London Buses route 281
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London Buses route 281 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Hounslow bus station and Tolworth station, it is operated by First Bus London.
History
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Route 281 was introduced between Twickenham and Tolworth on 9 May 1962 to replace trolleybus route 601, operating from Fulwell garage.[1][2][3] On 15 August 1981 it was converted from AEC Routemaster to MCW Metrobus operation.
In 2000, the route was identified as one of the most popular in London, with approximately 5.5 million passengers using the service that year.[4]
On 3 June 2006, route 281 became the 100th night bus service in London, when a 24-hour service introduced.[5] It replaced a portion of route N22, which was shortened to end at Fulwell.[6]
Since the privatisation of London bus services, it has always been operated by London United (now RATP Dev Transit London) out of Fulwell garage.[7][8][9]
On 28 February 2025, the route passed from London United to First Bus London following the acquisition of RATP Dev Transit London by FirstGroup.[10]
Current route
Route 281 operates via these main locations:[11]
- Hounslow bus station London Buses
- Hounslow station National Rail
- Whitton
- Twickenham Stadium
- Twickenham station National Rail
- Fulwell station National Rail
- Teddington
- Hampton Wick station National Rail
- Cromwell Road bus station London Buses
- Kingston station National Rail
- Kingston University
- Surbiton station National Rail
- Tolworth station National Rail
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Incidents
In July 2005, shortly after the 7 July 2005 London bombings, the route was the subject of a hoax bomb threat.[12]
References
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- ↑ Fulwell The London Bus volume 4 2017 pages 68/69
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- ↑ Contract Routes Retained London United
- ↑ TfL contract tender changes Coach & Bus Week issue 1115 27 November 2013 page 5
- ↑ Latest tendered service awards Buses issue 789 December 2020 page 21
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Route 281 Map Transport for London
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