Transport for London

Not to be confused with Transport in London.

Transport for London (TfL) is an organisation that runs the public transport network in London. It is held with direct responsibility to the mayor of London.

Transport for London

Company type	Local Government body
Founded	Greater London Authority Act 1999
Headquarters	Greater London
Key people	Mayor of London / GLA
Parent	Greater London Authority
Website	tfl.gov.uk

Numbering of bus routes

Historic numbering

Historically, bus routes were grouped by the type of service that they provided.

The 1924 London Traffic Act used the Bassom Scheme. It was named after A.E. Bassom of the Metropolitan Police who made it. Changing and short lines used letter suffixes. Also, the numbers were grouped by the company that operated the route.

The numbering was changed in 1934 after London Transport was formed.

Route Number	Former type of Service
1–199	"Central Area" red double-decker services
200–289	"Central Area" red single-decker services
290–299	"Central Area" night routes
300–399	"Country Area" north of the River Thames (rural services were operated by London Country Bus Services after 1970)
400–499	"Country Area" south of the River Thames
500–699	Trolleybuses
701–799	Green Line Coaches
800–899	"Country Area New Towns" routes

Current classification

Route Number	Type of Service
1–599	Day routes, including 24-hour services
600–699	School services, normally operating only one return journey per day*
700–899	Regional and national coach services
900–999	Three mobility services within TfL
N-prefixed routes	Night routes
X-prefixed routes	Express routes
Other letter-prefixed routes	Local day routes, including 24-hour services, with the letter(s) denoting a key area the bus travels through.

*Except 607, which is a normal daytime route

†	Transport for London services that cross the Greater London boundary. Standard ticketing applies throughout.

Other websites

• Transport for London website