List of bus routes in London



This is a list of Transport for London (TfL) contracted bus routes in London, United Kingdom, as well as commercial services that enter the Greater London area (except coaches). The major operators in the London area are Go-Ahead London, Arriva London, Metroline and Stagecoach London. Other operators in London are London United, Abellio London, Tower Transit, Metrobus, Arriva Shires & Essex, Arriva Southern Counties, London Sovereign, Quality Line, Abellio Surrey, CT Plus, First Berkshire & The Thames Valley, Uno, Carousel Buses, TWH Bus & Coach, Blue Triangle, Green Line Coaches, Sullivan Buses and Imperial Buses.

There are also several operators based outside London that run services either wholly or partly within the area. These services connect London with parts of Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

Classification of route numbers
In Victorian times, passengers could only recognise the buses of different fleets and routes by the coaches' distinctive livery colours and line name, with painted signs on the sides showing the two termini to indicate the route. Then, in 1906, George Samuel Dicks of the London Motor Omnibus Company decided that, as the line name 'Vanguard' had proved to be very popular, he would name all lines 'Vanguard' and number the company's five different routes 1 through to 5. Other operators soon saw the advantage, in that a unique route number was easier for the travelling public to remember, and so the practice of using route numbers soon spread.

Historic classification
Historically, bus routes run by London Transport were grouped by the type of service that they provided.

The 1924 London Traffic Act imposed a numbering scheme known as the Bassom Scheme, named after Chief Constable A.E. Bassom of the Metropolitan Police who devised it. Variant and short workings used letter suffixes. The numbers reflected the company that operated the route.

The numbering was revised in 1934 after London Transport was formed:

List of routes
All routes operate in both directions unless detailed.

600–699
The majority of routes in this sequence are run for schools to reduce overcrowding on regular bus services. Their timetables are subject to short notice alteration and re-routing in accordance with school requirements. A notable exception is route 607, which is a limited stop service operating in West London, whose number is "inherited" from the period (15 November 1936 – 8 November 1960), when this route was served by trolleybuses.

900–999
These are Mobility Bus Routes. These routes provide a once a week return journey to a local shopping centre where there is no alternative route in the main bus network. The prevalence of low-floor buses across London has reduced somewhat the number of Mobility Bus services.

Night only routes (N-prefixed)
Night bus routes are often related to the day numerical equivalent, normally running the same route but with an extension at either end of the service. This is normally to provide a night service to destinations served by tube or train during the day.

However, in a few cases, services have a route number that has no relation to its daytime equivalent, such as the N5, which operates in a different part of London to the day route 5.

There are also 24-hour routes. Route 65 is classed as a 24-hour service, but unusually has an extension to its night service, rather than the night service being designated N65.

Other routes within the London area
These bus routes are operated with a London Service Permit issued by Transport for London, and are generally routes from towns just outside the Greater London boundary to destinations within. The exceptions are the 812, MB1 and 938, which run entirely within the boundary. Another exception is the 724, which although run by a coach company, it is a bus route.

Coach services are not included in this list.

Former routes
This list shows some old routes that used to operate but do not exist anymore.