London Buses route 381

London Buses route 381 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Abellio London.

History
The 381 started life as the P11, following much of the same route, with only a few diversions. The P11 "Peckham Hopper" itself was a renumbering of the Peckham to Waterloo section of the 70/70A routes on 19 November 1988. The other sections covered by route P12 and new roads served by route P13, creating a new Peckham network of minibus routes, using Optare StarRider-bodied Mercedes-Benz 811D 26 seater minibuses. Those on the P11 were replaced in 1991 by new, larger, Dennis Darts, but these were still not big enough, and the P11 was eventually converted to double-deck using 9 Volvo Olympians and 5 Leyland Titans in 1995.

The P11 was renumbered 381 in September 1999, so that a night route N381 (running beyond Waterloo to Trafalgar Square via Westminster Bridge) could be added - rather than a potentially confusing NP11. After ten years London Central lost the contract to Travel London, who took over the route on 9 October 2004.

The route almost loops back on itself several times:
 * Between Bermondsey Station and Southwark Park Road, and between Rotherhithe Station and Canada Water Station, the route goes around the Rotherhithe peninsula.
 * Southbound the route has two different sections on Redriff Road, looping to Canada Water Station and the Surrey Quays shopping centre
 * There are two different sections on Rotherhithe New Road, with a loop to Southwark Park Road

In February 2008, the service gained an extra three buses to run between London Bridge and Canada Water, to replace the withdrawn route ELP. This is due to the East London Line's closure. Underground tickets are valid on this part of the route.

Current route

 * Peckham Bus Station
 * Bonamy Estate
 * Surrey Quays Station
 * Canada Water Station
 * Rotherhithe Station
 * Bermondsey Station
 * London Bridge Station
 * Southwark
 * County Hall