In June 1998, National Express commenced operating routes C1 and 211 under the Travel London brand, using the same symbol and typeface as sister brand Travel West Midlands. In August 2000 National Express sold the business to Limebourne, who in July 2001 sold out to Connex. In February 2004, National Express repurchased the business.[2] Further expansion in 2005 saw the purchases of the London bus operations of Tellings-Golden Miller with a depot in Byfleet and various Surrey County Council contracts.[3]
Travel London operated contracts on behalf of Transport for London, Surrey County Council, and Kingston University. Operations were split between three registered companies; Travel London Limited,[4] Travel London (West) Limited,[5] and Travel London (Middlesex) Limited.[6] The Surrey routes were rebranded as Travel Surrey in September 2007.
In November 2007, National Express announced plans to re-brand all of their operations under a new unified National Express identity.[7] Travel London was to be rebranded as National Express London however this was shelved and all bus operations retained their existing identities.
Travel London Limited[4] operated garages at Beddington Cross, Queenstown (Battersea) and Walworth Road, operating 66, 82 and 98 buses respectively (246 in total) when the company was renamed.
Beddington Cross operated London Buses routes 3, 152, 157, 434, G1, P13, and night route N3, and was opened by Connex in 2000 to house their newly won route 3.
Queenstown operated routes 35, 156, 211, 452, C3, 24-hour route 344 and night route N35.
Originally a site acquired by the London County Council for its electric trams, it was known as Camberwell Tram depot until 1950 when its name was changed to Walworth with the arrival of buses. This was to avoid confusion with Camberwell Garage located opposite the Walworth garage. Major rebuilding took place during the 1950s to repair bomb damage from the World War II during which time some buses were worked out of Camberwell.
In the late 1960s the garage assumed operation of the Red Arrow routes with MBAs and later LSs until its closure in 1985. Following the closure of the Victoria and Ash Grove garages, from 1987 Walworth operated the Red Arrow routes for a short time until the Waterloo garage was ready.
During the early 1990s the garage once again re-opened, this time for the Londonlinks operation of routes 78 and 176. The Cowie Group undertook a major restructure a few years later which once again saw closure of Walworth garage in 1997. The garage was owned by the Go-Ahead Group and they leased it out.
The garage lay dormant for the next six years until late 2003 when work started on refurbishing the garage for Travel London, who needed more garage space after some contract wins including routes 381, 452 and N381.[10][11]
Travel London won the contract for route 407, starting from 31 October 2009. This was used as the launch of the new Abellio name.[1]
Travel London (West) Limited[5] operated the garages at Fulwell and Byfleet, the Byfleet depot being rebranded Travel Surrey in September 2007. Respectively, the depots operated approximately 94 and 50 buses (146 in total). Fulwell operated London Buses routes 235, 481, 490, H20, H25, H26, R68 and R70. Byfleet operated Surrey County Council tendered routes 218, 400, 426, 438, 441, 446, 451, 461, 471, 472, 513, 514, 515, 515A, 555, 557, 564, 566, 567, 570, 571, 572, 574, 637, 662, 663 and 690. Fulwell garage also operated Kingston University routes KU1, KU2, and KU3, until the contract was lost to Tellings-Golden Miller in 2009.
