February 12, 2025

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Go Ahead London General Waterloo Bus Garage

Go Ahead London General Waterloo Bus Garage

Details of Go Ahead London's Waterloo Bus Garage, including Address, Allocation and History.

Waterloo Bus Garage


Operator: Go Ahead London
Subsidiary: London General
Address: Cornwall Road, London SE1 8TE
Garage Code:  RA
Opened: 1990
Peak Vehicle Requirement: 30


Vehicle Types Operated

Alexander Dennis Limited Enviro200 EV


Go Ahead London General Waterloo Bus Garage (1)
Go Ahead London General Waterloo Bus Garage


Garage History

Waterloo Bus Garage, located in Cornwall Road, opened in 1951 as a bus stand for vehicles terminating at Waterloo Station during the Festival of Britain.

In the early 1980s, a scheme to house all of the Red Arrow buses, at the time operated from Victoria and Ash Grove garages, at the site was put forward.

Planning permission was sought to establish a bus garage but, due to various delays and issues, did not get granted until February 1989.

This was followed by London Transport approving the scheme, and construction commencing later that year.

Waterloo garage opened in mid-1990, consisting of a fuelling facility, a bus wash, offices for supervisory staff and noise reduction measures to appease the local residents.

From its opening, the garage was allocated all 42 vehicles operated on Red Arrow routes. This also saw the garage become unique in London as it only operated from Monday to Friday.

Following the closure of Victoria Bus Garage in 1993, the AEC Routemasters utilised on Route 11 were allocated here, as they also operated from Monday to Friday. Weekend services on Saturday and Sunday were run using one-person operated buses from Stockwell Garage.

2nd June 2002 saw the replacement of the incumbent Red Arrow fleet with London’s first examples of the Mercedes Benz Citaro O530G articulated buses. Space constraints on the Waterloo site meant that Route 11’s Routemasters were transferred to Stockwell to make room for the new vehicles.

Withdrawal of the articulated buses in September 2009 saw the fleet replaced with 12m rigid Mercedes-Benz O530 Citaro vehicles.

Following the successful trial of two electric BYD buses in 2013, Waterloo Garage was reconfigured with electric charging points installed in 2016.

This rebuild led to the replacement of the entire vehicle fleet in September 2016, with Waterloo becoming London’s first 100% electric bus garage after Alexander Dennis Limited Enviro200 EV buses were introduced.