London Bus Route 401 - Bexleyheath, Shopping Centre - Upper Belvedere - Belvedere - Thamesmead. (8 Miles)
Operated By
Arriva London Garage: Dartford DT
Past Timetables: Oct 2002,
Jan 2004 To View The Current Timetable
Click Here Route History: - The 401 was introduced to the TFL network on the 16th January 1988 and operating a link between Woolwich & Bexleyheath (via Thamesmead), also travelling as far as Dartford in peak hours. The route was operated by Bexleybus from their Bexleyheath Base (BX) using Olympian’s & Titan’s. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 5L/T & Saturday 4LT. A couple of years later in 1990 (24th November), the contract was transferred to London Central operation, still using the Bexleyheath base.
- On the 19th January 1991, the 401 was withdrawn between Woolwich & Thamesmead, and this section was replaced by a revised routing of the 244. The Dartford journey’s were cut back to only school journey’s only. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 7T & Saturday 4T.
- On the 9th October 1994, a Sunday service was introduced, using Midi buses, the current PVR was now 6T Mon-Fri, 4T Sat& 3MRL Sundays.
- On the 23rd January 1999, London Central retained the contract for the 401, although the Dartford school journey’s were renumbered the 601. So the route only now operated between Thamesmead & Bexleyheath.
- A Year later on the 1st April 2000, the 401 was converted to low floor operation using Plaxton Presidents on the Monday to Saturday service, and Marshalls on a Sunday. The current PVR was Mon-Fri 5PVL, Sat 4PVL & Sun 3DMS.
- The contracted was retained by London Central on the 24th January 2004, using the existing fleet of vehicles. The current PVR was Mon-Fri 6PVL, Sat 4PVL & Sun 3DMS.
- On the 24th January 2009 the 401 had a frequency increase with the current PVR of Monday to Friday 7PVL, Saturday 6PVL & Sunday 3PVL. London Central renewed the contract for the 401 on the 22nd January 2011 keeping the same frequency & PVR.
- On the 20th January 2018, Arriva London was awarded the contract for the 401, using a fleet of existing vehicles, they operate the route from Dartford Garage (DT). The current PVR Mon-Fri 8DW, Sat 6DW & Sun 3DW