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The difficulty of photographing school routes, given the limited and inconvenient times that they run, is illustrated by the fact that it has taken 4 years to receive a new photograph to update this page following a new contract and change of operator on the 697! Transdev London United has run the route since September 2006, and uses a mixture of Volvo B7TLs and newer Scania Omnicities. The former is what has been supplied for illustration, and VA95 (W129 EON) is in the Uxbridge Road, Hayes, approaching the junction with Yeading Lane, towards the end of the afternoon run, on Friday 17 September 2010.

Photo © John Bennett.

The bus is in a short lived "intermediate" livery which lacks the original light grey upper deck window surrounds but still includes the darker grey skirt and "pencil" line. The route is out to tender at present, so I hope it is retained by the current operator to save me having to hunt down another new photo in a year's time!

The route was created in 1997 as an offshoot of the existing 698, which ran from West Drayton via Shepiston Lane, Hayes, Hayes End and Long Lane to Ickenham and Ruislip. Certain journeys were diverted to run instead from Kingshill Avenue and Yeading Lane as route 697, and these have since been back-projected to run along Lansbury Drive, thus practically doubling back on themselves at the junction with Uxbridge Road. At the other end buses now run only as far as Ickenham Coach & Horses, which is where the last school the route serves is. Actually, three schools are served, which can cause some problems when their term dates do not match up! Abbotsfield School is there, with Douay Martyrs School a little farther back, and Swakeleys School nearer the south end of Long Lane.

Parts of Long Lane have no regular bus service, being "served" only by the 697 and 698 school routes, though the Uxbridge local routes U2 and U10 serve parts.

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See also routes 698

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