London Buses route 271 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 Highgate Village and

Finsbury Square Finsbury Square is a square in Finsbury in central London which includes a six-rink grass bowling green. It was developed in 1777 on the site of a previous area of green space to the north of the City of London known as Finsbury Fields, in the pa ...

, it is operated by

Metroline Metroline is a bus company operating services in Greater London and south Hertfordshire. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Corporation and operates services under contract to Transport for London. As at March 2021, the fleet consisted of 1,5 ...

History

Route 271 commenced operating on 20 July 1960 running between Highgate Village and

to replace trolleybus route 611 with

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 ...

s. The route was initially operated out of Holloway garage and has changed little since its introduction. On 7 November 1965, new

Leyland Atlantean The Leyland Atlantean is a predominantly double-decker bus A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asi ...

s commenced a six-month trial on route 271. On 17 April 1966, eight XF-class

Daimler Fleetline The Daimler Fleetline (known as the Leyland Fleetline from circa 1975) is a rear-engined double-decker bus chassis which was built between 1960 and 1983. It was the second of three bus models to have a marque name as well as an alphanumeric ...

s were transferred from

London Country Bus Services London Country Bus Services was a bus company that operated in South East England from 1970 until 1986, when it was split up and later sold as part of the bus deregulation programme. History Formation London Country Bus Services Ltd was ...

's East Grinstead garage to Holloway and replaced by XA-class Leyland Atlanteans. After the fuel consumption of the two vehicles was compared, the eight XF-class buses returned to East Grinstead. On 10 July 1966, route 271 returned to AEC Routemaster operation. On 16 January 1971, it was converted to one-man operation with

s. On 6 June 1987 the route was extended on Sundays from Highgate Village to Hendon Central station to cover the withdrawn part of route 143, although this extension only lasted until 2 February 1991. For an eight-month period from September 1990, the route was based at Chalk Farm garage, before returning to Holloway. On 16 May 1992 the route received a weekend extension to

Liverpool Street station Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

. Upon tendering in September 1993, the route transferred to London Suburban Bus, operated from a garage in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, using red, brown and cream livered

Northern Counties Palatine The Northern Counties Palatine was a High-floor bus, step-entrance 2-axle and 3-axle double-decker bus body built by Northern Counties Motor & Engineering Company, Northern Counties from 1988 to 1999 in Wigan, England. The Palatine was built ...

bodied

Volvo Olympian The Volvo Olympian was a rear-engined 2-axle and 3-axle double decker bus chassis manufactured by Volvo at its Irvine, Scotland factory. The first was built in 1992 and entered production in March 1993, replacing the Leyland Olympian. History ...

s. Route 271 was included in the April 1996 sale of London Suburban Bus to MTL London and transferred back to Holloway, with the existing buses repainted in MTL's red livery. MTL London in turn was sold in August 1998 to

. The route received low-floor buses in 1999. Upon being re-tendered, the route was retained by Metroline with a new contract commencing on 30 September 2005. On 18 June 2011, route 271 was withdrawn between Finsbury Square and Liverpool Street station due to

Crossrail Crossrail is a railway construction project mainly in central London. Its aim is to provide a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system crossing the capital from suburbs on the west to east, by connecting two major railway ...

works. When re-tendered, it was retained by Metroline with a new contract commencing on 29 September 2012 with existing double deckers. In 2018, Transport for London consulted on proposals to withdraw the N271 night bus route. In April 2019, it announced that it would not go ahead with the proposals and that the N271 route would continue to operate. In December 2021, Transport for London opened a consultation on proposals that included the scrapping of the daytime 271 service. The N271 night bus would continue to operate. In March 2022, Transport for London confirmed that the route would be withdrawn in early 2023.

Current route

Route 271 operates via these primary locations:Route 271 Map
Transport for London * Highgate Village ''South Grove'' * Archway station *

Upper Holloway station Upper Holloway railway station is in Holloway, north London (N19). It is on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line, from (measured via Kentish Town and Mortimer Street Junction) and is situated between Gospel Oak and . It is operated by London Overg ...

* Holloway Road station *

Highbury & Islington station Highbury & Islington is a London Underground and National Rail interchange station in the London Borough of Islington, north London. It is served by the London Underground's Victoria line and the Great Northern's Northern City Line, as well as ...

* Essex Road station *

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

''High Street'' *

Angel station ''Angel Station'' is the ninth album released by Manfred Mann's Earth Band, released in 1979. Several line-up changes were made for this album. Ex-Wings drummer Geoff Britton replaced founding drummer Chris Slade and Steve Waller replaced g ...

Old Street station Old Street is a National Rail and London Underground station at the junction of Old Street and City Road in central London, England. The station is on the Bank branch of the Northern line between Angel and Moorgate stations and on the North ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:271, London buses route Bus routes in London Transport in the London Borough of Camden Transport in the London Borough of Islington Transport in the City of London