The subject of omnibus conveyance is one to the importance of which the aspect of every thoroughfare in London bears witness. Yet the dweller in the Strand, or even in a greater thoroughfare, Cheapside, can only form a partial notion of the magnitude of this mode of transit, for he has but a partial view of it; he sees, as it were, only one of its details.
The routes of the several omnibuses are manifold. Widely apart as are their starting-points, it will be seen how their courses tend to common centres, and how generally what may be called the great trunk-lines of the streets are resorted to.
The principal routes lie north and south, east and west, through the central parts of London, to and from the extreme suburbs. The majority of them commence running at eight in the morning, and continue till twelve at night, succeeding each other during the busy part of the day every five minutes. Most of them have two charges—3d. for part of the distance, and 6d. for the whole distance.
The omnibuses proceeding on the northern and southern routes are principally the following:—
The Atlases run from the Eyre Arms, St. John’s Wood, by way of Baker-street, Oxford-street, Regent-street, Charing-cross, Westminster-bridge and road, and past the Elephant and Castle, by the Walworth-road, to Camberwell-gate. Some turn off from the Elephant (as all the omnibus people call it) and go down the New Kent-road to the Dover railway-station; while others run the same route, but to and from the Nightingale, Lisson-grove, instead of the Eyre Arms. The Waterloos journey from the York and Albany, Regent’s-park, by way of Albany-street, Portland-road, Regent-street, and so over Waterloo-bridge, by the Waterloo, London, and Walworth-roads, to Camberwell-gate. The Waterloo Association have also a branch to Holloway, viâ the Camden Villas. There are likewise others which run from the terminus of the South-Western Railway in the Waterloo-road, viâ Stamford-street, to the railway termini on the Surrey side of London-bridge, and thence to that of the Eastern Counties in Shoreditch.
The Hungerford-markets pursue the route from Camden Town along Tottenham Court-road, &c. to Hungerford; and many run from this spot to Paddington.
The Kentish Town run from the Eastern Counties station, and from Whitechapel to Kentish Town, by way of Tottenham Court-road, &c.
The Hampsteads observe the like course to Camden Town, and then run straight on to Hampstead.
The King’s-crosses run from Kennington-gate by the Blackfriar’s-road and bridge, Fleet-street, Chancery-lane, Gray’s-inn-lane, and the New-road, to Euston-square, while some go on to Camden Town.
The Great Northerns, the latest route started, travel from the railway terminus, Maiden-lane, King’s-cross, to the Bank and the railway-stations, both in the city and across the Thames; also to Paddington, and some to Kennington.