List of bus routes in London
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Key Takeaways
- This is a list of Transport for London (TfL) contracted bus routes in London, England, as well as non-TfL bus routes that enter Greater London (except coaches).
- Some non-TfL bus routes enter Greater London, and operate with a London Service Permit provided by TfL.
- Classification of route numbers In Victorian times, people who took the bus would recognise the owner and the route of an omnibus (Latin for 'for all') only by its livery and its line name, with painted signs on the sides showing the two termini to indicate the route.
- 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.
This is a list of Transport for London (TfL) contracted bus routes in London, England, as well as non-TfL bus routes that enter Greater London (except coaches).
TfL bus routes in London are operated by 7 operators. Those operators are: Arriva London, Go-Ahead London (London Central, London General, Docklands Buses and Blue Triangle), Metroline, First Bus London (London Sovereign, London United and London Transit), Stagecoach London (East London, Selkent, Thameside and Lea Interchange Bus Company), Transport UK London Bus and Uno.
Some non-TfL bus routes enter Greater London, and operate with a London Service Permit provided by TfL. Therefore, those routes are shown at TfL bus stops. Those non-TfL operators are: Arriva Herts & Essex, Carlone Limited, Carousel Buses, Diamond South East, Falcon Buses, First Berkshire & The Thames Valley, Go-Coach, Kent Country, Metrobus, NIBS Buses, Reading Buses, Red Eagle, Red Rose Travel, Reptons Coaches, Sullivan Buses, Thames Valley Buses, Uno and White Bus Services.
Classification of route numbers
In Victorian times, people who took the bus would recognise the owner and the route of an omnibus (Latin for 'for all') only by its livery and its 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 routes 1 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.
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