- Hillingdon Hospital
- Brunel University
- Belmont Road
- Uxbridge
- West Ruislip Station
- Ruislip Station Station Approach