London Buses route 265 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Tolworth and Putney Bridge, it is operated by London General.
History[]
Route 265 commenced operation on 2 June 1984 between Putney Bridge Station and Putney Bridge Station via Putney - Upper Richmond Road - Roehampton Lane - Queen Mary's Hospital - Roehampton - Dover House Road - Upper Richmond Road - Putney Bridge as a Monday to Saturday service. The route was initially operated by London Transport from their Chelverton Road (AF) garage using MCW Metrobuses.
On 3 August 1985, the circular route was withdrawn and was diverted via Lower Richmond Road instead of Upper Richmond Road terminating at Bessborough Road.
On 25 May 1991, the route was converted to midibus operation using Alexander bodied Mercedes-Benz 811Ds and was extended from Roehampton to Tolworth via the withdrawn section of route 72. A Sunday service was introduced at the same time.
On 28 June 1997, the route was retained by London General.
On 13 September 1997, the route was revised to operate all day to Tolworth and extended in Tolworth via Ewell Road to "Red Lion".
On 8 May 1999, the Alexander bodied Mercedes-Benz 811Ds were replaced by Plaxton Pointer bodied Dennis Darts and low floor Marshall Capital bodied Dennis Dart SLFs.
On 29 June 2002, the route passed to Transdev London operating from their Tolworth (TV) garage and was converted to full low floor operation using Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart SLFs.
On 4 July 2009, the route was retained by Transdev London.
In March 2011, the route was included in the sale of Transdev London’s Tolworth (TV) garage to London United.
On 2 July 2016, the route was retained by London United using brand new Enviro 200 MMC bodied Alexander Dennis E20Ds.
On 18 May 2019, part of the allocation was transferred to Shepherd's Bush (S) garage and Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts were introduced alongside the existing Enviro 200 MMC bodied Alexander Dennis E20Ds. Extra journeys were introduced between Roehampton Bessborough Road to Putney Bridge Station at the same time.
On 28 September 2019, the extra journeys between Roehampton Bessborough Road to Putney Bridge Station were discontinued and the shorts were replaced by route 419.
On 13 March 2021, the PVR was reduced to 11 from 12.
On 1 July 2023, the route passed back to London General operating from Putney (AF) garage using existing Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts.
On 5 January 2024, brand new and existing Enviro 200 MMC EV bodied BYD D8URs were introduced alongside the existing Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts.
On 17 January 2024, the route was converted to a full Enviro 200 MMC EV bodied BYD D8UR operation.
On 24 January 2024, an existing Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Dart was temporarily reintroduced alongside the existing Enviro 200 MMC EV bodied BYD D8URs.
On 20 February 2024, brand new 10.2m Enviro 200 MMC EV bodied BYD D8URs were temporarily introduced alongside the existing 10.9m variants. Subsequently, the route reverted to a full Enviro 200 MMC EV bodied BYD D8UR operation.
Current Route[]
Route 265 operates via these primary locations:
- Tolworth King Charles Road
- New Malden
- Kingston Vale
- Roehampton Bessborough Road
- Barnes Station
- Putney Common
- Putney Bridge Station Bus Station