Look ahead for big white, tent-like canopies stretching overhead and a crowd of red London buses lining up in a neat row just under them - that’s the Stratford Bus Station right in front of you!
Picture this: it’s the early 1990s, and this very spot was once the ground floor of a rumbling old multi-storey car park - not quite the glamorous welcome to Stratford we know today! Enter Soji Abass, a clever London Transport architect, who had a vision for a brighter, airier place for buses and busy Londoners. With a touch of swagger and maybe a few pots of tea, his team whipped up this futuristic bus station with five sleek stands, all under these unusual, sail-like roofs that seem ready to launch into the London skies. It opened its doors on a chilly November day in 1994, goodbye grumpy old car park, hello transport hub of the future! Now, with over 20 million passengers a year (imagine if everyone brought their pet hamster-that’s a lot of hamsters!), Stratford Bus Station is a buzzing hive, connecting folks to all corners of London, day and night. And speaking of night, the next time you see one of those red buses heading off into the dark, just imagine where that adventure might lead! Where would you be off to, if you could board any bus right now?
