London Buses route 281

281
London United Scania OmniCity in June 2014
Overview
Operator London United
Garage Fulwell
Vehicle Alexander Dennis Enviro400EV
Volvo B5LH Wright Gemini 3
Peak vehicle requirement Day: 19
Night: 4
Began service 9 May 1962
Predecessors Trolleybus Route 601
Night-time 24-hour service
Route
Start Hounslow bus station
Via Whitton
Twickenham
Teddington
Kingston
Surbiton
End Tolworth
Length 11 miles (18 km)
Service
Level 24-hour service
Frequency About every 8 minutes
Journey time 45-81 minutes
Operates 24-hour service

London Buses route 281 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Hounslow bus station and Tolworth, it is operated by London United.

History

London United Alexander RH bodied Volvo Olympian in Hounslow in September 1998
Transdev London TransBus ALX400 bodied TransBus Trident in Kingston in December 2008

Route 281 was introduced between Twickenham and Tolworth on 9 May 1962 to replace trolleybus route 601, operating from Fulwell garage. 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.

On 3 June 2006, route 281 became the 100th night bus service in London, when a 24-hour service introduced. It replaced a portion of route N22, which was shortened to end at Fulwell.

Since the privatisation of London bus services, it has always been operated by London United out of Fulwell garage.

Current route

Route 281 operates via these main locations:

Incidents

In July 2005, shortly after the 7 July 2005 London bombings, the route was the subject of a hoax bomb threat.