In the early period of motor omnibus travel, before World War I, number 68 was not in use as a route for the London General Omnibus Company, even though higher numbers up to 93 were active in 1912, for example. The route was active at the start of World War II. During this war, its usual peacetime lighting of a pale blue colour was removed because of the risk of aerial bombing, and the buses were blacked-out. By 1952, after the last trams stopped running, the route ran from the Earl of Eldon public house in South Croydon to Chalk Farm station in what is now Camden. This was a long 15 mile journey via places such as Thornton Heath, Norwood, Herne Hill, Camberwell, Elephant & Castle, Waterloo and Euston station, which nowadays would require two changes of bus. The route started operating AEC Routemaster buses on Sundays in 1963 and switched to full Routemaster operation in 1970. The buses at this time were based in garages in Chalk Farm, Norwood and Croydon. Upon being re-tendered, on 1 April 2006 routes 68 and X68 passed from Arriva London to London Central. The journalist Peter Watts reviewed his experiences of the current service for Time Out. He travels regularly from Herne Hill to Great Russell Street, near the Time Out offices in Tottenham Court Road. The journey takes between 40 and 90 minutes depending upon the congestion in traffic bottlenecks like Camberwell Green. Often, when the service is running poorly, it will terminate short of the final destination, unloading at a stop like Aldwych, or it will pass by Herne Hill without stopping, forcing passengers to take the shorter route 468 instead. Such incidents commonly occur three times a week and so cause him much frustration. Author and journalist Simon Jenkinson the other hand described the 68 bus as the "Queen of buses" for its stately progress through the bustling shopping streets of South London. Route 68 has a parallel peak-hour express service, X68, which runs along the same route from West Croydon station as far as Russell Square. This is one of only four express bus services provided by Transport for London, along with routes 607, X26 and X140. Travelling on this bus route has been suggested as a cure for agoraphobia. Travelling for 2-5 stops during the day was considered a medium level exercise, while travelling from Camberwell Green to the Elephant & Castle alone during the rush hour, was considered the most challenging exercise - more terrifying than walking down the high street or shopping in a supermarket. New Routemasters were introduced on the route from 5 February 2016.
