London Buses route 78

File:Arriva London North PDL28 X478 GGO.JPG Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart SLF in Bishopsgate in June 2009]]

On 30 December 1952, a number 78 double-decker bus was crossing Tower Bridge. At that time, the gateman would ring a warning bell and close the gates when the bridge was clear before the watchman ordered the raising of the bridge. The process failed while a relief watchman was on duty.{{cn|date=June 2021}} The bus was near the edge of the south bascule when it started to rise; driver Albert Edward Gunter (1906-1968) made a split-second decision to accelerate the bus, clearing a {{convert|6|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} drop onto the north bascule, which had not started to rise. The conductor broke his leg, and twelve of the twenty passengers aboard received minor injuries. The driver was later rewarded with a £10 bonus (about £246.81 today) for his bravery.{{cite magazine |title=Foreign News: The Jumping Bus |magazine=Time |date=12 January 1953 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,817691,00.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222123553/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,817691,00.html |archivedate=22 December 2008}}{{cite web |url=https://www.towerbridge.org.uk/about-us/history/historical-feats |title=The day a bus jumped Tower Bridge and more historical feats |website=Tower Bridge |publisher=City of London}}

On 20 May 2000 the route was extended from Peckham Rye to Nunhead.[https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/buses/route-78/results/route-78-response-to-consultation-issues-dec-2011.pdf Consultation on proposed changes to terminal arrangements on route 78] Transport for London December 2011 The route was retained by Arriva London following re-tendering in 2003, November 2010 and November 2015.{{cite web |url=http://tfl.gov.uk/forms/13796.aspx?btID=5 |title=Bus tender results |publisher=Transport for London |date=8 May 2003 |accessdate=8 December 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://tfl.gov.uk/forms/13796.aspx?btID=792 |title=Bus tender results |publisher=Transport for London |date=14 May 2010 |accessdate=8 December 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://tfl.gov.uk/forms/13796.aspx?btID=1210 |title=Bus tender results |publisher=Transport for London |date=31 March 2015 |accessdate=8 December 2015}}

New Alexander Dennis Enviro400 double deckers were introduced on 17 April 2011, replacing the existing single deckers.{{cite news |url=http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/5190 |title=Route 78 finally gets double deck buses |publisher=London SE1 |date=29 March 2011}}

Following the November 2015 tender, new Alexander Dennis Enviro400H City vehicles were ordered with the expectation that they would enter service in November 2015.{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.arrivalondon.com/news/arriva-london-to-be-the-first-operator-of-the-new-adl-enviro400h-city-bus |title=Arriva London |publisher=Arriva London |date= |accessdate=8 December 2015}} The first buses of this type to operate in London, the Alexander Dennis Enviro400H City is visually styled on the New Routemaster and Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC, suggested to be a cost-effective alternative to the New Routemaster for use in the London suburbs.{{cite web | url=http://www.route-one.net/vehicles/adl-gets-the-london-look/ | title=ADL gets the London look- Route-one.net | publisher=Route-One.net | accessdate=8 December 2015}} The first of these entered service on 7 December 2015.{{cite magazine |title= |issue=730 (January 2016) | magazine=Buses | date=19 December 2015 | pages=66}}

The route passed to Go-Ahead London from their Peckham garage using existing Alexander Dennis Enviro400H MMCs on 2 December 2023.

Route 78 operates via these primary locations:[http://www.tfl.gov.uk/bus/route/78 Route 78 Map] Transport for London

• Nunhead
• Peckham Rye station {{rail-interchange|london|overground}} {{rail-interchange|london|rail}}
• Old Kent Road
• Bermondsey
• Tower Bridge
• Tower Gateway station {{rail-interchange|london|dlr}}
• Aldgate station {{rail-interchange|london|underground}}
• Liverpool Street station {{rail-interchange|london|underground}} {{rail-interchange|london|overground}} {{rail-interchange|london|elizabeth}} {{rail-interchange|london|rail}}
• Shoreditch High Street station {{rail-interchange|london|overground}}

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{{London Bus Routes}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:078, London Buses Route}}

Category:Bus routes in London

Category:Transport in the London Borough of Southwark

Category:Transport in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets

Category:Transport in the City of London

Category:Transport in the London Borough of Hackney