Full Route Visual | Route 155: Elephant and Castle - Tooting, St George’s Hospital | WHV85

Route 155 commenced operating on 7 January 1951 between Wimbledon Station and Victoria Embankment via South Wimbledon - Merton - Colliers Wood - Tooting - Balham - Clapham - Stockwell - Kennington - then either Blackfriars Bridge or Westminster Bridge. The route was introduced to replace Trams 2 & 4. The route was initially operated by London Transport from their Clapham (CA) garage using Leyland Titans. The route when introduced was numbered 155W and 155B the suffixes denoting whether route went via Westminster or Blackfriars. This arrangement was not a success as the blinds were not always altered for the correct route leading to a lot of confusion therefore on 2 May 1951 the route was numbered plain 155. On 26 November 1958, Clapham (CA) garage was announced closed and the allocation was transferred to Merton (AL) and Stockwell (SW) garages. AEC Regent IIIs were introduced at the same time. On 9 October 1963, the Stockwell (SW) allocation was transferred to Merton (AL) garage. On 18 November 1964, the Saturday pm and the Sunday service was withdrawn between Elephant & Castle and Embankment. On 31 December 1966, the Monday to Friday service withdrawn outside peaks Elephant to Embankment, and part of the allocation was transferred to Norbiton (NB) garage. AEC Routemasters were introduced at the same time. On 25 October 1969, the route was withdrawn between West Molesey and Hersham. On 18 April 1970, the route was converted to full AEC Regent III operation. On 12 May 1973, the Sunday service was withdrawn and replaced by a revised route 131. On 15 December 1973, the AEC Routemasters were reintroduced. On 9 January 1977, the route was converted to full AEC Routemaster operation. On 27 October 1984, the Embankment journeys were replaced by Aldwych journeys. On 25 October 1986, the route was converted to one-man operation using Daimler Fleetlines and the Saturday journeys from Elephant to Aldwych were withdrawn. On 21 November 1987, the route was withdrawn between Elephant & Castle and Aldwych. On 28 November 1988, the Stockwell (SW) allocation was transferred to Merton (AL) garage. On 28 April 1990, the route was rerouted at Stockwell to Vauxhall via South Lambeth Road, and the Daimler Fleetlines were replaced by MCW Metrobuses. On 29 September 1990, the Sunday service was reintroduced to replace part of withdrawn route 88. On 28 November 1992, the route was converted to midi-bus operation with Wright Handybus bodied Dennis Darts and was withdrawn between Stockwell and Vauxhall. On 29 June 1996, the route was converted back to double deck using MCW Metrobuses and was extended from Stockwell to Elephant & Castle to replace withdrawn section on route 355. On 5 January 1997, the Sunday service was converted to Midibus operation using Wright Handybus bodied Dennis Darts. On 12 December 1998, the route was retained by London General. On 29 May 1999, the route was converted to low floor single deck operation using Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart SLFs, the southern terminus changed and the allocation was transferred to Stockell (SW) garage. On 17 June 2000, the allocation was transferred back to Merton (AL) garage. On 3 February 2001, part of the allocation was transferred to Stockwell (SW) garage. On 14 September 2002, the Stockwell (SW) allocation was transferred to Merton (AL) garage. On 1 November 2003, the route was converted back to double deck with Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TLs. On 13 December 2003, the route was retained by London General. On 11 December 2010, the route was retained by London General. On 12 December 2015, the route was retained by London General with brand new Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5LHs introduced. On 30 September 2017, the allocation was transferred to Stockwell (SW) garage. Song 1: Tinchy Stryder - Take Me Back ft. Taio Cruz Song 2: Tinchy Stryder - Never Leave You ft. Amelle