London Buses route U3 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Uxbridge and Heathrow Central, it is operated by Metroline.
History[]
Route U3 commenced operation on 27 May 1989 between Uxbridge Station and Wise Lane via Hillingdon Road - The Greenway - Cleveland Road - Church Road - Pield Heath Road - Colham Green Road - Violet Avenue - Apple Tree Avenue - Falling Lane - Yiewsley High Street - West Drayton Station - then a one-way loop via Church Road, The Green and Mill Road as a Monday to Saturday route. The route was operated by CentreWest from their Uxbridge (UX) garage using Alexander bodied Mercedes-Benz 811Ds.
On 22 May 1993, the route was extended from Wise Lane to Heathrow via withdrawn Route 223, and a Sunday service was introduced at the same time.
On 2 May 1998, the route passed to Capital Logistics operating from their West Drayton (CS) garage using Optare Excels.
On 8 January 2000, the route passed to TGM and there was no change to the operation.
On 29 April 2000, the allocation was transferred to Fulwell (TF) garage.
On 28 April 2001, the route passed back to First Centrewest operating from their Uxbridge (UX) garage and was converted to low floor operation using Marshall Capital bodied Dennis Dart SLFs.
On 3 May 2003, the route was retained by First London with Caetano Nimbus bodied Dennis Dart SLFs introduced.
On 1 May 2010, the route was retained by First London using Caetano Nimbus bodied Dennis Dart SLFs and a double-deck working was introduced using a Plaxton President bodied Dennis Trident.
On 22 June 2013, the route was included in the sale of First London's Uxbridge (UX) garage to Metroline.
In July 2015, the Plaxton President bodied Dennis Trident was replaced by a Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TL.
In November 2015, the Caetano Nimbus bodied Dennis Dart SLFs were replaced by Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts.
In September 2016, the Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts were replaced by brand new Enviro 200 MMC bodied Alexander Dennis E20Ds.
On 28 January 2017, an additional double-deck working was introduced.
On 29 April 2017, the route was retained by Metroline.
In September 2017, the Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TLs were replaced by Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s.
On 20 September 2020, the route was temporarily converted to full double deck operation using Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s.
On 29 July 2021, the route was converted back to a partial single deck operation using Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts and Enviro 200 MMC bodied Alexander Dennis E20Ds.
On 2 September 2023, the route was converted to a full double deck operation using Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s.
On 17 February 2024, the operating hours of the route were extended to start from 03:20 until 00:58 instead of starting from 05:09 until 00:58.
The route will be retained by Metroline using brand new electric double deckers from 26 October 2024.
The route is being proposed to merge with route U1 to make one route from Ruislip to Heathrow Central, not serving Uxbridge station.
Current Route[]
Route U3 operates via these primary locations:
- Uxbridge Station
- Brunel University
- Hillingdon Hospital
- West Drayton Station
- Harmondsworth
- Heathrow Airport Central Bus Station