By 1994 the route, now operated by Leaside Buses, was one of the busiest in London, with a peak vehicle requirement of 50 buses operating at a frequency of one bus every two minutes.[2]
In November 2009, route 253 was retained by incumbent operator Arriva London.[4] Upon being re-tendered, the route was retained by Arriva London with a new contract commencing on 6 June 2015.[5]
From October 2016, Arriva London began introducing a fleet of 32 New Routemasters to be on the route. The rollout of new vehicles was completed in December 2016.[6]
Current route
Route 253 operates via these primary locations:[7]