page_title: London Buses route 188
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: London Buses route 188 / History
caption_attribution_description: English: London Transport bus, an unidentified DMS class Daimler Fleetline double-decker, pictured heading west along the Strand, London, with St. Mary-le-Strand Church in the background. It's operating London Buses route 188 en route to Greenwich - having come south down the Kingsway and around the Aldwych, it's now in the left hand lane ready to turn left and continue over Westminster Bridge. The bus was most likely allocated to New Cross (NX) garage, with 6 required for the route on the relative quiet of a Sunday scene as is pictured here.
context_page_description: London Buses route 188 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between North Greenwich bus station and Russell Square, it is operated by London Central.
context_section_description: Upon being tendered in 1988, the route passed to  Boro'line. Initially Leyland Atlanteans hired from Ipswich Buses and Daimler Fleetlines from Nottingham City Transport were used, until new Alexander bodied Volvo Citybuses were delivered in 1989. Boro'line operated from a depot in Crayford.
  In November 1990, Boro'line surrendered the route, which consequently passed to London Buses subsidiary Selkent who operated it with Leyland Olympians from Plumstead garage. Upon retendering in 1993, the route changed operators again to London & Country, which was later purchased by the British Bus group. Reorganisation of the group's London operations saw the 188 move to the new Londonlinks subsidiary on its formation in 1995.
  Route 188 was included in the sale of British Bus to the Cowie Group in August 1996. The contract to operate the route passed to Travel London in 2005.
  On 28 July 2007, route 188 became a 24-hour service with a half-hourly service running throughout the night, seven days a week, passing through Bermondsey, Canada Water and Greenwich before terminating at The O2 Arena. The timetabling had been amended in order to meet the needs of visitors to The O2 where concerts continued until after the tube had closed.
  Route 188 was included in the sale of Travel London to Abellio London in May 2009.
  John Barry, head of network development for London buses, said: "The new 24-hour service on route 188 is another accessible transport connection for late-night travellers in the capital. London's night bus network has expanded dramatically in recent years with passenger numbers more than doubling since 2000." Despite this improvement, the route received 55 complaints from passengers in 2009, the fourth highest number on any route in London.
  In 2011, it was announced that hybrid buses were to be introduced to the route.
caption: Daimler Fleetline on The Strand in June 1983
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