Kingston upon Thames in South 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 ...

, England is served by two

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 ...

s as well as a large number of on-street bus stops. Due to the Kingston

one-way system One-way traffic (or uni-directional traffic) is traffic that moves in a single direction. A one-way street is a street either facilitating only one-way traffic, or designed to direct vehicles to move in one direction. One-way streets typicall ...

, the various stops and bus stations are physically separate, however passengers are able to interchange between routes by walking through Kingston town centre, or walking from Kingston railway station.

Kingston bus stations

Cromwell Road bus station

Kingston Cromwell Road bus station located close to Kingston railway station. It opened in July 1995, on the site of an old coal yard. Built to replace a 70 year old facility, the bus station was opened as part of the Kingston Relief Road project, which involved the main shopping streets in Kingston town centre being

pedestrianised Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town restricted to use by people on foot or ...

, and a new one-way system being built around the town centre for traffic. It was designed by in-house London Transport architect Robert Stevenson, and won a Townscape Award from the Kingston upon Thames Society. The station comprises 12 bus stands, with 5 street stops – making it the largest bus station used by

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 ...

. The station is owned and maintained by

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 ...

. Over 8 million passengers use the bus station every year. In 2013, TfL announced that the bus station could be rebuilt, as several bus routes no longer terminate at Cromwell Road or Fairfield bus stations owing to lack of capacity. In 2015, planning permission was approved for the demolition of the bus station, and the building of a replacement on the same site. From 28 August 2023, the bus station was closed temporarily, to allow for construction of the new bus station. The renovation includes wider customer waiting areas, live bus information, retail units, accessible toilets and improved staff accommodation. Construction was completed in November 2024. London Buses routes 57, 65, 71, 85, 111,

131 131 may refer to: *131 (number) *AD 131 *131 BC *131 (album), the album by Emarosa *131 (MBTA bus), the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus. For the MBTA bus, see 131 (MBTA bus). *131 (New Jersey bus), the New Jersey Transit bus *131 Val ...

213 Year 213 ( CCXIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time (in Rome), it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Calvinus (or, less frequently, year 966 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 213 ...

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 ...

285 The year 285 ( CCLXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the "Year of the Consulship of Carinus and Aurelius" (or, less frequently, "year 1038 ''Ab urbe condita''"). The denomin ...

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 ...

406 __NOTOC__ Year 406 ( CDVI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Arcadius and Probus (or, less frequently, year 1159 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 406 fo ...

411 411 may refer to: * The year AD 411, the four hundred and eleventh year of the Gregorian calendar * 411 BC * 4-1-1, a telephone directory assistance number in the United States and Canada ** By extension, a slang term for "information" * 411.com, ...

418 __NOTOC__ Year 418 (Roman numerals, CDXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Honorius (emperor), Honorius and Theodosius II, Theodosius (or, less frequent ...

465 __NOTOC__ Year 465 ( CDLXV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Hermenericus and Basiliscus (or, less frequently, year 1218 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...

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 ...

, 481D,

671 Year 671 ( DCLXXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 671 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for n ...

, K1, K2, K3, K4 and K5, Superloop route SL7 and night routes N65 and N87 serve the station. A number of non-TfL buses also serve the station, with destinations outside Greater London in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

Fairfield bus station

Kingston Fairfield bus station is located east of the town centre, on the former site of the Kingston cattle market. The bus station opened in 1987, as part of the first phase of the Kingston Relief Road project. Named after the nearby Fairfield Recreation Ground, the bus station was initially known as Cattlemarket Bus Station. It was designed by in-house London Transport architects as well as Kingston Council architects. The bus station sits above an underground multi-storey car park that serves the Fairfield recreation ground and Kingston town centre, and served the adjacent Kingfisher leisure centre before its closure in 2019. Over 2 million passengers use the bus station every year. London Buses routes 57,

, K5 and night route N87 serve the station.

Historic bus stations

bus garage A bus garage, also known as a bus depot, bus base or bus barn, is a facility where buses are stored and maintained. In many conurbations, bus garages are on the site of former car barns or tram sheds, where trams (streetcars) were stored, a ...

was opened on Cromwell Road by the

London General Omnibus Company The London General Omnibus Company or LGOC, was the principal bus operator in London between 1855 and 1933. It was also, for a short period between 1909 and 1912, a motor bus manufacturer. Overview The London General Omnibus Company was f ...

in 1922. In 1928, an extension added a covered bus stand, known as Kingston bus station. The site was too small to be used as both a bus garage and a bus station, and the bus garage closed in 1984 to allow for more space for the bus station. Following the opening of Cromwell Road bus station in 1995, the site was then used for overnight storage of buses. After over 70 years, the site closed on 17 May 2000 as London United moved to Tolworth bus garage. The site was rebuilt as the Rotunda complex, with an

Odeon Cinema Odeon Cinemas Limited, trading as Odeon (stylised in all caps), is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and Greece, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsid ...

, restaurants and tenpin bowling. As part of the rebuild of Kingston railway station by the Southern Railway in 1935, a bus lay-by was provided outside the station, in which various bus routes terminated. Following opening of the Fairfield bus station, the lay-by was subsequently used as a

taxi rank A taxicab stand (also called taxi rank, cab stand, taxi stand, cab rank, or hack stand) is a queue area on a street or on private property where taxicabs line up to wait for passengers. Operation Stands are normally located at high-traffic l ...

References

{{London bus and coach stations Transport in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Bus stations in London

Kingston bus stations

Cromwell Road bus station

Fairfield bus station

Historic bus stations

See also

References