| Number: | 343 |
| Bgcolor: | red |
| Titlecolor: | white |
| Operator: | Go-Ahead London |
| Garage: | New Cross |
| Predecessors: | Route P3 |
| Night: | N343 |
| Start: | New Cross Gate |
| Via: | Brockley Peckham Elephant & Castle London Bridge City Hall |
| End: | Aldgate bus station |
London Buses route 343 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between New Cross Gate and Aldgate bus station, it is operated by Go-Ahead London.
When re-tendered, the route passed to Travel London's Walworth garage on 21 September 2005 with Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B7TLs introduced.[1] [2]
Route 343 was included in the May 2009 sale of Travel London to Abellio London.[3] [4] Abellio London successfully tendered to retain the route with a new contract commencing on 5 May 2011.[5]
In June 2010, the route was revealed to be amongst the ten worst performing in London.[6] Two additional morning peak journeys were introduced on 12 June 2010 with the intention of solving the problems; performance improved as a result, although the route continued to receive complaints.[7]
A proposal to increase the frequency of the route was announced by Transport for London in November 2010.[8]
At 08:22 on 17 March 2012, a bus on route 343 caught fire on Pepys Road, New Cross. The fire was put out by 09:20 and there were no injuries.[9]
On 25 June 2019, the route received an extension from City Hall to Aldgate bus station to replace part of the now withdrawn route RV1.[10] [11]
Route 343 operates via these primary locations:[12]