18 The London BusI
t is rare for a London
bus route to be
lengthened these
days; when change
does come, it usually
involves a curtailment aimed at
improving timekeeping. The 13
is an exception to this pattern. In
2017 it was extended northwards
by three-and-a-half miles from
Golders Green to North Finchley.
However, it wasn’t the first
time this had happened. In the
1930s the northern terminus
was Hendon. It was cut back to
Golders Green in 1952, but in
1978 it was extended northwards
again, this time to North
Finchley. That arrangement
lasted for 15 years, then it
was cut back to Golders Green
once again. So now history has
repeated itself.
There have also been changesat the southern end of the route.
The southbound 13 used to run
along Oxford Street between
Orchard Street and Regent
Street, then make its way down
to Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar
Square and the Strand, ending
up at the Aldwych. Until 1970
it continued into the City,
terminating at London Bridge.
In 2017 it was one of the first
routes to be removed from
Oxford Street as a result of
Mayor Sadiq Khan’s drive to ban
all buses from the street (more
about this on p36). Rather than
improvise a new way to reach the
Aldwych, Transport for London
diverted the route down Park
Lane and Grosvenor Place to
Victoria, cutting perhaps half a
mile off the overall distance.
This meant that the route was
now identical to the existing 82,
which was therefore withdrawn
(or merged with the 13, as TfL
puts it). At the same time 24hr
operation was introduced. The
13 is now a high profile, high-
intensity trunk service, with
buses leaving as often as every
5min. At peak times the 10mile
route requires around 30 buses.
For many years Routemasters
were used on the 13. A notable
landmark came in 1993 when
BTS Coaches won the contract to
operate the route, becoming oneof the first two private
companies in London
to operate the type.
The company and its
successors (ultimately
London United) held
on to the route in various guises
for nearly 25 years, though
the Routemasters disappeared
in October 2005. The 13 was,
however, one of the last routes to
use them. Only the 38 and 159
kept them longer.
Coinciding with the latest route
changes, the contract to run the
route was won by Tower Transit,
which is using a new batch
of Volvo B5LH hybrid double-
deckers with MCV EvoSeti bodies
built in Egypt. I found these
comfortable and remarkably
quiet, though I wasn’t impressed
by the very thick inclined front
window pillars on the upper
deck. They didn’t prevent me
from enjoying the often striking
views, but I feel they are a
regrettable design feature.
Starting alongside Victoria
station, the 13 makes its way
northwards via Grosvenor
Place, passing the Buckingham
Palace grounds on the right.
Continuing round the Hyde Park
Corner one-way system, it heads
up Park Lane, passing hotels and
millionaires’ apartments on the
way to Marble Arch.
It runs briefly east here on
Oxford Street, using a short
stretch that will be spared
the mayor’s pedestrianisation
plans. Then it’s a left turn
into Portman Street, which
merges into Gloucester Place,
running parallel to Baker Street.
Historically these two roads
have formed matching sides of
a north-south one-way system,
but as I prepared this article
plans were afoot to reduce them
in width and convert them both
to two-way running in a radical
attempt at traffic calming.
The southbound journey,
incidentally, passes some notable
landmarks on Baker Street. The
office block at number 55 was
home to Marks & Spencer for
100 years, but has recently been
refurbished in dramatic style as
a business centre. M&S moved to
Paddington in 2004.London by Bus
BELOW: Tower
Transit MV38201,
one of the MCV
EvoSeti-bodied
Volvos built
for route 13,
approaching Lord’s
on a northbound
journey.