The 733 - What Was This Temporary Bus Route

The 733 was a bus route operating in central London and lasted less than 6 months. Starting on Monday 17th January 2022 and with the last bus on Friday 13th May 2022 the route was created because of large upgrade works at Bank station which closed a section of the Northern Line.

The Bigger Picture

Bank station is busy. Bank station is old. And whilst Bank station is large, complex, and confusing it doesn't have enough capacity for all the passengers wanting to enter, exit, and change between trains at the station.

Part of the problem at Bank were the Northern Line platforms. So to fix them and to generally improve the station TfL decided to spend some money and build. This included/will include a new southbound platform for the Northern Line, a large concourse between the Northern Line platforms, a moving walkway connection between the Northern and Central Lines. Along with a direct escalator connection between the Northern Line and DLR, a new exit with proper station building, and many new lifts.

Specifically, the Northern Line platforms at Bank station used to be narrow (the platform tunnels were split exactly in half with one half having track for the trains and the other half for standing). This wouldn't be too bad if there was a decent sized concourse between the platforms but they were only separated by a thin wall with little interchange and exit capacity from the platforms.

What Building a New Platform Involved

Construction on the new southbound platform at Bank started well before part of the Northern Line closed for 5 months with the new platform actually virtually complete before the old platform closed. The main reason the Northern Line closed between Moorgate and Kennington was to connect the old and new running tunnels located to the north and south of the station. It also meant the old southbound platform could be redeveloped into a new concourse and act as an overflow area for the Northbound platform (which was basically unchanged).

Where the 733 went

The 733 used to only run on weekdays (which leaves the 521 and X68* as the only non-school non-mobility weekday only buses *peak hours only) between Oval station for the Northern Line and Finsbury Square which is one stop after Moorgate also for the Northern Line. It ran along what is officially the A3 from Oval towards the City of London stopping at Kennington on its way to the ex-roundabout at Elephant and Castle. It then continued to follow the A3 towards London Bridge with it stopping at Borough for the closed Northern Line then London Bridge before continuing over Thames using the actual London Bridge to Bank station. Then it is only a couple more minutes until arrival at Moorgate for what was the open section of Northern Line.

For the 733 it was quite beneficial that when built this section of the Northern Line was constructed under main roads to avoid any land disputes from private owners.

Other TfL Operated Temporary Buses

In recent years temporary bus routes run by TfL have been designated 7xx with the two examples being the 733 from Oval to Finsbury Circus and the 718 between Morden and Rosehill Roundabout. But previous temporary bus routes (before about 2018) were designated 5xx. A mostly complete and accurate list follows: 508, 518, 523, 528, 530, 541, 545, 558, 560, 563, 565, 571, 572, 579, 588, and 599.

Perhaps the reason TfL changed from 5xx routes to 7xx routes is that there are actually 3 permanent 5xx routes: the 507, 521, and 549. The 533 also exists as a long term temporary bus because of the closure of Hammersmith Bridge.

But it could have also been that the 518 and 533 have previously been used as temporary bus routes. And because TfL likes the last two digits of temporary routes to be the same as a local route they had to be designated 7xx.