70 The London Bus
It originally ran between
South Harrow and Mill Hill via
Stanmore but was cut back to
Edgware before World War 2.
Although extended at its western
end to serve Rayners Lane in
1957, subsequent changes meant
that it was running between
Ruislip and Harrow Weald by the
early 1970s. In the 1980s it was
extended to Mill Hill East, via the
route previously taken by route
140, which was cut back then to
Harrow Weald.
Route tendering initially saw
operation pass to Borehamwood
Travel Services (BTS) in 1991
and this operation passed to
Sovereign Bus & Coach in 1994.
During July 2001, the low-floor
DAF DB250 double-deckers
previously used on route 60 (Old
Coulsdon-Streatham Common)
were transferred to the route.
They remained there until
replaced by new East Lancs-
bodied Volvo B7TLs in 2004.
Transdev acquired the operation
in 2002 and renamed it London
Sovereign. It was acquired by
RATP in March 2014.
Although a route 222 linked
Uxbridge and Hounslow from
prewar days, operated by
Uxbridge garage, that route was
withdrawn in 1961.
It was replaced by an extension
of route 223 which ran then
between Ruislip and West
Drayton. Ten years later, the
223 was diverted to run intoHeathrow Airport instead of
Hounslow.
Its replacement was a reinstated
route 222, once more run from
Uxbridge garage. In 1994, it
was one of five routes selectedby London Buses to receive its
first low-floor single-deckers.
Fourteen Wright Pathfinder-
bodied Dennis Lance SLFs
were allocated to Uxbridge and
operated the route until it passedLondon Bus Garages
TOP: Leyland Lynx
LX11 operating
Hillingdon Local
Service 128 at
Maple Cross
in April 1991.
TONY WILSON
MIDDLE: Metroline
VW2171, a Wright
Gemini 3-bodied
Volvo B5LH based
at Uxbridge,
operating route 222.
BOTTOM: A
CentreWest
Leyland
National 2, LS503.
operating the 607
express in 1994.
Its registration
number 503 CLT
was originally
on RMC1503, a
Green Line coach
Routemaster
new in 1962.
EAMONN KENTELL