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The 92 was one of many routes converted from double deck to single deck operation in November 1998, when new Marshall bodied Dart SLFs replaced ex-London Buslines Olympians with a modest frequency increase. A local advises that, unusually for such cases, overcrowding was not a serious problem, aided no doubt by the operation of an additional Metrobus-worked journey at school times. Nonetheless the 2003 contract resulted in double deck operation being restored, and perhaps the wait was worth it, as First broke with their traditional bodywork (Plaxton/Transbus President) to order the high quality Wright Eclipse Gemini.

Here, therefore, is a photograph of Alperton-based VNW 32357 (LK53 LZW), a short wheelbase example, heading southwards down Greenford Road towards Ealing Hospital. Behind the trees is Brent Valley Golf Course. The 92 is officially allocated the longer VNZs, but in practice seems more often to see the short VNWs intended for the 79 and 258.

Photo © John Nicholas Bennett.

As mentioned briefly on the route 18 page, the 92 was a renumbering of route 18C on 14 June 1944. This route had developed from the 18 group of routes to the point where it had nearly nothing in common with its parent — just a short section between Wembley and Sudbury. The route then was very similar to now, but with buses terminating in the old Southall (HW) garage (more-or-less opposite Ealing Hospital) rather than in the Hospital grounds where it now terminates. At the Wembley end, buses ran just as far as the Empire Pool (near Wembley Park station), a terminus that remained in use until quite recently.

However, the Monday to Friday rush hours and lunchtimes service was numbered 92A and ran via South Way to Wembley Trading Estate instead of the Empire Pool. The 92A also ran, alongside the 92, for much of the day on Saturdays, and there were several revisions to the precise times of operation of both routes. However, reshaping of the area resulted in abandonment of Empire Pool terminus and extension of the 92 from there via Wembley Trading Estate to the new Tesco at Brent Park, near Neasden.

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