Green Line route 724 is a bus service currently operated by

Arriva Herts & Essex Arriva Herts & Essex is a bus operator providing services in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire, with services extending to Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Greater London. Until 2002 its operations included Colchester. It is a su ...

as part of the

Green Line Coaches Green Line is a long standing commuter coach brand in the Home counties of England. The trademark is owned by Arriva, with services operated by Arriva Herts & Essex. Green Line had its origin in the network of coach services established by the ...

network. It runs on an orbital route round the north and western outskirts of London between

Harlow Harlow is a town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a Planned community, new town in 1947, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire, and occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the ...

and

Heathrow Central bus station Heathrow Central bus station is a large bus station that serves terminals 2 and 3 of Heathrow Airport, in London, England. It provides urban bus and long-distance coach services to destinations in London and to regional destinations across ...

, and is partly funded by airport operator

Heathrow Airport Holdings Heathrow Airport Holdings is a company that operates and manages Heathrow Airport based in London, England. It was formed by the privatisation of the British Airports Authority as BAA plc as part of Margaret Thatcher's privatisation of governmen ...

History

Route 724 was started by

(then part of London Transport) on 10 July 1966, on a route from

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

via

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

using AEC Regal coaches. By June 1972 it had been rerouted to start from Staines and serve

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

. The sections of route between Staines and Heathrow, and between

and Romford were later dropped. Route 724 was included in the sale of

London Country North West London Country North West was a bus operator in South East England and London. It was formed from the split of London Country Bus Services in 1986, and operated a fleet of around 360 buses from five garages, with its headquarters located in Gar ...

to a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management- and/or leveraged buyouts became noted phenomena of 19 ...

when

privatised 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 wh ...

in January 1988, in turn passing to Luton & District Transport in 1990,

British Bus British Bus was a bus group in the United Kingdom. It was sold to the Cowie Group in August 1996. History British Bus was founded in November 1992 when the Drawlane Transport Group split its bus interests from its National Express in the lead ...

in 1994 and finally the

Cowie Group Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational corporation, multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcy ...

in August 1996. Today it is operated by

. In December 1997, a fleet of nine Plaxton Prestige bodied

DAF SB220 The DAF SB220 was a full-size single-decker bus chassis produced by DAF Bus International from 1985. Initially only built in left hand drive, in 1988 a right hand drive version was launched for the United Kingdom market. An articulated vers ...

s were purchased, with extra luggage space built in. These were some of the first

low-floor bus A low-floor bus is a bus or trolleybus that has no steps between the ground and the floor of the bus at one or more entrances, and low floor for part or all of the passenger cabin. A bus with a partial low floor may also be referred to as a l ...

es to operate in the United Kingdom. These were replaced in August 2006 by nine

Mercedes-Benz Citaro The Mercedes-Benz Citaro is a single-decker, rigid or articulated bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz/ EvoBus. Introduced in 1997, the Citaro is available in a range of configurations, and is in widespread use throughout Europe and parts of Asia, ...

s. These were the result of a Quality Bus Partnership between Arriva Shires & Essex, BAA and

Hertfordshire County Council Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England. The council was created in 1889. It is responsible for a wide range of public services in the county, including social c ...

. These buses seat 39 and also have extra luggage racking. Journey times were also improved. In March 2008, the route was diverted to serve the new

Heathrow Terminal 5 Heathrow Terminal 5 is an airport terminal at Heathrow Airport, the main airport serving London. Opened in 2008, the main building in the complex is the largest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom. Until 2012, the terminal was used ...

. From 19 May, the service was withdrawn from

Heathrow Terminal 4 Heathrow Terminal 4 is an airport terminal at Heathrow Airport, the main airport serving London, England, situated to the south of the southern runway, next to the cargo terminal. It is connected to Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3 by the vehicular ...

, with another new timetable introduced. Short workings on other parts of the route became routes 725 and 726. In February 2021, the Citaros were replaced by a fleet of 8

Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC The Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC, also marketed as the Alexander Dennis Enviro200, is a single-decker city bus produced by Alexander Dennis since 2014 as the successor to the Alexander Dennis Enviro200, Enviro200 midibus and Alexander Dennis E ...

s, which were transferred from

Arriva Kent Thameside Arriva Kent Thameside Limited, trading as Arriva Kent Thameside, formerly known as London Transport, London Country and Kentish Bus, is a bus operator based in north-west Kent, England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus. The company operates ...

. In July 2022, part of the batch of ADL Enviro200 MMCs were replaced by Wright Pulsar 2 bodied

VDL SB200 The VDL SB200 (originally the DAF SB200) is a light-weight, low floor single decker bus chassis that was produced from 2001 (to 2014 for the UK) by VDL Bus & Coach (formerly DAF Bus International). It superseded the SB220. It is originally de ...

s transferred from Leicester in return for the Enviro200s. From 24 July 2022, additional early morning, late evening and weekend journeys were introduced in conjunction with the Heathrow Airport Partnership.

Current route

Route 724 operates via these primary locations: *

bus station A bus station, bus depot, or bus interchange is a structure where city buses or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. A bus station is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can st ...

Ware WARE (1250 AM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Ware, Massachusetts, United States, the station serves the Springfield radio market. The station is currently owned by Success Signal Broadcasting ...

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a Ford (crossing), ford on ...

* Hertford North station * Panshanger *

Welwyn Garden City station Welwyn Garden City railway station serves the town of Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, England. It is from on the East Coast Main Line. Train services are currently provided by Thameslink and Great Northern. History A station named ''Welw ...

* New QEII Hospital * Hatfield station * Hatfield town centre * St Albans City station * St Albans Abbey station * Garston *

Watford Junction station Watford Junction is a railway station serving the town of Watford in Hertfordshire, England. The station is on the West Coast Main Line (WCML), from and the Abbey Line, a branch line to St Albans. It is also the northern terminus of the Liones ...

* Croxley station * Rickmansworth station *

Maple Cross Maple Cross is a village in Hertfordshire, England, which up until the Second World War consisted of an inn, a blacksmith's shop and a few cottages. Today there are around 800 postwar council houses. Some of these have been sold into private ow ...

Denham station Denham may refer to: People *Denham (surname) *Denham Madena, Sri Lankan cricketer * Denham Price (1940–2013), South African cricketer Places ;In the United Kingdom: * Denham, Buckinghamshire **Denham Aerodrome ** Denham Country Park **Den ...

* Uxbridge station *

References

External links

Arriva 724 Harlow to London Heathrow AirportGreen Line Coaches website
{{DEFAULTSORT:724, Green Line Coaches Route Bus routes in England Green Line Coaches routes Transport in Essex Transport in Harlow Transport in Hertfordshire Transport in the London Borough of Hillingdon Transport in St Albans Transport in Watford

724 __NOTOC__ Year 724 ( DCCXXIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 724th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) Events By date * January 26 – (24 Sha'ban 105 AH) Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, becom ...