Regency Route 729

29th December 2006

Introduced in 1977, route 729 between Tunbridge Wells and Brighton was initially worked jointly by Southdown and Maidstone & District, and for a while the branding "The Regency Route" was used. The 729 was the successor to earlier routes 119 (which ran from 1936 until 1977) and 122 (providing hourly journeys through to Gravesend from 1948 until 1970, before being reduced to run north of Tunbridge Wells only, and then renumbered 322 in 1974).

During the 1970s and early 1980s the 119 and then the 729 used the Green Line terminus in Lime Hill Road, Tunbridge Wells, shared with Green Line 704 (and later 705/706).

Operation of the 729 was later shared by Brighton & Hove (from 1986), Stagecoach (as successor to Southdown) and Arriva (as successor to M&D), and the route was renumbered 29 in April 2004 when doubled to half-hourly. Brighton & Hove took over the Stagecoach workings from 25 September 2005 and the Arriva working from 23 April 2006.

Southdown 709, Grosvenor Road, Tunbridge Wells, December 1990	Southdown 709, Old Steine, Brighton, May 1990	Southdown 710, Uckfield High Street, May 1990	Southdown 728, Lime Hill Road, Tunbridge Wells, April 1982