| 38 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Operator | Arriva London |
| Garage | Clapton |
| Vehicle | New Routemaster |
| Peak vehicle requirement | 36 |
| Night-time | Night BusN38 |
| Route | |
| Start | Clapton Pond |
| Via | Hackney Central Essex Road Angel Holborn Piccadilly |
| End | Victoria bus station |
| Length | 7 miles (11 km) |
| Service | |
| Level | Daily |
| Frequency | About every 3-6 minutes |
| Journey time | 45-68 minutes |
| Operates | 05:30 until 01:30 |
London Buses route 38 is aTransport for London contracted bus route inLondon, England. Running betweenClapton Pond andVictoria bus station, it is operated byArriva London.
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Route 38 was introduced on 16 June 1912 as a Monday to Saturday route betweenVictoria andLeyton Green viaAngel,Dalston,Clapton andLea Bridge Road and between Victoria andEpping Forest on Sundays. It was operated fromLeyton garage, which opened on the same day. In 1913 a 38A was introduced, taking over the Sunday service and operating between Victoria and Epping Forest.[1]
World War I restrictions saw many changes to routes 38 and 38A including withdrawals over certain sections for short periods. The most important of these occurred on 15 May 1916 when the 38 and 38A exchanged their eastern branches permanently. Route 38 was withdrawn between the Bakers Arms andWoodford and re-routed toWalthamstow (Hoe street station). In 1919 a 38B was added, running through toLoughton, with the 38A only running as far as Woodford. The 38A disappeared in 1921.[1]
On 1 December 1924, a new system of route numbering on London Buses came into force under theLondon Traffic Act 1924. Route 38 was unchanged; route 38B was renumbered to 138. Both routes had short working suffixed journeys numbered 38A, 38B, 38C, 38D, 138A, 138B as well as 38E, which was the main daily route Victoria Station toChingford. This situation remained until 3 October 1934, when the newly constitutedLondon Passenger Transport Board instituted its own numbering system. The 38, 38A and 38E became plain 38. The 138 became 38A.[1]
From 5 January 1938, on Mondays to Fridays only, route 38 was reduced between Leyton and Chingford and route 38A withdrawn completely. In replacement a route 38B was introduced between Loughton, Woodford, Leyton,Walthamstow and Chingford. From 3 August 1938 route 38B was withdrawn, and routes 38 and 38A returned to normal.[1]
As awartime economy routes 38 and 38A were re-routed between Clapton andDalston on the direct route via Cricketfield Road (avoiding Hackney) on 5 May 1943. On 15 April 1959 route 38A was re-routed viaHackney Central station to replace withdrawn trolleybus route 581. From 1946 until 1965, route 38 also had a summer Sunday extension fromChingford station to Epping Forest via Rangers Road and Epping New Road.[1]
Following the opening of the first section of theVictoria line betweenWalthamstow Central andHighbury & Islington; on 7 September 1968 a large scale re-organisation of London Buses took place. Route 38A was withdrawn, being replaced by three new routes;Red Arrow route 505 between Victoria andPiccadilly Circus,route 48 between Dalston andWhipps Cross androute 20 between Leyton and Loughton. Between Dalston and Hackney route 38A was also replaced by a re-routed 38, which was cut back fromChingford to Walthamstow Garage, being replaced byroute 69 over this section.[1]
On 25 October 1969 route 38 was further cut back to terminate at Leyton Green, being replaced on the Walthamstow section by the newly introducedroute 55.[1] The Sunday service was converted to one-person operation on 6 June 1987. When London Buses was divided into 11 subsidiaries operation of route 38 was taken over byLondon Forest. London Forest was wound up in 1991; the route then became a joint operation betweenLeaside Buses andEast London, before being transferred to Leaside Buses.[2]
On 29 Oct 2005, route 38 was converted to one man operation with theAEC Routemasters replaced by 46Mercedes-Benz O530Garticulated buses.[3][4] Double deck buses were introduced on 14 November 2009 as part of theMayor of London's policy to withdraw articulated buses from London. The frequency of the route was increased to every 2–3 minutes.[5]
Eight prototypeNew Routemasters were introduced in February 2012[6][7][8] Full conversion to New Routemasters occurred on 10 May 2014.[9] On 12 November 2016, Arriva London commenced a further contract.[10][11][12]
In 2015/16 it was the seventh busiest TfL bus service, with 12.3 million passengers.[13]
In 2021, the maximum frequency of the route was reduced from 15 buses per hour to 12.[14]
Route 38 operates via these primary locations:[15]
Grime MC andBow residentWiley mentioned the route 38 in his lyrics. An example of which is"I'm like the 38 bus cos I never turn up!".[16]
Connan Mockasin expressed similar sentiments in his song "Forever Dolphin Love" with the lyrics "The 38 that took too long to Dalston".
An AEC Routemaster bus with route 38 blinds is displayed in theFalkland Islands capital ofPort Stanley.[17]
The bus and its route is central to the children's book Gaspard's Foxtrot byZeb Soanes andJames Mayhew, listing many of its stops and landmarks along the way.[18] It has been adapted as a concert work by the composerJonathan Dove.
Several buses start or terminate fromHackney Central during weekday daytimes, instead ofClapton Pond.[19][20]
Media related toLondon Buses route 38 at Wikimedia Commons
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