---
title: "Provision of bus service - Route 281/N281/681"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-07744d"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-07744d"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-07744d.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-07744d.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "LONDON BUS SERVICES LIMITED"
published: "2026-09-17"
---

# Provision of bus service - Route 281/N281/681

Buyer: LONDON BUS SERVICES LIMITED  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-07744d

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## Summary

London Bus Services Limited, part of Transport for London’s bus network, procured the operation of bus routes 281, N281 and 681. The requirement is a public road passenger transport service, covering the planned provision of the routes rather than the purchase of vehicles or equipment. The service is associated with London, where the buyer and selected supplier are based. The requirement was arranged as a single service package for the routes and was intended to support regular public bus operations. The relevant category is public road transport services (CPV 60112000). London United is identified as the supplier selected for the requirement, indicating that the service is delivered by an established commercial bus operator rather than a goods or construction contractor.

The procurement is complete and has been awarded through a selective negotiated procedure with a prior call for competition, using price as the stated award criterion. London United was selected for the route package after one bid was recorded. The award is active and the contract was signed on 13 August 2026. Its value is £11,781,816. The original requirement described a seven-year bus service agreement and included an option for the contracting entity to extend the term at its discretion. The tender record marks the lot as cancelled, while the published award and contract are active; this should be checked against the contractual position. The process was covered by the Government Procurement Agreement.

This procurement demonstrates demand from London Bus Services Limited for an operator capable of running multiple established public bus routes as one service package. A credible future competitor would need operational capacity across routes 281, N281 and 681, with the systems, vehicles, drivers, scheduling and control arrangements needed to deliver reliable scheduled passenger services. The selected supplier was identified as a large organisation, and the recorded competition attracted one bid, suggesting that scale and the ability to assume responsibility for the whole route package were commercially significant. Suppliers with proven urban bus operations, robust mobilisation and service-management capability would be better placed than firms offering transport support without direct route-operating capacity.

## Notice

QC100104

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Provision of bus service route 281/N281/681 for 7 years. Please note, costs posted on Find a Tender Service sometimes differ from those on the internet, this is due to post award negotiation.

Options: Term of the agreement can be extended at the discretion of the contracting entity.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/088169-2026 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Selective |
| Procurement method details | Negotiated procedure with prior call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 17 Sep 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £11,781,816 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | LONDON BUS SERVICES LIMITED |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Postcode area | East London |
| Postcode | E20 1JN |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI4 Inner London - East |
| ITL 3 | TLI41 Hackney and Newham |
| Local authority | Newham |
| Electoral ward | Stratford Olympic Park |
| Westminster constituency | Stratford and Bow |
| Delivery location | TLI London |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | London United |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 60 - Transport services (excl. Waste transport)

### Codes

- 60112000 - Public road transport services

## Release History

- 17 Sep 2026 at 12:36 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/088169-2026

## Notice URLs

- http://www.tfl.gov.uk
- https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:414342-2019:TEXT:EN:HTML

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-07744d. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-07744d.json.