[2] Upon being re-tendered, on 25 June 2011 the route passed to First London's Lea Interchange garage with Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TLs.

[10] On 27 August 2022, route 26 was included in the sale of HCT Group's ‘red bus’ operations to Stagecoach London.

[11] On 23 November 2022, it was announced that a proposed rerouting of route 26 at Aldwych to serve Victoria instead of Waterloo would be going ahead following a consultation; it was implemented on 29 April 2023.

[12][13] On 21 July 2005, would-be bomber Muktar Said Ibrahim attempted to explode a device contained in his rucksack on a number 26 bus on Hackney Road in Haggerston.

A small explosion on the top deck caused the vehicle's windows to explode, but the device did not detonate as intended and there was no significant damage.