London Buses route 285

285
285
	London United Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart; in August 2013
Overview
Operator	London United
Garage	Hounslow Heath (HH)
Vehicle	Volvo B5LH 10.5m / Wright Eclipse Gemini 3
Peak vehicle requirement	19
Night-time	24-hour service
Route
Start	Heathrow Airport Central bus station
Via	Hatton Cross; Feltham; Hampton Hill; Teddington
End	Kingston
Length	12 miles (19 km)
Service
Level	Daily
Frequency	10-15 minutes
Journey time	46-83 minutes
Operates	24-hour service

London Buses route 285 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Heathrow Airport Central bus station and Kingston, it is operated by London United.

History

Route 285 commenced operating on 9 May 1962 between Heathrow Airport Central bus station and Haydons Road station (Mon-Sat), Wimbledon via Hatton Cross, Feltham, Hanworth, Hampton Hill, Teddington, Kingston, New Malden, Raynes Park and Wimbledon as a trolleybus replacement route with AEC Routemasters from Fulwell bus garage. On 31 December 1966, the Wimbledon to Haydons Road station section was transferred to route 200.

On 27 March 1971, the route was converted to single deck, one man operation with AEC Merlins. On 13 June 1976, double deck operation resumed with Daimler Fleetlines, these were replaced by MCW Metrobuses on 26 March 1979.

From 12 April 1986 the service was rerouted between Hatton Cross and Heathrow Central via the Southern Perimeter Road and the Heathrow Cargo Tunnel to serve the new Terminal 4. This routing lasted until 30 September 1989, when increased security at the airport closed the cargo tunnel to public bus services, and route 285 reverted to its former route.

On 29 September 1990, route 285 was taken over by single-deck Dennis Darts and withdrawn between Kingston and New Malden.

Upon being put up for tender, the route passed to London Buslines on 29 June 1996. Route 285 was included in the sale of London Buslines to First London.

When re-tendered, the route returned to London United on 30 June 2001. On the same day, night route N285 commenced on the same route, the 'N' prefix was later dropped, and route 285 then became a 24-hour service.

On 1 December 2001, Route T123, the dedicated Feltham station to Heathrow Central link operated by London United on behalf of South West Trains was withdrawn, and as a replacement route 285 was diverted off its main route via New Road to serve Feltham station. New Darts specially branded for the route were introduced, and the nearly new buses they replaced were transferred elsewhere.

Transdev London successfully re-tendered for the route with a new contract commencing on 28 June 2008 with new Alexander Dennis Enviro 200s introduced in September 2008.^[1] These do not carry any route branding.

On 27 June 2015, London United successfully retained the route and the route was converted back to a double-deck operation with new Volvo B5LH / Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 buses introduced.^[2]