London Buses route 96

London Buses route 96 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London and Kent, England. Running between Woolwich and Bluewater Shopping Centre, it is operated by Stagecoach London.

History
Route 96 was a tram line running between Woolwich and Dartford. On 10 November 1935, it was replaced, along with several other tram routes, by trolleybus route 696 operating out of Bexleyheath garage. Route 696 was replaced by motor bus route 96 on 4 March 1959. It was extended from Dartford to Bluewater Shopping Centre on 16 March 1999. Because this stretch is outside Greater London, it runs express between these points, only stopping at Darent Valley Hospital in between.

On 31 July 2006, a vehicle operating route 96 bound for Bluewater caught fire in Dartford. In 2013, a report from the London Assembly found the route to be among the ten most crowded in London.

There were proposals as early as 2011 to alter the route to run via Darent Valley Hospital. However, this change was delayed as it was deemed necessary to use the Fastrack Bus Lanes, and Kent County Council had refused to allow route 96 to use it. The route alteration was finally implemented on 16 December 2017.

Having been operated by Bexleybus and Kentish Bus, it has been operated by Selkent out of Plumstead garage since January 1999.

Current route
Route 96 operates via these primary locations:
 * Woolwich Arsenal station
 * Woolwich station
 * Plumstead station
 * East Wickham
 * Welling
 * Crook Log
 * Bexleyheath Shopping Centre
 * Crayford
 * Dartford station
 * Darent Valley Hospital
 * Bluewater Shopping Centre

Between Dartford and Bluewater, route 96 operates as an express service, only stopping at Darent Valley Hospital in between.

Previous use
The 96 route number has also been used for a non-related route in Chelsea. This route was withdrawn in the late 1950s.