Running between Walthamstow and Canning Town bus stations, it is operated by Go-Ahead London.

Introduced in February 1960 to replace Trolleybus route 669 Stratford to North Woolwich Ferry, Route 69 was extended in April 1960 from Stratford to Chingford Mount and, as part of London Transport's 'Reshaping' plan in 1968, further extended to Chingford Station.

Upon the sale of London Buses' East London subsidiary in 1994, the route passed to Stagecoach, then operating between Walthamstow bus station and North Woolwich.

[1] On 17 December 2005, it was withdrawn between London City Airport and Canning Town station as part of a series of changes in connection with the Docklands Light Railway being extended.

[3] In October 2015, three Alexander Dennis Enviro400VE MMCs with inductive wireless charging technology, which allows its batteries to receive a charging boost when stationary at specially equipped bus stops entered service on route 69.