London Bus Garage Codes

Around 1913, the London General Omnibus Company introduced a series of letter codes to identify the garage to which the vehicle belonged. Initially, a single letter code was used, but as expansion took place two-letter codes were introduced.

This coding system continued in use through the London Transport era and some of the privatised portions still use these codes today.

Many of the codes have quite logical meanings, but many seem not to. In actual fact there was a method applied - after the single-letter codes had been consumed, the codes AB to AV were utilised, after which codes that related to the name were applied. Some of the latter may seem obscure, though.

Country area garage codes are shown in green.

Garage codes were originally displayed on the vehicles on a removable metal plate which also showed the running (or duty) number. These were superseded in 1928 by separate aluminium cut-out stencils for garage code and running number. Around 1960, the use of garage plates was officially discontinued and the codes painted on the vehicle - although the plates were still used for temporary loans etc.

The notes made here are based on my scribblings of the 1960's and 1970's, hence the lack of more recent information such as closure dates. This data will be added in due course - any help with this would be appreciated. Many thanks to all who have provided additional information.

However, I would make it clear that it is not my intention to cover codes introduced after the break-up of London Transport into smaller units in connection with privatisation.

Code	Name	Address	Opened	Closed	Comments
A	Albany Street	Albany Street	1905	1916	Originally Vanguard - to LGOC 1908
A	Sutton	Bushey Rd	1924
B	Battersea	Hester Rd	1906	1985	Originally London Road Car. - to LGOC 1908 Demolished 2000
C	Athol Street (Poplar)	Athol St	1907	1961
D	Dalston	Shrubland Rd	by 1908	1981	Originally Pilot, then Vanguard - to LGOC 1908 Demolished
E	Acton			1925
E	Enfield	Southbury Rd	1927		Used by London Public until 1929 Also known as Ponders End
F	Fulham		?	by 1920
F	Farm Lane				see Y
F	Putney Bridge	High St	?	1958	Originally National - to LGOC 1920
G	Forest Gate	Green St	1906	1960	Originally Great Eastern - to LGOC 1911 Extanct 2003
H	Hackney	Well St	1911	1981	Demolished
J	Holloway	Holloway Rd	1870	1971	Originally LGOC stables Subsequently used as bonded warehouse, now a housing estate
K	Kilburn			by 1922	Originally Great Eastern - to LGOC 1911
K	Kingston	Richmond Rd	1922	1999?	Not used 1984 to ???? Demolished 2000
L	Lots Road		1912		Originally Metropolitan Steam Omnibus - to LGOC 1915 but not used operationally
L	Loughton	Church Hill	1923	1953	Subsequently used as bakery and DIY store, still stands
L	Loughton	Church Hill	1953	1986	Demolished
M	Mortlake	Avondale Rd	1901	1982	Originally stables, motor bus from 1906 Demolished
N	Norwood	Knights Hill	1909
P	Old Kent Road	Bowles Rd	1874		Originally London Tramways tram depot, later LCC tram depot, Vanguard (motor buses) - to LGOC 1908
Q	Camberwell	Camberwell New Rd	1914		Not used 1914 to 1919.
R	Hammersmith	Normand Rd		1913
R	Hammersmith	Caroline St	1913	1983	Renamed Riverside 1950 Demolished and replaced by bus station
S	Shepherds Bush	Wells Rd	1906	1923	Originally Vanguard - to LGOC 1908 Not used 1914 to 1920
S	Shepherds Bush	Wells Road	1923
T	Leyton	Leyton Grn		1912	Originally Great Eastern - to LGOC 1911
T	Leyton	Leyton Grn	1912
U	Upton Park	Redclyffe Rd	1907		Originally London Road Car - to LGOC 1908 Not used 1915 to 1919
V	Turnham Green	Belmont Rd	1911	1980	Subsequently used as vehicle store
V	Chiswick	High Road	1901		Originally London United tram depot, disused from c1930, except: Motor bus 1935 to 1936 during rebuilding of AF Used for BEA vehicles 1966 to 1978 Re-opened (named Stamford Brook) 1980, adopting code V
W	Dollis Hill	Edgware Rd	1905		Renamed Cricklewood
X	Middle Row (North Kensington)	Conlan St	1910	1981
X	Westbourne Park	Great Western Rd	1981
Y	Farm Lane (Fulham)		1890	1914	Originally London Road Car stables, motor bus from 1904 - to LGOC 1908 Given new code of F 1912 Later used as LPTB laboratory There is a building adjacent to Seagrave Road which may be the original garage.
AB	Twickenham	Cambridge Rd	1912	1970	Demolished
AC	Willesden	High Rd	1912
AD	Palmers Green	Regents Ave	1912
AE	Hendon	The Burroughs	1913	1987	Demolished
AF	Chelverton Road (Putney)	Chelverton Rd	1912
AG	Ash Grove	Ash Grove	1981	?
AH	Nunhead	Nunhead La	1912	1954	National Steam Car - to LGOC 1920 Still standing - listed building
AK	Streatham	High Rd	1913	1996	Now used as indoor go-kart race track
AL	Merton	High St	1913
AM	Plumstead	Wickham La	1913	1981	Not used 1914 to 1919 Demolished and Great Mills DIY store now occupies the site.
AM	Amersham	Broadway			Recoded MA Demolished, although part of adjacent Amersham & District garage still stands in use for car servicing and repairs.
AN	Catford		1913		Not used 1914 to 1920 Initially used by Thomas Tilling from 1920 as replacement for their Lewisham depot TL stands for Tilling Lewisham
AQ	Camden Town	Rochester Mews		1933	Originally British Automobile Traction - to LGOC 1913
AP	Seven Kings	High Rd	1913
AR	Tottenham	Philip La	1913		Not used 1914 to 1919
AT					Currently in use by Centrewest for the former Tram Depot at Acton.
AV	Hounslow		1913	1954	Not used 1915 to 1919
AV	Hounslow	London Rd	1954
AW	Abbey Wood	Abbey Wood Rd	1910	1981	Originally LCC tram depot - used as bus depot from 1954. Demolished in the early 1990s after serving as a warehouse and, latterly, a go-kart track. Housing now occupies the site.
BK	Barking	Longbridge Rd	1924
BN	Brixton	Streatham Hill	1953
BP	Brookmans Park		?	?
BS	Bishops Stortford		?	?
BW	Bow	Fairfield Rd	1908		Originally tram depot, trolleybus from 1938, motor bus from 1959
BX	Bexleyheath	Erith Rd	1935	1986	Originally trolleybus depot, motor bus from 1959 Not used 1986 to 1988?
CA	Clapham	High St	1910	1987	Originally LCC tram depot, motor bus from 1951 Closed 1958 to 1981 and used as museum Demolished
CE	Hendon	Edgware Rd	1904	1962	Originally Metropolitan Electric tram depot, trolleybus from 1936 Renamed Colindale 1950
CF	Chalk Farm	Harmood St	1916	1992/3?
CL	Clay Hall	Blondin Rd	1931	1959
CM	Chelsham	Limpsfield Rd
CN	Sutton	Westmead Rd	1906	1964	Originally South Metropolitan Electric tram depot, trolleybus from 1935, motor bus from 1959
CT	Hackney	Bohemia Pla	by 1909	1987	Originally North Metropolitan tram depot, later LCC, trolleybus from 1939, motor bus from 1959 Renamed Clapton 1950
CY	Crawley	London Rd
DG	Dunton Green	London Rd
ED	Elmers End	Elmers End Rd	1929	1986
EM	Edmonton	Tramway Ave	1904	1986	Originally MET tram depot, trolleybus from 1938, motor bus from 1961
EW	Edgware	Station Rd	1925	1939
EW	Edgware	Station Rd	1939	1984
EW	Edgware	Station Rd	1984
FW	Fulwell	Wellington Rd	1902		Originally LUT tram depot, trolleybus from 1931, motor bus from 1962
FY	Finchley	Woodberry Grove	1905	1990	Originally MET tram depot, trolleybus from 1936, motor bus from 1962 Demolished
GM	Gillingham Street (Victoria)	Gillingham St	1940	c1999	Demolished
DS	Dorking	Horsham Rd			Demolished
DT	Dartford	Priory Rd
EG	East Grinstead	Garland Rd			Demolished
EP	Epping	High St
GA	Grays (Argent Street)	Argent St	?	?	Origiinally Eastern National
GD	Godstone	Eastbourne Rd			Demolished
GF	Guildford	Leas Rd
GR	Garston	St Albans Rd
GY	Grays	London Rd
HA	Harlow	Fourth Ave
HB	Hammersmith	Butterwick	1908	1960	Originally LCC tram depot, trolleybus from 1937 After 1960, housed the BEA vehicles Demolished
HD	Harrow Weald	High Rd	1930
HE	High Wycombe				See HW
HF	Hatfield	St Albans Rd East
HF	Hatfield	St Albans Rd East
HG	Hertford	Fairfax Rd
HH	Two Waters (Hemel Hempstead)	London Rd
HL	Hanwell	Broadway	1901		Originally London United tram depot, trolleybus from 1936, motor bus from 1960
HN	Hitchin	Park St
HT	Holloway	Pemberton Gdns	1907		Originally LCC tram depot, dual tram/trolleybus from 1938, trolleybus from 1952, trolleybus/motor bus from 1960, motor bus from 1961 Renamed Highgate 1950, renamed Holloway 1971
HW	Hanwell	Uxbridge Rd	1925	1986	Renamed Southall 1950 Now used as carpet showroom
HW	High Wycombe	Queen Alexandra Rd		?	Recoded HE Building survives, currently in use by Staples office supplies.
ID	Ilford	Ley St	1903	1959	Originally Ilford Corporation tram depot, trolleybus from 1938
IH	Hounslow	London Rd	1935	1962	Trolleybus depot, built on site of tram depot Renamed Isleworth
LB	Leyton	Lea Bridge Rd	1906	1959	Originally Leyton Urban District tram depot, latter LCC, trolleybus from 1939 Renamed Lea Bridge
LH	Leatherhead	Guildford Rd
LN	Luton				Originally National
LS	Luton	Park St West			Originally Strawhatter
MA	Amersham				See AM
MH	Muswell Hill	Hampden Rd	1925	1990	Demolished
NB	Norbiton	London Rd	1952	?	Demolsihed
NF	Northfleet	London Rd
NS	North Street (Romford)	North St	1953
NX	New Cross	Pepys Rd	1906		Originally LCC tram depot, motor bus from 1952
ON	Alperton	Ealing Rd	1939
PB	Potters Bar	High St	1930		Initially used by Overground
PD	Plumstead	Plumstead Rd	1981
PM	Peckham	High St	1951	?	Often called "Bull Yard" after Thomas Tilling premises originally on this site which was named after a nearby public house Now demolished
PR	Poplar	Leven Rd	1906	1985	Originally LCC tram depot, trolleybus from 1940, motor bus from 1959
RD	Romford	Hornchurch Rd	1924		Renamed Hornchurch 1935
RE	London Road (Romford)	London Rd
RG	Reigate	Bell St
RL	Rye Lane (Peckham)	Bellenden Rd	1951		Demolished 2000
SA	St Albans	St Peters St
SE	Stonebridge	Brentfield	1906	1981	Originally Metropolitan Electric tram depot, trolleybus from 1936, motor bus from 1962 Still stands, but rebuilt as community centre and barely recognisable
SF	Stamford Hill	Rookwood Rd	1906		Originally LCC tram depot, trolleybus from 1936, motor bus from 1961
SH	South Harrow		?	1930
SJ	Swanley	London Rd			SJ stands for Swanley Junction
SP	Sidcup	High St	1924	1988?	Now demolished
ST	Staines	London Rd			Demolished
SV	Stevenage	Danestrete			Demolished
SW	Stockwell	Binfield Rd	1952
TB	Bromley	Hastings Rd	1924		Initially used by Thomas Tilling TB stands for Tilling Bromley
TC	Croydon	Brighton Rd	1916		Built by LGOC but initially used by Thomas Tilling TC stands for Tilling Croydon
TG	Tring	Western Rd
TH	Thornton Heath	Whitehall Rd	c1901		Originally Croydon Corporation tram depot, to LT 1933 Not in use 1949 to 1952, motor bus from 1952
TL	Catford	Bromley Rd			see AN
TW	Tunbridge Wells
UX	Uxbridge		1921		Used by Thames Valley 1922 to 1929
WA	Watford (High Street)	High St
WB	Weybridge		1923	1939
WC	Windsor Castle	St Leonards Rd	?	?	Re-coded WR Demolished, now housing estate
WD	Wandsworth	Jews row	1902	1987	Originally LCC tram depot, later tram/trolleybus. motor bus from 1952
WG	West Green	Willow Walk	1925	1962	Originally Admiral, later London Public - to LGOC 1929
WH	West Ham	Greengate St	1906		Originally West Ham Corporation tram depot, trolleybus from 1937, motor bus from 1959
WL	Camberwell	Camberwell New Rd	1905	?	Originally LCC tram depot, motorbus from 1951 Renamed Walworth 1951 Not used 1985 to 1987 Still stands
WN	Wood Green	High Rd	1904		Originally Metropolitan Electric tram depot, trolleybus from 1938, motor bus from 1961
WR	Windsor				See WC
WT	Watford (Leavesden Road)	St Albans Rd	?	?	Still stands
WW	Walthamstow	Chingford Rd	1905		Originally Walthamstow Corporation tram depot, trolleybus from 1937, motor bus from 1960
WY	Addlestone	Station Rd			The code WY actually stands for Weybridge, presumably used as no A-prefix codes were available Demolished
Tram depots, and (initially) trolleybus depots did not have codes
	Acton	Uxbridge Rd			Tram depot, now used as bus garage for CentreWest(?)
	Brixton (Telford Avenue)	Streatham Hill	1892	1953	Originally London Tramways tram depot, later LCC
	Brixton Hill	Brixton Hill	?	1951
	Hounslow		1901	1935	Originally London United tram depot
	Manor House	Green Lanes			Tram depot
	Norwood	Elmcourt Rd	?	?	Tram depot
	Purley			1949	Tram depot After closure used as bus store

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