What do the London Bus Prefixes stand for?

Question

I have seen many bus prefixes, but what do they mean/stand for?

N is for night

C is for central, but what about the rest?

Answer 1

the only prefixes that really mean anything are the N for night buses and the X for express

there isn't a lot of logic to the rest of them ... C isn't always central, there's the C11 which runs from Archway tube which certainly isn't central ... W isn't for Wood Green as the W7 runs from Finsbury Park to Muswell Hill

if I were you I would forget it, don't try to find a reason for the prefix as the answer will probably get you into the convoluted realms of some experimental scheme or other e.g. as another poster has already mentioned about the origins of some of the W buses like the W3, W7 and the W2 (the W2 no longer runs now)

Answer 2

These are some articles I found when previously answering a question about the prefix on the W3 bus - the W prefix apparently was given to buses which had been a flat fare route in the far distant past.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...

http://www.londonbusroutes.net/photos/W0...

http://www.red-rf.com/rf-506

Answer 3

They are mostly taken from the name of one of the main neighbourhoods that the route runs through, or near, although some (A, T, EL, have other meanings) - and in some cases the same letter is used to refer to different neighbourhoods in another part of London.

From that list, the prefixes stand for the following:

A = Airport/Airbus

B = Bexleyheath, Bromley

D = Docklands

E = Ealing

EL = East London (tube replacement bus services)

G = St George's Hospital

H =- Hampstead Garden Suburb, Harrow, Hounslow

K = Kingston

P = Peckham

PR = Park Royal

R = Roundabout (Orpington), Richmond

RV = River (Thames)

S= Sutton, Stratford

T = Tramlink

U - Uxbridge

W = Wood Green, Walthamstow

X = Express