History
Route 607 is one of the few limited-stop routes in London, and was established on 21 July 1990 as an express service for route 207 between Shepherd's Bush Green and Uxbridge on Mondays to Saturdays.
Its number was "inherited" from the trolleybus route over the same roads, which operated from 15 November 1936 until 8 November 1960 when it was abolished as part of the London Trolleybus Withdrawal Programme and replaced by bus route 207. Today, the number is unusual in that the 600-699 range is usually reserved for school routes.
When the route was established, it used MCW Metrobuses, it was stationed at the Hanwell (HL) and Uxbridge (UX), at the time a subsidiary of London Buses Limited. The Hanwell allocation was withdrawn in June 1991, and in November of that year the route was converted to single-deck operation using six LS-class Leyland Nationals and five Leyland Lynxes, all carrying "607 Express" route branding. The Lynxes came from the London Borough of Hillingdon, which had bought two new and acquired the other three from Merthyr Tydfil Transport, and so were not to London specification, lacking rear route number blinds - so the route number was painted above the rear window.
Centrewest was privatised in 1994, and converted the 607 back to double-deck operation in October 1996, using fifteen V-class Volvo Olympian / Northern Counties Palatine IIs with high-back coach-style seating and tinted glass windows, as well as a distinctive red and white livery. These were supplemented from May 2002 by five similar Olympians, displaced from route 61 at Orpington (Y) and repainted and reglazed accordingly, but retaining their low-back bus seats.
On 9 April 2005, the 207 was split, with the section between Hayes By-Pass and Shepherd's Bush gaining new articulated Mercedes-Benz Citaros. The Dennis Trident 2 / Plaxton Presidents thus displaced were duly transferred to the 607, replacing the Olympians. These do not carry route branding or a dedicated livery, but do carry white-on-blue number and destination blinds, a feature used throughout the 607's history to distinguish it from regular stopping services.
On 29 November 2008, the 607 was extended from Shepherd's Bush Green to the new White City Bus Station via the Westfield shopping centre. On 11 April 2010, A Sunday Service was introduced.
On 7 April 2012, route 607 was retained by First Centrewest with Volvo B7TL 10m / Wright Eclipse Gemini's and Alexander Dennis Enviro400 10.1m's.
Read more about this topic: London Buses Route 607
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