London Buses route 81

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81
London United ADE24 (Route 81), First Beeline 63191 (Route 7), Slough (cropped).jpg
London United Alexander Dennis Enviro400 in Slough in May 2014
Overview
OperatorMetroline
Route
StartHounslow bus station
ViaHounslow West
Cranford
Harlington Corner
Heathrow North
Colnbrook
Langley
EndSlough station

London Buses route 81 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Hounslow and Slough, it is operated by Metroline.

History[]

The route goes back to the 1900s. Its original course was from Hounslow to Windsor Castle. By the 1940s, the route only operated on a daily basis from Hounslow to Slough, serving Eton and Windsor only at weekends. The section from Slough to Windsor Castle was withdrawn in 1963.[1]

The 1980s saw the introduction by London Regional Transport of route tenders, with route 81 the first route to be put out to tender. The contract for the route was awarded to Len Wright Travel, which later became London Buslines, and passed to them from London Buses on 13 July 1985.[2][3]

Tendering saw the route move from Hounslow garage to Lampton (later Isleworth, then Southall) and revert to double deck, using yellow Daimler Fleetlines. These were replaced in 1987 by Leyland Lynxes.[4] On 29 July 1995 the route was lost to Westlink and moved to Hounslow Heath garage using Optare Deltas.[5] Westlink became part of London United Busways in September 1995.[6] On 27 July 2019, Metroline gained the contract for the route.[7]

Current route[]

Route 81 operates via these primary locations:[8]

References[]

  1. ^ Marshall, Prince (1973). Wheels of London. The Westerham Press. p. 38. ISBN 0-7230-0068-9.
  2. ^ McLachlan, Tom (1995). London Buses 1985–1995: Managing The Change. Venture Publications. p. 27. ISBN 1-898432-74-0.
  3. ^ Wolmar, Christian (14 September 1992). "Hold tight on the Clapham omnibus: Next stop, privatisation". The Independent.
  4. ^ McLachlan p.84
  5. ^ McLachlan p.109
  6. ^ Development of Organised Transportation in London Transport for London January 2013
  7. ^ "Six routes transfer in latest TFL tender results". 8 January 2019.
  8. ^ Route 81 Map Transport for London

External links[]

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