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The 83 had the distinction of being the last bus route in London to receive new standard floor double deckers, being taken mid-contract to replace (in some cases indirectly) low-height Leyland Olympians needed at sister company First Eastern Counties for Bristol VR replacement. Indeed the 20 Volvo Olympians with Northern Counties Palatine bodies were the last standard floor buses, and the last Volvo Olympians, built anywhere. However, they have now been swept aside by a tide of low floor buses. Seen here is First Centrewest VWL 1389 (LK53 LYO), prior to its renumbering as VNZ 32330, having just turned off the Uxbridge Road into the grounds of Ealing Hospital on 24 January 2004.

Photo © John Nicholas Bennett.

In fact, the bulk of the allocation on the 83 comprises President bodied long B7TLs delivered in 2002. Initially these were used on other routes at Alperton, replacing short Tridents, but the 83 was always their intended home. Here an unidentified VTL sets off from Golders Green in the October of that year.

Photo © Martin Hazel.

The 83 is quite a long route by today’s standards, running as it does from Golders Green to Ealing Hospital via Hendon, Kingsbury, Wembley, Ealing and Hanwell. This is a well-established corridor, although in 1934 buses ran to Kew Green after Ealing. The Monday to Saturday service was subsequently diverted to Southall and Hayes, the Sunday service being renumbered 83A. The section from Ealing to Kew Green became summer only and then disappeared completely in the 1950s, the 83 becoming the standard number again, though the lack of a Sunday service west of Ealing persisted until quite recently. By 1990 the route was as now, Golders Green to Ealing Hospital, and a Sunday afternoon service had been introduced between Ealing and the Hospital, but with no late evening service on this section.

The only other significant change to record is a swapping of routes in Hendon with route 183 – previously the 183 ran via Hendon Central and the 83 took the more northerly route via The Bell. The routes were swapped as the 183 was operated from Hendon garage, previously on the 83 route but not the 183! Then, as now, the 83 was operated from Alperton, so the route swap improved operational efficiency. Thus the 83 now serves Hendon Central while the 183 runs via The Bell.

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See also routes 158, E1, 282, 183

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