Fulwell Bus Garage is a

Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...

bus garage located in

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

in west

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It is north of Fulwell railway station and operates as two halves, with entrances on the A311 Wellington Road and B358 Stanley Road. It is currently operated by

Transport UK London Bus Transport UK London Bus, formerly Abellio London, is a bus company operating services under contract to Transport for London in Greater London, England. History The origins of Transport UK London Bus can be traced back to June 1998, when Nat ...

and London United.

History

Fulwell Bus Garage was originally built as a tram depot for

London United Tramways London United Tramways Company Limited was an operator of trams and trolleybuses in the western and southern suburbs of London, UK, from 1894 to 1933, when it passed to the London Passenger Transport Board. Origins The company was formed in 189 ...

in 1902. The site formerly formed the southerly part of the Freake Fulwell Park Estate and came on the market following the death of the Dowager Lady Freake in 1901. London United Tramways acquired a 99-year lease of the site in April 1902 for a new tram depot. This was completed in March 1903, just as new tram routes to

Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...

started operating. The garage had an entrance at each end, in Stanley Road and Wellington Road. The shed had 20 tracks under cover but was never used to its full capacity. In 1931 London's first trolleybuses moved in alongside the trams and the last trams left in 1935. In 1933 the newly formed

London Passenger Transport Board The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for local public transport in London and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and brand was Londo ...

took over London United Tramways. Fulwell became London Transport's main trolleybus works making use of some of the space available. It was thus one of the last two depots to convert to motor buses on 9 May 1962.Fulwell Depot: Teddington: The Twickenham Museum
/ref> The amount of work increased after 18 April 1970 when the small Twickenham (AB) garage, near Richmond Bridge, closed. In 1986/87 the garage was rebuilt, remaining open throughout. Instead of being split along its length, it is now split across its width. Fulwell was allocated to the London United subsidiary when

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...

was split up in preparation for

privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

. Ninety vehicles were initially allocated to the garage. It later became the company's head office. In 1999,

Tellings-Golden Miller Tellings-Golden Miller is a charter coach operator in England. It was a subsidiary of Arriva twice previously, but once again has returned to family ownership. The company is now a subsidiary of Falcon Buses based in Byfleet, Surrey. History G ...

moved into the garage following it winning some Transport for London routes. It was included in the June 2005 sale of the business to

Travel London Travel London was a bus company operating services in Greater London. It was a subsidiary of Mobico Group, National Express before being sold in May 2009 to Abellio (transport company), NedRailways. In October 2009, it was rebranded as Transpo ...

. In May 2009 Travel London in turn was sold to

Abellio London Transport UK London Bus, formerly Abellio London, is a bus company operating services under contract to Transport for London in Greater London, England. History The origins of Transport UK London Bus can be traced back to June 1998, when Nat ...

Layout

As a bus garage Fulwell was divided in half along its length with the sports ground between the garage and South Road. The northern half of the garage, together with the front yard at the Wellington Road end, and a small rear yard were used for bus operation. The southern half of the garage, together with the Stanley Road entrance, and the remainder of the front yard were let out. The rear part of the garage was initially used by

for the sale of withdrawn buses. With the privatisation of London Buses, the sales department was wound down and closed. The construction company Kelly used the site for a short time whilst they were laying

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

in the area. The sports ground was redeveloped commercially many years ago, with an entrance off South Road.

Today

Today both halves of the garage remain in operation. The Stanley Road (eastern) end is occupied by

as its Twickenham (TF) garage. As at April 2022, Transport UK London Bus operate routes 111,

267 __NOTOC__ Year 267 ( CCLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Paternus and Arcesilaus (or, less frequently, year 1020 ''Ab urbe condita''). The d ...

, 285, 490, 671, 969, H20, H25, H26, R68 and R70 from the garage. The Wellington Road (western) end is occupied by London United as its Fulwell (FW) garage. It also houses its head office.Speak to us
RATP Dev London London United operate routes 33, 65, 71,

216 __NOTOC__ Year 216 ( CCXVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sabinus and Anullinus (or, less frequently, year 969 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 216 f ...

281 __NOTOC__ Year 281 ( CCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Probus and Tiberianus (or, less frequently, year 1034 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

290 __NOTOC__ Year 290 ( CCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 1043 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denom ...

371 __NOTOC__ Year 371 (CCCLXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Petronius (or, less frequently, year 1124 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominati ...

481 __NOTOC__ Year 481 ( CDLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Maecius without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1234 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomina ...

, 681, K3, N33 and N65 from the garage.

Awards

In 2004 Fulwell was named as one of the best in London for customer service.

References

External links

{{LB Richmond Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Bus garages in London Industrial buildings in London Transport in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames 1902 establishments in England