How do London buses get their numbers?

Is it just us, or does everyone in London feel an emotional affinity towards one particular bus number? Whether it’s the 37 from Peckham to Putney Heath, the 29 from Trafalgar Square to Wood Green or the D3 from Old Ford Road to Bethnal Green, it’s easy to develop a soft spot for the big red vehicles that get us safely (and cheaply) from one part of a city to another. 

But have you ever wondered how your favourite bus route got its digits? Well, there’s actually not much of a chronological or geographical order to them.

London’s bus routes first started being numbered in 1906. Before that, they had line names, kind of like the tube. Bus operators realised that names like ‘Vanguard’ were popular and added numbers to better distinguish between routes and help the public remember them better. 

There wasn’t an official numbering system in place until 1924 with the introduction of the Bassom Scheme. Double-decker bus routes were numbered 1 to 199, single-decker routes from 200 and trolleybuses from 500. 

These days numbers 1 to 599 are attached to everyday routes, 600 to 699 denote school day services and 700 to 899 are for regional and national coach services. 

Some routes, such as the 24 from Pimlico to Hampstead Heath, have the exact same numbers as their predecessors from back when Londoners got around via horse-drawn carriages. Others take their numbers from the old trolleybuses or trams that used to follow the same or a similar route. 

Letters began to be introduced in 1968 when numbers were starting to run out. The letters correspond to the place that the route mostly serves. For example, the P in P4, P5 and P13 stands for Peckham and E represents Ealing in the case of the E1 and E11. Of course, the letter N indicates a night bus and SL stands for Superloop. 

In response to an email asking about its bus numbering system in 2009, a TfL spokesperson said: ‘Now, with over 700 routes within Greater London alone, it is necessary for us to maintain this system. When we introduce a new route - or make alterations to an existing route by splitting it - the last digit or digits of the historic “parent” route are used wherever possible, so that passengers might associate the incoming route with its predecessor.’

So, there you have it – the answer to a question you’ve always wondered but never thought to ask. You’re welcome! 

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