London Bus Route 54 - Elmers End - Beckenham - Catford - Lewisham - Blackheath - Charlton - Woolwich. (10 Miles)
Operated By
Stagecoach London Garage: Catford TL
Past Timetables:
Oct 1981,
Sep 1982,
April 2002 To View The Current Timetable
Click Here History:
The route 54 before the 3rd May 1950, and provided a service between Plumstead and Selsdon (Via Lewisham). The route was operated at Catford Garage by RT type buses. The current PVR was 32RT Monday to Friday, 38RT Saturday and 28RT Sunday. On the 7th November 1951 a Saturday Elmers End Garage allocation was enforced, the current PVR was Monday to Friday 29RT from TL and 6RT from ED, Saturday 32RT from TL and 6RT from ED and Sunday 28RT from TL. On the 14th May 1952 an Elmers End Sunday allocation was enforced, the Sunday current PVR was 5RT from ED and 21RT from TL. On the 30th April 1958 the Monday to Saturday ED allocation was withdrawn. The current PVR was Monday to Saturday 26RT from TL and Sunday 8RT from TL and 9RT from ED. On the 14th October 1959 the Sunday service was withdrawn between Woolwich and Plumstead Common. The current Sunday PVR was 5RT from ED and 7RT from TL.
On the 10th May 1961 the Elmers End Allocation was withdrawn so this left TL in total charge of the 54, the current PVR was Sunday 14RT, no other changes. A couple of years later in early May 1963 the 54 was withdrawn between Woolwich and Plumstead Common everyday, this was replaced by routes 51 and 241. On the 30th June 1965, there was many changes to the routing of the 54, as daily Monday to Sunday the route ran from Selsdon to Woolwich but in Monday to Friday Peaks the route ran from Riddlesdown to Woolwich Industrial Estate. This was one am and pm journey. On the 19th July 1969, the new route was Riddlesdown (MF peaks) - Selsdon (MS) – W Croydon (Suns) - Woolwich - Woolwich Industrial Estate (MF peaks).
On the 8th January 1972 a daily Elmers End allocation was re-introduced, and TL allocation was withdrawn on Sundays. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 6RT from ED and 21RT from TL, Saturday 6RT from ED and 12RT from TL and Sunday 6RT from ED. On the 6th January 1973 the route was now Croydon Park Lane (MF) – W Croydon (Sat/Sun) – Woolwich Arsenal - Woolwich Industrial Estate (MF peaks), so the 54 did not go to Selsdon anymore. On the 17th October 1973, the route was withdrawn between Woolwich and Woolwich Industrial Estate, the Sunday service was replaced by RM’s instead of RT’s. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 20RT from TL, Saturday 3RT from ED and 12RT from TL and Sunday 6RM from ED. By the 1st December 1973 the Sunday operation was converted to One Man Operation by DMS type buses from ED, the current PVR was now 20RT Monday to Friday from TL, Saturday 3RT from ED and 12RT from TL and Sunday 5DMS from ED.
By the 22nd April 1978 the 54 was fully converted to One Person Operation by DMS type buses, the current PVR was Monday to Saturday 18DMS from TL and Sunday 5DMS from ED, also ED Saturday allocation was withdrawn. By the 25th July 1983 the 54 was converted to Titan operation from TL and ED still allocated there DMS type buses on Sundays. The current PVR was now Monday to Friday 16T from TL, Saturday 15T from TL and Sunday 5DMS from ED. 2 years later the Elmers End allocation was withdrawn and replaced by TL with Titans. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 15T, Saturday 14T and Sunday 5T. Later on the 2nd November 1985 the route was revised, W Croydon- Woolwich - Charlton Asda (Sat shop hrs). The PVR was decreased to 14T Monday to Friday. When June 1986 came the 54 was withdrawn between Woolwich and Charlton Asda so the route only ran from West Croydon to Woolwich now. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 15T, Saturday 12T and Sunday 5T. On the 19th November 1988 a new Sunday allocation was enforced, as this was operated by Plumstead Garage (PD) by Leyland Olympians. The Sunday Garage Journeys route went from Woolwich to Plumstead Garage. The new route was under the name Selkent. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 16T from TL, Saturday 12T from TL and 6L from PD.
On the 19th January 1991 the Catford Sunday allocation was re- introduced and the Sunday service was converted to Midibus operation. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 15T from TL, Saturday 12T from TL and Sunday 5Midi from PD and 5Midi from TL. Later on in the year Plumstead Garage was given a daily allocation for the 54 along with Catford. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 7DD from PD and 9T from TL, Saturday 7DD from PD and 6T from TL and Sunday 8Midi from PD and 3Midi from TL. Later on in November 1991 the PD Monday to Saturday allocation was withdrawn and the Sunday TL allocation as well, the current PVR was Monday to Friday 15T from TL, Saturday 12T from TL and 10Midi from PD. By the 24th July 1993 the Catford allocation was withdrawn and replaced by a full time PD, the current PVR was now Monday to Friday 16T, Saturday 13T and Sunday 11Midi.
On the 24th September 1996 the Sunday operation was converted back to double deck and the T type buses were replaced by L type buses. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 16L, Saturday 14L and Sunday 9L. In early December 1997 the Leyland Olympians were replaced by Volvo type buses. The current PVR was now Monday to Saturday 17VN and Sunday 9VN. In January 1999 the PD allocation was withdrawn and transferred to TL using the same VN type buses, the company that now owned the route was called Stagecoach. On the 10th June 2000 the 54 was withdrawn between Elmers End and Croydon as part of the new transport system for Croydon, (trams). The current PVR was now Monday to Friday 14VN, Saturday 13VN and Sunday 9VN.
On the 17th March 2001 the PD allocation was re-introduced again using VN type buses. The current PVR was now Monday to Friday 7VN from PD and TL, Saturday 8VN from PD and 7VN from TL and Sunday 5VN from PD and TL. On the 15th February 2003 the PD allocation was withdrawn and replaced by TL. The current PVR is currently Monday to Friday 14VN, Saturday 13VN and 9VN. The average journey time for the 54 is between 39 and 66 minutes. The frequency for Monday to Saturday is every 12 minutes, Sunday and evenings every 15 minutes.
