London Buses route 42 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between East Dulwich and Shoreditch, it is operated by Go-Ahead London subsidiary London Central.
History Route 42 commenced operation on 25 July 1912 as a daily route between Finsbury Park station and Clapton Pond via Seven Sisters Road, Amhurst Park and Upper Clapton Road. On 26 August 1912, it was extended from Clapton to Tower of London via Hackney, Whitechapel Road, Aldgate and Minories. From 14 April 1913 it was extended on Mondays to Saturdays from Tower of London to Camberwell Green via Tower Bridge, Old Kent Road and Albany Road.
The route was reduced from a daily allocation of eight vehicles at the beginning of 1970 to only three by 1985, when the evening service was also withdrawn. Upon being tendered, in 1987 the route passed to London Country South East.
Route 42 was included in the sale of Limebourne Buses to Connex in July 2001. Upon being re-tendered, it passed to London Easylink on 20 April 2002. However, on 21 August 2002, London Easylink went into liquidation.Buses recalled as firm goes into bankruptcy BBC News 21 August 2002
Route 42 was taken over by Transport for London subsidiary East Thames Buses. On 3 October 2009, East Thames Buses was sold to Go-Ahead London, which included a five-year contract to operate route 42.Go-Ahead Acquires East Thames Buses Go-Ahead Group 30 July 2009 Go-Ahead buys East Thames Buses Bus & Coach Professional 3 August 2009 East Thames Buses Go-Ahead London
On 1 October 2016, the route was extended from Denmark Hill to East Dulwich via Dulwich Hospital with double-decker buses introduced.Have your say on our proposal for an extension to bus route 42 Transport for London 15 July 2016Bus Services Changes 19 August to 8 October inclusive Transport for London On the same date, the route was temporarily withdrawn between Tower Bridge Road and Liverpool Street bus station until 23 December 2016 while Tower Bridge was closed for refurbishment.Tower Bridge Closure Transport for London
In 2021, the frequency of the service was reduced from 4.8 buses per hour to 4 during Monday-Friday peak times, and from 5 buses per hour to 4 during Monday-Saturday daytimes.
TfL route proposal: shortened to terminate at Tooley Street On 24 July 2026, TfL opened a consultation to shorten the route from Liverpool Street to Tower Bridge Road, Tooley Street on a permanent basis. TfL said that the reason for the change was due to the increase in traffic in and around the Tower Bridge area, which made the route extremely unreliable. The consultation closes on 20 September 2026.
Current route Route 42 operates via these primary locations:Route 42 Map Transport for London East Dulwich Sainsbury's East Dulwich station North Dulwich station Denmark Hill station King's College Hospital Camberwell Green Walworth Bricklayers Arms Tower Bridge Tower Gateway station Aldgate station Liverpool Street station Shoreditch Appold Street
References
External links
Timetable