Transport for London

local government body responsible for the transport system in Greater London

Transport for London (TfL) is an organisation that runs the public transport network in London. It is held with direct responsibility to the mayor of London.

Transport for London
Company typeLocal Government body
FoundedGreater London Authority Act 1999
HeadquartersGreater London
Key people
Mayor of London / GLA
ParentGreater London Authority Edit this on Wikidata
Websitetfl.gov.uk

Numbering of bus routes

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Historic numbering

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Historically, bus routes were grouped by the type of service that they provided.

The 1924 London Traffic Act used the Bassom Scheme. It was named after A.E. Bassom of the Metropolitan Police who made it. Changing and short lines used letter suffixes. Also, the numbers were grouped by the company that operated the route.

The numbering was changed in 1934 after London Transport was formed.[1]

Route Number Former type of Service
1–199 "Central Area" red double-decker services
200–289 "Central Area" red single-decker services
290–299 "Central Area" night routes
300–399 "Country Area" north of the River Thames (rural services were operated by London Country Bus Services after 1970)
400–499 "Country Area" south of the River Thames
500–699 Trolleybuses
701–799 Green Line Coaches
800–899 "Country Area New Towns" routes

Current classification

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Route Number Type of Service
1–599 Day routes, including 24-hour services
600–699 School services, normally operating only one return journey per day*
700–899 Regional and national coach services
900–999 Three mobility services within TfL
N-prefixed routes Night routes
X-prefixed routes Express routes
Other letter-prefixed routes Local day routes, including 24-hour services, with the letter(s) denoting a key area the bus travels through.

*Except 607, which is a normal daytime route

Transport for London services that cross the Greater London boundary.
Standard ticketing applies throughout.

References

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  1. "How are bus routes (especially London bus routes) numbered?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2 July 2017.

Other websites

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Major Public Transport Companies in the United Kingdom
Arriva Group - ComfortDelGro Group - FirstGroup
Go-Ahead Group - National Express Group
Stagecoach Group - Transdev Group
Translink (Northern Ireland) - Veolia Transportation
See also:
Transport for London - Passenger Transport Executive
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport