List of bus routes in London

In Victorian times, people who took the bus would recognise the owner and the route of an omnibus (Latin: "for everyone") 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 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.^[1]

Historic classification

Bus routes run by London Transport were grouped as follows.

The London Traffic Act 1924 imposed numbering known as the Bassom Scheme, named after Superintendent (later Chief Constable) Arthur Ernest Bassom of the Metropolitan Police who devised it. For many decades, variant and short workings used letter suffixes (e.g. "77B"). The numbers reflected the company that operated the route.

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

Current classification

All routes operate in both directions unless detailed.

1–99

100–199

200–299

300–399

400–499

500–599

600–699

Route numbers from 600 to 699 are used for school services, with the majority of them running one return journey on each weekday during peak times and during school term time.^[116]

900–999

Route numbers from 900 to 999 represent mobility buses; these mostly provide a once-a-week return journey to a local shopping centre from relatively low-density neighbourhoods where there is no alternative route in the main bus network. The number of mobility buses routes has declined over the past few years because low-floor and wheelchair-accessible buses run on all London Buses routes.

Letter prefixes

East London Transit routes (EL-prefixed)

Superloop routes (SL-prefixed)

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.^[140]

However, there are a few N-prefixed route numbers that have no relation to their daytime equivalents: the N5, N20, and N97 all operate in a different part of London to their respective day routes. Also, the N550 and N551 (which provide night service on parts of the DLR network), and the N271 (whose daytime service was withdrawn on 4 February 2023) have no corresponding daytime routes.^[140]

There are also 24-hour routes, which run day and night but usually with a lower frequency during the night hours. The vast majority run the same route at all times. With the introduction of the Night Tube, some day routes have been extended to run during Friday and Saturday nights to serve the stations.

These bus routes are not contracted to TfL and are therefore not 'London Buses', all but three run from villages and towns outside Greater London to destinations within. They are painted in a colour chosen by the operator, so are not necessarily red like London Buses, and most of them do not accept Oyster cards. These routes are operated with a London Service Permit issued by TfL so they are recognised by TfL bus maps and appear on TfL bus stops.^[141]