London United,

trading as A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...

First Bus, is a bus company operating mostly in west and south-west

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

. The London United brand is a subsidiary of

First Bus London First Bus London is a bus operator running services across Greater London, England. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup, operating buses under contract to Transport for London, and was formed with the purchase of RATP Dev Transit London from RATP ...

and operates services under contract to

Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...

Company history

Early history

London United commenced operating on 1 April 1989, as one of 12 operating subsidiaries of

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...

in preparation for

privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

. In November 1994 it was sold in a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management- and/or leveraged buyouts became noted phenomena of 19 ...

. The company's name was derived from the former

London United Tramways London United Tramways Company Limited was an operator of trams and trolleybuses in the western and southern suburbs of London, UK, from 1894 to 1933, when it passed to the London Passenger Transport Board. Origins The company was formed in 189 ...

, that operated trams and trolleybuses in west and south west London until absorbed by the

London Passenger Transport Board The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for local public transport in London and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and brand was Londo ...

in 1933. London United adopted the former tram company's insignia, based on the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, as its logo. In January 1995, London United purchased Westlink with garages in

Hounslow Heath Hounslow Heath is a local nature reserve in the London Borough of Hounslow and at a point borders London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Richmond upon Thames. The public open space, which covers , is all that remains of the historic Hounslow He ...

and

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

. In August 1997 London United was sold to

Transdev Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a France-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020. Transdev was formed on 3 April 2011 via the merg ...

. In 2002 Transdev purchased fellow London operator

London Sovereign London Sovereign is a bus operator brand under London Sovereign Limited, trading as First Bus, which operates bus services in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of First Bus London and operates bus services under contract to Transport for London ...

from the

Blazefield Group Transdev Blazefield is a bus group, which operates local and regional bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. Formed in August 1991, the group has been a subsidiary of French-based operato ...

. In April 2006 both operations were rebranded with the Transdev name and logo, removing the London United and London Sovereign brands, although both companies continued as separate legal entities. In November 2009 Transdev purchased NCP Challenger with seven Transport for London contracted routes, 87 buses and garages at

Park Royal Park Royal is an area in North West London, England, divided between the London Borough of Ealing and the London Borough of Brent. It is the site of the largest business park in London, but despite intensive existing use, the area is, togethe ...

and

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

. These were integrated into the London United business.

RATP Dev era

In 2009, Transdev's majority owner,

Caisse des dépôts et consignations Caisse, a French word, may refer to: * Caisse Desjardins, an association of credit unions in Quebec * Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears, a road-bicycle racing team *Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Q ...

, commenced negotiating with

Veolia Environnement Veolia Environnement S.A., branded as Veolia, is a French transnational company with activities in three main service and utility areas traditionally managed by public authorities – water management, waste management and energy services. In 2 ...

to merge Transdev with

Veolia Transport Veolia Transport (formerly Connex and CGEA Transport) was the international transport services division of the French-based multinational company Veolia until the 2011 merger that gave rise to Veolia Transdev, later renamed Transdev. Veolia Tr ...

. As part of the resulting agreement, it was agreed that the

RATP Group The RATP Group () is a French state-owned enterprise (Établissement public à caractère industriel et commercial, EPIC) that operates public transport systems primarily in Paris, France. Headquartered in Paris, it originally operated under th ...

, which had a minority shareholding in Transdev, would take over ownership of some of Transdev's operations in lieu of cash payment. This resulted in London United transferring to the RATP Group, while

remained with Transdev and become part of the merged Veolia Transdev group. This agreement took effect in March 2011, and RATP Group renamed its newly acquired business London United. In 2015, a charter unit was established under the United Transit brand with a grey and red livery. Since July 2021, London United has taken on most routes from RATP Group's other London subsidiary Quality Line, with routes 413, 463 and S1 being transferred to

Go-Ahead London Go-Ahead London is a major bus operator in Greater London. The name first appeared in August 2008, before which the company had traded under separate names and brands. It is currently (as of April 2025) the largest bus operator in Greater Londo ...

. In December 2021, RATP's London bus operations including London United were transferred to a RATP joint venture with Australia's Kelsian Group (parent company of

Tower Transit Tower Transit Operations Limited, which traded as Tower Transit, is a bus company who operated in East and West London. They are a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group and operated services under contract to Transport for London. Currently they op ...

) known as RATP Dev Transit London.

FirstGroup era

In February 2025, London United was included in the acquisition of RATP Dev Transit London by

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.33, 65, 71,

216 __NOTOC__ Year 216 ( CCXVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sabinus and Anullinus (or, less frequently, year 969 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 216 f ...

281 __NOTOC__ Year 281 ( CCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Probus and Tiberianus (or, less frequently, year 1034 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

290 __NOTOC__ Year 290 ( CCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 1043 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denom ...

371 __NOTOC__ Year 371 (CCCLXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Petronius (or, less frequently, year 1124 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominati ...

681 __NOTOC__ Year 681 ( DCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 681 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Euro ...

, K3, N33 and N65.

History

When new, the site was described as one of the finest plants in the country and was the main depot of

with 20 covered tracks. The garage is nowadays divided into two sections, one used by London United, with an entrance off Wellington Road, and the other by

Transport UK London Bus Transport UK London Bus, formerly Abellio London, is a bus company operating services under contract to Transport for London in Greater London, England. History The origins of Transport UK London Bus can be traced back to June 1998, when Nat ...

with an entrance off Stanley Road. Fulwell was the first garage in London to receive trolleybuses in 1931, and together with Isleworth was the last to operate them until 1962. The last trams operated from the depot in 1935, although some of the tram tracks were, until recently, still visible in the cobbled surface of the Stanley Road entrance. The garage has never reached its capacity, even taking in much of the work from Twickenham when it closed in 1970, and in 2001 107 buses were allocated. In 1999 the garage housed 13

London Country 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 in the United Kingdom, bus deregulation programme. History From 1933, L ...

buses after Arriva Croydon & North Surrey shut its

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon ...

garage. The buses on route 85 were operated from the forecourt with Arriva drivers.

Hounslow (AV)

As of May 2024, Hounslow garage operates routes

110 110 may refer to: *110 (number), natural number *AD 110, a year *110 BC, a year *110 film, a cartridge-based film format used in still photography * 110 (MBTA bus), Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus route *110 (song), 2019 song by Cap ...

, 117, 203,

419 Year 419 ( CDXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Monaxius and Plinta (or, less frequently, year 1172 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 419 for th ...

, 696,

697 __NOTOC__ Year 697 ( DCXCVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 697 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europ ...

, 698, H22, H37 and H98.

History

Hounslow garage was opened by the

London General Omnibus Company The London General Omnibus Company or LGOC, was the principal bus operator in London between 1855 and 1933. It was also, for a short period between 1909 and 1912, a motor bus manufacturer. Overview The London General Omnibus Company was f ...

in 1913 on the former site of the

District Railway The Metropolitan District Railway, also known as the District Railway, was a passenger railway that served London, England, from 1868 to 1933. Established in 1864 to complete an " inner circle" of lines connecting railway termini in London, the ...

's Hounslow Town station. The garage along with many others was requisitioned in the First World War. Hounslow was the subject of two firsts in 1925 and 1930 with the first

pneumatic tyre A tire (North American English) or tyre (Commonwealth English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over w ...

buses and the original Dennis Dart allocated respectively. The garage had one problem though: the roof was too low and only open toppers and single deck vehicles could use the depot until the mid-1930s when the roof was raised. A London Transport survey in 1947 found that 92 vehicles were allocated to Hounslow, a garage with a capacity of 72. This was mainly achieved by parking buses on a plot of land behind the garage that was also used to stand vehicles terminating there on layover. The garage was rebuilt in the early 1950s and included a new bus station in front of the garage. The planned allocation was now up to 120 vehicles, although the allocation in 2002 was 127. Hounslow's first one-man operated double deckers were

MCW Metrobus The MCW Metrobus is a two and three-axle double-decker bus manufactured by Metro Cammell Weymann (MCW) between 1977 and 1989. The Metrobus was conceived as a semi-integral product manufactured completely by MCW in both MkI and MkII variants, but ...

es delivered in 1982 for routes 111 and 202. With the allocation still high, Hounslow runs a number of night services on behalf of other London United garages to enable it to fit the buses into the garage. It was also the first garage in London to operate a low-floor bus with the arrival of

Wright Pathfinder The Wright Pathfinder was a low entry and low floor single-decker bus body built on Dennis Lance SLF and Scania N113CRL chassis by Wrightbus between 1993 and 1995. History Of the 95 Pathfinders produced, London Regional Transport subsid ...

bodied Dennis Lance SLF in December 1993. There were plans to relocate the garage away from the town centre, and allow the expansion of the adjoining bus station. In 2005 an unsuccessful planning application for a site in Hanworth Road was lodged. This was largely due to a campaign by residents overlooking the site.

Hounslow Heath (WK)

As of May 2024, Hounslow Heath garage operate routes

105 105 may refer to: *105 (number), the number * AD 105, a year in the 2nd century AD * 105 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 105 (telephone number), the emergency telephone number in Mongolia * 105 (MBTA bus), a Massachusetts Bay Transport Authority ...

, 116,

235 __NOTOC__ Year 235 ( CCXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Quintianus (or, less frequently, year 988 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 2 ...

423 __NOTOC__ Year 423 ( CDXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Marinianus and Asclepiodotus (or, less frequently, year 1176 ''Ab urbe condita''). ...

and non-TfL routes KU1, KU2 and KU3.

Park Royal (RP)

As of June 2024, Park Royal garage operates routes 18,

220 __NOTOC__ Year 220 (Roman numerals, CCXX) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antonius and Eutychianus (or, less frequently, year 973 ''Ab urbe condita''). The ...

224 Year 224 ( CCXXIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iulianus and Crispinus (or, less frequently, year 977 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 224 for this ...

258 Year 258 ( CCLVIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Tuscus and Bassus (or, less frequently, year 1011 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 258 for this yea ...

266 __NOTOC__ Year 266 ( CCLXVI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gallienus and Sabinillus (or, less frequently, year 1019 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

, N18 and N266.

History

Park Royal was opened by NCP Challenger on 26 May 2007, on the site of the former

Metroline Metroline is a bus operator operating primarily in Greater London and partially in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro and operates bus services for London Buses under contract to Transport for Lon ...

garage (HR) in Atlas Road,

, which had closed in 2005.

Shepherd's Bush (S)

As of May 2024, Shepherd's Bush garage operates routes 49, 70, 72, 94, 148, C1 and N72.

History

Shepherd's Bush garage opened in 1906.

Stamford Brook (V)

As of June 2024, Stamford Brook garage operates routes

218 Year 218 ( CCXVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Adventus (or, less frequently, year 971 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 218 for th ...

, 272,

283 Year 283 ( CCLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Carus and Carinus (or, less frequently, year 1036 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 283 for this y ...

440 Year 440 (Roman numerals, CDXL) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valentinian III, Valentinianus and Anatolius (consul), Anatolius (or, less frequently, year ...

and E3.

History

Stamford Brook opened as a bus garage in 1980 after a two-year construction. Originally built as Chiswick Tram depot, it had latterly been used to operate the

British European Airways British European Airways (BEA), formally British European Airways Corporation, was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. BEA operated to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from airports around the United Kingdom. The ...

bus service between

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

and the West London Air Terminal on

Cromwell Road Cromwell Road is a major London road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, designated as part of the A4 road (Great Britain), A4. It was created in the 19th century and is said to be named after Richard Cromwell, son of Oliver Cromwel ...

. The original plan was to create a temporary home for the Riverside garage buses and staff whilst that garage was re-built with a view to taking on the workload from Mortlake and Turnham Green which were to close. However this idea was changed and the garage took on the work from Turnham Green which closed and also inherited the garage code V. Following service reductions, Mortlake and Riverside closed in 1983, with some of their work moving to Stamford Brook. In 1981 Stamford Brook took on ''

Airbus Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...

'' routes A1 and A2 following the withdrawal of the existing British Airways services between Heathrow Airport and central London. These vehicles were transferred in 1994 to West Ramp (which became an outstation of V) leaving the garage with an allocation of MCW Metroriders,

es,

Leyland Olympian The Leyland Olympian is a 2-axle and 3-axle double-decker bus chassis that was manufactured by Leyland between 1980 and 1993. It was the last Leyland bus model in production. Construction The Olympian had the same chassis and running gear ...

s and

Dennis Dart The Dennis Dart is a Rear-engine design, rear-engined single-decker bus, single-decker midibus chassis that was introduced by Dennis Specialist Vehicles, Dennis of Guildford, England, in 1989, replacing the Dennis Domino. Initially built as a ...

Tolworth (TV)

As of June 2024, Tolworth garage operates routes 85, 293, 406, 411,

418 __NOTOC__ Year 418 (Roman numerals, CDXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Honorius (emperor), Honorius and Theodosius II, Theodosius (or, less frequent ...

467 __NOTOC__ Year 467 (Roman numerals, CDLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pusaeus and Iohannes (consul 467), Iohannes (or, less frequently, year 1220 '' ...

, 613,

655 __NOTOC__ Year 655 ( DCLV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 655 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...

662 Year 662 (Roman numerals, DCLXII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 662 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in ...

, 665, K1, K2, K4 and K5.

History

Tolworth was built on the site of a former coal yard behind Tolworth railway station. Tolworth was originally planned in the late 1990s following the closure of Kingston Garage and the announcement that the site was to be part sold off and part converted into the new bus station. A recruitment centre was opened on Tolworth Broadway long before building work ever started. Route K5 transferred to Tolworth from Quality Line on 25 January 2020. Routes 406, 418 and 465 transferred to Tolworth from Quality Line on 25 April 2020.

Former garages

Twickenham (NC)

History

garage was opened by NCP Challenger on 12 November 2005. On 31 March 2012, route 493 passed to

London General London General Transport Services Limited, trading as Go-Ahead London, is a bus company operating in Greater London. The London General brand is a subsidiary of Go-Ahead London and operates services under contract to Transport for London. The ...

Fleet

As at May 2015, the fleet consisted of 797 buses.

References

External links

* *
Kingston University Timetable
{{Transdev London bus operators RATP Group Transdev Transport companies established in 1989 Transport companies disestablished in 2025 1989 establishments in England 2025 disestablishments in England