London Buses route 281 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. Running between

Hounslow Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in Gr ...

and

Tolworth Tolworth is a suburban area in the Surbiton district, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. It is southwest of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Long Ditton, New Malden, Kingston, Surbiton, Berrylands, Hinchley Wood, ...

, it is operated by London United using 25 buses.

History

Route 281 was introduced between

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

and

on 9 May 1962 to replace

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

route 601, operating from Fulwell garage. On 15 August 1981 it was converted from

AEC Routemaster The AEC Routemaster is a Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, front-engined double-decker bus that was designed by London Transport Executive, London Transport and built by the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) and Park Royal Vehicles. The ...

MCW Metrobus The MCW Metrobus is a two and three-axle double-decker bus manufactured by Metro Cammell Weymann (MCW) between 1977 and 1989, with over 4,000 built. The original MkI was superseded by the MkII which had a symmetrical windscreen with an arched ...

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 Night service, sometimes also known as owl service, refers to the public transport services operated during the night hours. These services are operated, mainly using buses but in certain cases using trams (or streetcars), not including inte ...

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 The privatisation of London bus services was the process of the transfer of operation of buses in London from public bodies to private companies. For half a century, operation of London bus services for public transport was under the direct co ...

, it has always been operated by London United out of Fulwell garage.

Current route

Route 281 operates via these main locations: *

Hounslow bus station Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in Gr ...

* Hounslow station * Whitton ''Admiral Nelson'', Nelson Road *

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team play ...

Twickenham station Twickenham railway station is in Twickenham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, and is in Travelcard Zone 5. By track it is from . Only one main street abuts the station – at its west end – London Road running between a trunk r ...

''King Street'' *Twickenham Green ''Prince Albert'', Hampton Road * Fulwell station (250m west) *

Teddington Teddington is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In 2021, Teddington was named as the best place to live in London by ''The Sunday Times''. Historically in Middlesex, Teddington is situated on a long m ...

''High Street'' * Hampton Wick station * Kingston ''Wood Street'' *Kingston ''

Cromwell Road bus station Kingston upon Thames in South West London, England is served by two bus stations as well as a large number of on-street bus stops. Due to the Kingston one-way system, the various stops and bus stations are physically separate, however passengers ...

'' for

Kingston station Kingston station may refer to: Australia * Kingston railway station, Brisbane * Kingston railway station, Victoria * Canberra railway station, Australian Capital Territory (locally known as Kingston station) Canada * Kingston station (Ontario) * ...

(southbound) *Kingston station (northbound) *

Kingston University , mottoeng = "Through Learning We Progress" , established = – gained University Status – Kingston Technical Institute , type = Public , endowment = £2.3 m (2015) , ...

* Surbiton station *

Incidents

In July 2005, shortly after the

7 July 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamic terrorists in London that targeted commuters travelling on the city's public transport system during the mo ...

, the route was the subject of a hoax bomb threat.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:281, London buses route Bus routes in London Transport in the London Borough of Hounslow Transport in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Transport in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames