A ride on the Richmond Park Minibus
The minibus does a double-run off Sawyers Hill to serve Sheen Gate; this involves leaving the Park briefly and making a circuit of Fife Road, Parkgate Avenue, Clare Lawn Avenue and Sheen Lane to turn round. The bus is turning from Fife Road into Parkgate Road - there are no stops in these roads. Although there is a car park and toilets at Sheen Gate is is debatable whether the diversion is worth it; as Sheen Gate is the least-used stop on the route and the driver reckoned he had picked up no more than fifteen people there in the first three years of operation! Sheen Gate is relatively unknown as an entry point to the Park, the Sheen Lane bus stops on Upper Richmond Road West (routes 33, 337, 493) are some distance away as is Mortlake Station, and the well-heeled residents of the houses close to the Park seem to have no need of a minibus link.
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This is the fourth year of the Richmond Park minibus, a free accessible minibus services that runs around the Royal Park once a week on Wednesdays from April to October, and is designed to give access to the park for people who do not have use of a car. For three years it was funded by the National Lottery but in 2019 two private individuals have made donations to keep the service running.
The minibus is provided by Richmond and Kingston Accessible Transport (RAKAT) and is driven by regular volunteer drivers. Buses depart Roehampton Danebury Avenue (the other side of the barrier from the terminus for routes 170 and 430) at 09.40, 10.52, 12.04, 13.45 and 14.57; there is a break at Danebury Avenue between 13.16-13.45 and the last journey finishes there at 16.10, otherwise the route is circular. The minibus also links up with buses 65 and 371 in Ham and has stops close to gates which also have other bus routes nearby.
www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/richmond-park/visitor-informa...
A ride on the Richmond Park Minibus
The minibus does a double-run off Sawyers Hill to serve Sheen Gate; this involves leaving the Park briefly and making a circuit of Fife Road, Parkgate Avenue, Clare Lawn Avenue and Sheen Lane to turn round. The bus is turning from Fife Road into Parkgate Road - there are no stops in these roads. Although there is a car park and toilets at Sheen Gate is is debatable whether the diversion is worth it; as Sheen Gate is the least-used stop on the route and the driver reckoned he had picked up no more than fifteen people there in the first three years of operation! Sheen Gate is relatively unknown as an entry point to the Park, the Sheen Lane bus stops on Upper Richmond Road West (routes 33, 337, 493) are some distance away as is Mortlake Station, and the well-heeled residents of the houses close to the Park seem to have no need of a minibus link.
*********************************************************************
This is the fourth year of the Richmond Park minibus, a free accessible minibus services that runs around the Royal Park once a week on Wednesdays from April to October, and is designed to give access to the park for people who do not have use of a car. For three years it was funded by the National Lottery but in 2019 two private individuals have made donations to keep the service running.
The minibus is provided by Richmond and Kingston Accessible Transport (RAKAT) and is driven by regular volunteer drivers. Buses depart Roehampton Danebury Avenue (the other side of the barrier from the terminus for routes 170 and 430) at 09.40, 10.52, 12.04, 13.45 and 14.57; there is a break at Danebury Avenue between 13.16-13.45 and the last journey finishes there at 16.10, otherwise the route is circular. The minibus also links up with buses 65 and 371 in Ham and has stops close to gates which also have other bus routes nearby.
www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/richmond-park/visitor-informa...