| K5 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Operator | London United (First Bus London)[1] |
| Garage | Tolworth[1] |
| Route | |
| Start | Morden station |
| Via | Kingston upon Thames New Malden Motspur Park Raynes Park |
| End | Ham |
| "Performance"(PDF). tfl.gov.uk. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 5 July 2012. | |
London Buses route K5 is aTransport for London contracted bus route inLondon, England. Running betweenMorden station andHam, it is operated byFirst Bus London subsidiaryLondon United.[1]
The K5 has undergone a thorough and frequent rerouting throughout its history. The route was launched in December 1989 as a one-way loop fromKingston upon Thames toNew Malden. It was aHoppa service.[2] In June 1990 the route was rerouted to serveKingston Hospital and extended to serve New Maldenpolice station. A month later, the route was extended from New Malden Police Station toNew Malden railway station viaNew Malden High Street. In May 1993, the route was rerouted again after operation was passed toLondon & Country. In July 1998, the route was passed toArriva Croydon & North Surrey and consequently extended toNorth Cheam viaMotspur Park railway station,Malden Manor railway station,Worcester Park railway station andWorcester Park High Street, however in July 1999Tellings-Golden Miller won the route's contract and in November 2000 rerouted it fromSouth Lane toRaynes Park railway station and was extended from Kingston toHam. In June 2001, Mitcham Belle took over the route with it extended toMorden tube station. The route has not been altered since then, however in August 2004Centra took over Mitcham Belle's bus operations.[3]
In February 2006 the route was taken over byTransdev London.[4]
The K5 contract was originally going to be discontinued in June 2006. However, after public consultation and pressure from travellers' groups, TfL agreed to keep it running, citing a 'clear public need'.[5] However, the bus route was omitted from a TfL map shortly after it was saved, raising the ire of North Kingston residents.[6] When next tendered it was awarded toQuality Line from August 2011.[7][8]
In 2009, a consultation was initiated regarding the usefulness of the route.[9]Motspur Park residents responded en masse, and in 2011 launched a petition to improve the service of the route.[10] On 2 July 2016, the frequency of the route was doubled from hourly to half-hourly.
When next tendered Quality Line retained the route with a new contract that commenced on 3 September 2016.[11]
On 28 February 2025, the route passed fromLondon United toFirst Bus London following the acquisition ofRATP Dev Transit London byFirstGroup.[12]
Route K5 operates via these primary locations:[13]
Media related toLondon Buses route K5 at Wikimedia Commons
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