List of bus garages in London explained

Every garage operating services that form part of the London bus network has a one or two letter garage code. Such codes are not only for garages operating Transport for London contracts, but also to those operating commercial bus services under London bus agreements. There is also a code for Tramlink. The codes are used internally by London Buses, for administrative purposes.

History

Many of the codes are long-established, going back to London Buses Limited (LBL) (and in many cases earlier) days, and are well known among staff and enthusiasts. There is usually some sort of logic to the code allocated. In the early part of the 20th century, the London General Omnibus Company allocated its garages codes by going through the alphabet — initially A, B, C, etc.; and then AA, AB, AC, etc. Codes allocated since often reflect the geographical name of the garage (e.g. Fulwell, Alperton), New Cross (NX).) although some have since been renamed (HT, Holloway, was called Highgate).^{[1] [2]}

Since the start of tendering in 1985, some codes have also reflected the name of the owning company, examples being AH (Armchair, Brentford), EL (Eastern National, Chelmsford), WI (Wings, Uxbridge), BE (Blue Triangle, Rainham). Such company names may not still be in use today: DX (Arriva London North East, Barking) originates from Dix Travel, which was absorbed into Grey-Green, becoming its Dagenham operation, and subsequently relocated to Barking, and now absorbed by Arriva London. Similarly BT (Sovereign, Edgware) comes from BTS, which was subsequently bought out by Sovereign, and Hounslow Heath code WK originates from Westlink. The official code FR for Metrobus's Crayford base is especially obscure, referring to the original owner, one Chris Freeman of Freeman's Coaches, which was absorbed into Crystals, which subsequently sold out to Tellings-Golden Miller in 2003, who then sold it on to Metrobus in 2005.^[3]

In several cases (TB/TC/TL and QB) the code reflects both the location (Bromley/Croydon/Lewisham (Catford), Battersea) and the original owning company (Tilling, Q-Drive). For example TB is Tilling Bromley, QB is Q-Drive Battersea.^[3]

Some garage codes have been used for more than one garage over the years, sometimes when an entire garage has moved such as at Peckham (PM), and sometimes when a code has been dormant for some years and then been reused. Some premises have had different codes at different times in their life. Three garages (Ash Grove, Edgware and Fulwell) have two codes, one for each operator.^{[2] [3]}

During the period of operation by London Transport and its predecessors, indeed back to the earliest motor buses in the early 20th century, the garage code was clearly carried on both sides of the vehicle. The code was usually in the form of a metal (later plastic) stencil plate carried in a holder beside the running duty number plate. Latterly, the garage codes took the form of painted stencils or adhesive characters. In the post London Transport/ London Buses period, the display of garage codes is no longer universal and many vehicles carry no visible identification.^[3]

There are a number of historical anomalies with the allocation of codes. When Ash Grove garage opened in 1981, it was coded AG by London Transport. As an operational garage that has opened and closed several times over the years, it now carries the code HK, formerly the code of the long closed Hendon garage and the AG code is currently unused.

Current codes

A

Code	Garage	Operator	London Buses Code	Opened	Closed	Picture	Reference
A	Sutton	London General	A	1924			[4]
AC	Willesden	Metroline	AC	1912
AD	Palmers Green	Arriva London	AD	1912
AE	Ash Grove	Kentish Bus (1994-98) East Thames Buses (2000-05) HCT Group (2001-2022) Arriva London (2005-2024) East London (from 2022)	AE	1981			[5]
AF	Putney	London General	AF	1888 (horsebus)1912 (motorbus)
AH	Brentford	Armchair (1999-2006) Metroline (from 2006)	AH	1999
AL	Merton	London General	AL	1913
AR	Tottenham	Arriva London	AR	1913
AV	Hounslow	London United	AV	1913
AW	Walthamstow Avenue	East London	AW	2016			[6]

B

Code	Garage	Operator	London Buses Code	Opened	Closed	Picture	Reference
BC	Beddington	Transport UK London Bus	BC	1999			[7]
BK	Barking	East London	BK	1924
BN	Brixton	Arriva London	BN	1892 (cable trams)1906 (trams)1951 (buses)
BT	Edgware	London Sovereign	BT	1925
BW	Bow	East London	BW	1908 (trams)1939 (trolley buses)1959 (buses)
BX	Bexleyheath	London Central	BX	1935

C

Code	Garage	Operator	London Buses Code	Opened	Closed	Picture	Reference
C	Croydon	London General	C	2005
CP	Parr Road	London Sovereign	BT	2018
CT	Clapton	Arriva London	CT

D

Code	Garage	Operator	London Buses Code	Opened	Closed	Picture	Reference
DT	Dartford	Arriva London	DT	1933 (original)19 January 1986	18 January 1986 (original)		[8]
DS	Henley Road	Blue Triangle	DS	2021			[9]
DX	Barking	Grey-Green (1991-98)Arriva London (from 1998)	DX	1991			[10]

E

Code	Garage	Operator	London Buses Code	Opened	Closed	Picture	Reference
E	Enfield	Arriva London	E	1927
EC	Edmonton	Arriva London	EC	1997
EW	Edgware	Metroline	EW	1925

G

Code	Garage	Operator	London Buses Code	Opened	Closed	Picture	Reference
G	Greenford	First London (1997-2013) Ealing Community Transport (2003-09) Metroline (from 2013)	G	1993
GM	Goat Road	London General	GM	2023
GW	Armstrong Way	Transport UK London Bus	GW	2019
GY	Grays			1935 (original)1993	1993 (original)

H

Code	Garage	Operator	London Buses Code	Opened	Closed	Picture	Reference
HD	Harrow Weald	Metroline	HD	1930
HK	Ash Grove	East London	HK	1981
HT	Holloway	Metroline	HT	1907 (trams)1938 (trolleybuses)1961 (buses)
HZ	Hayes	Metroline	HZ	2005	2017

M

Code	Garage	Operator	London Buses Code	Opened	Closed	Picture	Reference
MB	Orpington	London General	MB
MG	Morden Wharf	London Central	MG	2017

N

Code	Garage	Operator	London Buses Code	Opened	Closed	Picture	Reference
N	Norwood	Arriva London	N	1909
NP	Northumberland Park	Capital Citybus (1991-7) First London (1997-2012) London General (from 2012)	NP	1991
NS	Romford	East London	NS	1953
NX	New Cross	London Central	NX	1906 (trams)1962 (buses)

P

Code	Garage	Operator	London Buses Code	Opened	Closed	Picture	Reference
PA	Perivale West	Metroline	PA		2022
PB	Potters Bar	Metroline	PB	1930			[12]
PD	Plumstead	Selkent	PD	1981			[13]
PF	Purfleet	EnsignBus
RP	Park Royal	London United	RP	2007
PL	Waterside Way	London General	PL	2003	2023		[14]
PM	Peckham	London Central	PM	1905			[15]
PV	Perivale	Metroline	PV				[16]

Q

Code	Garage	Operator	London Buses Code	Opened	Closed	Picture	Reference
Q	Camberwell	London Central		1919
QB	Battersea	Transport UK London Bus		1990s

R

Code	Garage	Operator	London Buses Code	Opened	Closed	Picture	Reference
RA	Waterloo	London General	RA	1951			[17]
RM	Rainham	Thameside	RM	2007
RR	River Road	Blue Triangle	RR	2016			[18] [19]

S

Code	Garage	Operator	London Buses Code	Opened	Closed	Picture	Reference
S	Shepherd's Bush	London United	S	1906
SD	Stratford	East London	SD	1992	2008
SF	Stamford Hill	Arriva London	SF	2024
SI	Silvertown	Docklands Buses	SI
SM	South Mimms	Sullivan Buses	SN	1998
SO	Harrow	London Sovereign	SO	1994
SW	Stockwell	London General	SW	1952

T

Code	Garage	Operator	London Buses Code	Opened	Closed	Picture	Reference
T	Leyton	East London	T	1912
TB	Bromley	Selkent	TB	1924
TC	Croydon	Arriva London	TC	1916
TF	Twickenham	Transport UK London Bus	TF	1904 (tram) 1931 (trolleybus) 1962 (bus)
TH	Thornton Heath	Arriva London	TH	1879 (horse tramway)1901 (tram)1951 (bus)
TK	Tramlink	Tramlink	TK	2000
TL	Catford	Selkent	TL	1914
TP	Thorpe Park	Sullivan Buses	TP
TV	Tolworth	London United	TV	1990s

W

Code	Garage	Operator	London Buses Code	Opened	Closed	Picture	Reference
W	Cricklewood	Metroline	W
WD	Wandsworth	Tootbus London	WD	1902 (tram)1937 (trolleybus)1950 (bus)
WH	West Ham	East London	WH	2009
WJ	Willesden Junction	Metroline	WJ
WK	Hounslow Heath	London United	WK
WL	Walworth	Transport UK London Bus	WL	1905 (tram)1951 (bus)			[20]
WN	Wood Green	Arriva London	WN	1900s (tram)1930s (trolleybus)1960 (bus)
WS	Hayes	Abellio London	WS		2021

Country Area

Code	Garage	Operator	London Buses Code	Opened	Closed	Picture	Reference
BF	Byfleet	Travel Surrey (2006-9) Abellio Surrey (2009-18) Falcon Buses (from 2018)	TG				[21]
CY	Crawley	Metrobus	MY
GY	Grays			1935 (original)1993	1993 (original)
HF	Hatfield	Uno	UB	2003
HH	Hemel Hempstead	Arriva Shires & Essex		1935 (original)1995	1995 (original)
HW	High Wycombe	Arriva Shires & Essex		1929 (original)	1977 (original)
MB	Orpington	Metrobus	MB
TW	Tunbridge Wells	Arriva Southern Counties	TS	1937 (original)27 May 2018	2018 (original)		[22] [23]

See also

• List of London bus and coach stations

External links

• Transport for London
• London Bus Garages
• LT Bus Garage Codes
• IAN'S BUS STOP

Notes and References

1. Book: Joyce, James. London Transport Bus Garages Since 1948. 1988. Ian Allan Publishing. 0711018022.
2. Book: London Bus Garages and Allocations. 2014. Crecy Publishing. 978-1908347220. 3/4.
3. Book: Carr, Ken. The London Bus Guide. September 2014. Visions International Entertainment. 978-0-9570058-6-0. 4. Boreham. 111.
4. Web site: May 2015 . Research Guide No 34: London Transport Bus Garages and Depots . Transport for London . TfL Corporate Archives.
5. Lyons . Mark . 2019 . Ash Grove . London Bus (BUSES) . Key Publishing.
6. Web site: CT Plus opens new Walthamstow garage . 2 December 2016 . Coach & Bus Week. 13 November 2021.
7. Web site: Beddington Cross Garage [BC] ]. 12 June 2012 . 14 November 2021 . The Circle of London.
8. Web site: Last bus garage open day - Dartford . 21 August 2014 . 13 November 2021 . Transport for London.
9. Web site: Henley Road garage opens. 9 June 2021. 21 January 2022. Buses.
10. Web site: Cooke. Phoebe. Barking bus driver shortlisted for UK Bus Awards. 2020-07-16. Barking & Dagenham Post. 18 October 2016. en.
11. Book: Woodriff, Bryan . Fulwell: Home to Trams, Trolleys and Buses . Middleton Press . 2003 . 1-904474-11-X .
12. Web site: Welcome to Potters Bar garage . Bus & Coach Buyer . 16 July 2015 . 14 November 2021.
13. Web site: Plumstead bus garage open day is just the ticket for cancer charity . 853 London . 18 September 2021 . 14 November 2021.
14. Web site: Waterside Way Bus Garage (PL) . LS Photography . 19 February 2021 . 14 November 2021.
15. Web site: Bull Yard and Peckham Bus Garage . The Peckham Society . 19 August 2016 . 14 November 2021.
16. Web site: Grand Opening Night at Perivale (PV) . London Connected . 6 August 2016 . 14 November 2021.
17. Web site: London's low-carbon electric bus garage . Dalrymple . Will . Transport Engineer . 8 May 2018 . 14 November 2021.
18. July 2016 . Go Ahead's 7m new Barking garage . 25 . Buses . Key Publishing.
19. August 2016 . Short Hops . 27 . Buses . Key Publishing.
20. Web site: 24 February 2005 . Green light for new energy efficient bus infrastructure . 2023-03-04 . Transport for London . en-GB.
21. Web site: Goodbye to Abellio Surrey, hello to Falcon Flagship . Hants & Surrey Bus Blog . 16 September 2018 . 13 November 2021.
22. Web site: Arriva's Tunbridge Wells garage closes its doors . Coach & Bus Week . 24 October 2017 . 14 November 2021.
23. Web site: Opening date confirmed for Arriva's new Tunbridge Wells bus hub . https://web.archive.org/web/20211114131104/https://www.timeslocalnews.co.uk/business/opening-date-confirmed-for-arrivas-new-tunbridge-wells-bus-hub . 2021-11-14 . Tunbridge Wells Times. 14 February 2018 . 14 November 2021.