This page has been created in order to help shed light into why different operators use different codes to signify the same type of vehicles and what the different operator codes mean. With help from the professional's we hope to make this as accurate and easy to understand as possible.
Abellio London
Abellio London are a South East London based bus company and are the remains of Connex Travel, Wings Buses of Hayes and Travel London. The Dutch company first ventured into London in 2009 when they bought out Travel London after successfully shrugging of a Metroline bid.
They Primarily use a number based code system with the first two digits of the code representing the vehicle type and the second two representing how many vehicles are in that batch. For example 9777 - 97 represents an ALX400 Trident combination and the 77 represents that this is the 77th vehicle in that batch of buses. If the code was to overlap and become 9800, we would know that the particular vehicle is the 100th vehicle of the batch.
Lets get started.
CONTENT TO BE ADDED
Arriva London
Arriva London are a large London based bus company, with operations in the North, South, Shires and Essex. They are the remains of Dixie Coaches, Leaside Travel and Cowie. They were formerly the largest bus company in London until 2011 when Go Ahead London Group took that title. They are a key player in the role making DAF/VDL Buses, so it comes as no suprise that their fleet consists of mainly DAF and VDL Buses.
They use a coded based system which is used a such - DWL8 - The first letter represents the chassis of the Vehicle, the second letter represents the body of the vehicle and the third letter represents the length of the vehicle where applicable.
Lets get started.
ADL = ALX200 Dart Lowfloor - This code is used to represent their ALX200 Dennis Dart Buses.These can range anywhere from 9.3m Models to 10.2m models. They were first delivered to the company in 2000 and are front runners in the Arriva fleet, with some models still powering on today.
DLA = DAF Lowfloor Alexander - This code is used to represent the company's ALX400 bodied DAF DB250 Buses. 10.2m models to 10.6m Models. Interestingly this was the first ever low floor Bus in London and since its introduction in 1998, it has operated exclusively by Arriva with nearly 400 models being delivered to the company.
DLP = DAF Lowfloor President - This code is used to represent the company's President bodied DAF DB250 Buses. These range from 10.2m models to 10.6m Models. They were first delivered to the company in 1999 where they were spilt amongst the North London garages, just over 200 models were delivered to company with many being sent to Original London Sightseeing Tour when their time in London was called up.
DW = DAF Wright - This is the code used to represent the company's Wright Gemini 2 Bodied DB250 and DB300 Buses. These Buses have a length of 10.3m. They have 135 examples of the Gemini1 Body and over 300 examples on the Gemini2 body. These were dispersed around North and South London operations.
DWL = DAF Wright Long - This code is used to represent the company's Wright Cadet bodied DAF SB220 Buses. Strangely these were placed in the same code series as their DAF DB250 and D300 Buses with the Wrightbus Gemini1 & 2 bodywork. The addition of the 'L' prefix can be justified by the fact these Buses are 10.2m.
EN = ENviro - This is the code used to represent the company's 8.9m E200 Buses. Simply coded EN which stands for Enviro, these were the first E200s for the company however the further delivery of more E200 Buses with different lengths has made the fleetcode seem slightly awkward.
ENL = ENviro Long - This code is used to represent the company's 10.2m long Alexander Dennis Enivro 200s. The 'L' is used to represent the extra length of the bus in comparison to their shorter sister vehicles.
ENS = ENviro Short - This code is used to represent the company's 8.9m and 9.3m E200s. The significance of this code is that the 9.3m ENSs are dual doored and they are 2007 plates and the 8.9m ENSs are single door and arrived in 2012 with 12 plates.
ENX = ENviro Xtra - This is one of the stranger codes in Arriva's fleet coding system. The 'E' and 'N' prefix stand for the Enviro 200 as the body and chassis of the Bus due to the fact the Bus is an integral, however the addition of the 'X' represents that the Buses are longer than standard as they are 10.8m long. The code ENL which should have been the code for these Buses was already taken by their 10.2m E200 Buses. As of 2011, these Buses operate exclusively on the Route 313.
HV = Hybrid Volvo - This code is used to represent the company's Wright Gemini2 bodied Volvo B5LH Buses. The first set (HV1 - 6) were built with the Gemini1 bodywork in 2009 for the Route 141, the second batch arrived a year and a half later in November 2010 for the Route 76, a third batch was added in September 2011 for the Route 73 and a third batch is due to arrive in January 2013, this will consist of 75 vehicles.
HW = Hybrid Wright - This code is used to represent the company's Hybrid Wright Gemin2 integral buses that were delivered to Wood Green garage in 2009 for the Route 141 which runs from Palmer's Green to London Bridge Station, interestingly the route used to run all the way to Catford back in the 80s! The fleet consists of 5 vehicles.
PDL = Pointer Dennis Lowfloor - This code is used to address Arriva London's Plaxton Pointer bodied Darts, which range from 9.3m to 10.8m. The first being delivered in 1998 for Arriva London South, some of the original pointer darts moved to Garston Garage in 2008 where they can be seen daily on the Route 303 and 305.
T = Trident - The code simply means Trident. The reason Arriva went with simplistic one digit code is due to the fact these are the only Buses in the Arriva fleet to be on the Trident Chassis. Since their introduction in 2008, the company has ordered nearly 300 of these buses!
VLA = Volvo Lowfloor Alexander - This is the code used to represent the company's Alexander ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL Buses which come in the lengths of 10m and 10.6m. They are similar in appearance to the company's DLAs with the major difference being in the size of the rear lower deck windows. The DLAs have a rectangular rear window style while the VLAs have a long rectangular rear window style with rounded corners. From the years 2003 - 2005, 179 vehicles were delivered.
VLW = Volvo Lowfloor Wright = This code is used to represent the company's 10m and 10.6m Volvo B7TLs with Wright Gemini bodywork. From the years 2000 - 2003, 199 vehicles were delivered to the company, all of them being based in the North London sector of Arriva.
CT Plus
CT Plus are small Hackney based bus company who share a compound in Ash Grove, Bethnal Green, East London. They used to trade under the name of Hackney Community Transport up until 2010. They operate 10 routes from their Ash Grove Garage and were rumoured to be building a new site in Walthamstow.
They used a letter coded system, with the first letter of the code signifying the chassis of the bus, the second code signifying the body of the bus and the third code signifying the length of the bus if applicable.
Lets get started
DAS = Dennis Alexander Short - This code is used to signify the company's 9.3m ADL E200s which operate on their route 394.
DE = Dennis Esteem - This code signifies the company's 10.2m Esteem bodied Dennis Dart Buses. This batch of buses is far and few between as only Go Ahead London have some of these models. These vehicles were delivered in 2007 for the Route W13.
DCS = Dennis Ceatano SLF - This code is used to represent the company's Salvador Ceatano bodied Dennis Darts that were purchased in 2000 for use on the 153.
DPS = Dennis Pointer - This code is used to represent the company's sole Plaxton Pointer bodied Dennis Dart that was purchased from Go Ahead London to be used on the Route 153.
DPS = Dennis Pointer SLF - This code is used to signify the company's 9.6m Pointer bodied Dennis Darts which were purchased from Abellio London to be used as logistical spares.
EO = Enviro Olympus - This code is used to designate the company's single Dawren Group Olympus bodied Enviro 400 that was purchased back in 2007 for use on the Route W13.
HDC = Hackney Dart Ceatano - For some reason or another CT Plus when known as Hackney Community Transport, they used to put the 'H' prefix in front of their codes to signify the area of their establishment.
HTL = Hackney Trident Lolyne - This code is used to prefix the company's East Lancashire bodied Trident 2 Buses that were delivered new in 2003 for use on their flagship route 388.
HTP = Hackney Trident President - This code is used to represent the company's 9.9m Plaxton President bodied Dennis Tridents that were purchased from Go Ahead for use on their school route 675.
OS = Optare Solo - This code is used to represent the company's Optare Solo vehicles that can be seen in numbers throughout the CT Plus fleet.
SD = Scania Decker - This code is used to represent the company's small fleet of 10 of Scania Omnicity Double Deck Buses that were ordered back in 2009 when it was announced CT Plus had won the route 212 off First London.
First London (Centrewest, Capital & Uxbridge Buses)
First are a very well known organisation across the World particularly in England and the United States. They found their way into the London Bus market in 1997 by taking over companies such as Capital Citybus where they operated under the brand of 'First Capital' and other identities such as First Challenger and Gold Arrow.
The key to understanding First's fleet code, is gaining an understanding into what the middle letters in a fleet code mean. M is used to represent single deck vehicles while N is used to represent double deck vehicles. For example, we have DML which represents a Dennis Chassis vehicle, with the L indicating the length of the vehicle. Interestingly DML is used to refer to both their E200 bodied buses and their Marshall bodied Buses which may make it slightly confusing to understand the codes. You then have codes such as DN which only refer to the chassis of the vehicle but not the body, however we can use initiative and understand that DN is actually the code used for Enviro 400s.
Lets get started
DM = Dennis Midibus - This code refers to the company's standard length Marshall and E200 bodied Dart Buses. It seems quite weird that one fleet codes is used to designate two types of vehicle. The first caption is of the Marshall bodied dart and the second is of the E200 bodied dart.
DMC = Dennis Midibus Caetano - This code refers to the company's surprise order of Salvador Caetano bodied Dennis Darts that were purchased in 2003. Interestingly this batch of vehicles were actually set to be bodied by Marshall Bus, however after the chassis's for the buses had been made in Guildford, they were left in the yard for months on end and the decision was made to get them bodied by nearby Salvador Caetano as opposed to Marshall in Ely, Cambridgeshire.
DML = Dennis Midibus Long - This code refers to the company's 10.2m long Marshall and E200 bodied Dart Buses. Again It seems quite weird that one fleet codes is used to designate two types of vehicle. The first caption is of the Marshall bodied dart and the second is of the E200 bodied dart.
DMS = Dennis Midibus Short - This code refers to the company's 10.2m long Marshall and E200 bodied Dart Buses. Another example where one fleet codes is used to designate two types of vehicle. The first caption is of the Marshall bodied dart and the second is of the E200 bodied dart.
DMV = Dennis Midibus V = Although the V in this code has no matching Acronym to this code, it actually is used to represent the company's 10.8m long Dennis Enviro 200 vehicles that have been with the company since late 2011.First are known to use codes such as these which have no direct reference to the vehicle type or vehicle length.
DN = Dennis Decker = Although the second letter in this code does not explicitly explain the vehicle type, we can gather that as a Dennis Vehicle the body would be an E400 which it rightly is.The code DN is used to designate E400s in First's fleet coding system.
TN = Trident Decker - This is the code First use to designate their Plaxton President bodied Trident 2 vehicles.
TNA = Trident Decker Alexander - This code is used to represent the company's Trident 2 Alexander ALX 400 vehicles that were delivered to the company in 2003. This is one of the rare fleet codes within the first numbering system which sees the last digit representing the body of the vehicle. The next code will be different.
TNL = Trident Decker Long - This code is used to represent the company's 10.5m Plaxton President bodied Trident 2 Buses with the 'L' representing a change in the length from their sister TN vehicles.
Abellio London
Abellio London are a South East London based bus company and are the remains of Connex Travel, Wings Buses of Hayes and Travel London. The Dutch company first ventured into London in 2009 when they bought out Travel London after successfully shrugging of a Metroline bid.
They Primarily use a number based code system with the first two digits of the code representing the vehicle type and the second two representing how many vehicles are in that batch. For example 9777 - 97 represents an ALX400 Trident combination and the 77 represents that this is the 77th vehicle in that batch of buses. If the code was to overlap and become 9800, we would know that the particular vehicle is the 100th vehicle of the batch.
Lets get started.
CONTENT TO BE ADDED
Arriva London
Arriva London are a large London based bus company, with operations in the North, South, Shires and Essex. They are the remains of Dixie Coaches, Leaside Travel and Cowie. They were formerly the largest bus company in London until 2011 when Go Ahead London Group took that title. They are a key player in the role making DAF/VDL Buses, so it comes as no suprise that their fleet consists of mainly DAF and VDL Buses.
They use a coded based system which is used a such - DWL8 - The first letter represents the chassis of the Vehicle, the second letter represents the body of the vehicle and the third letter represents the length of the vehicle where applicable.
Lets get started.
DLA = DAF Lowfloor Alexander - This code is used to represent the company's ALX400 bodied DAF DB250 Buses. 10.2m models to 10.6m Models. Interestingly this was the first ever low floor Bus in London and since its introduction in 1998, it has operated exclusively by Arriva with nearly 400 models being delivered to the company.
DLP = DAF Lowfloor President - This code is used to represent the company's President bodied DAF DB250 Buses. These range from 10.2m models to 10.6m Models. They were first delivered to the company in 1999 where they were spilt amongst the North London garages, just over 200 models were delivered to company with many being sent to Original London Sightseeing Tour when their time in London was called up.
DW = DAF Wright - This is the code used to represent the company's Wright Gemini 2 Bodied DB250 and DB300 Buses. These Buses have a length of 10.3m. They have 135 examples of the Gemini1 Body and over 300 examples on the Gemini2 body. These were dispersed around North and South London operations.
DWL = DAF Wright Long - This code is used to represent the company's Wright Cadet bodied DAF SB220 Buses. Strangely these were placed in the same code series as their DAF DB250 and D300 Buses with the Wrightbus Gemini1 & 2 bodywork. The addition of the 'L' prefix can be justified by the fact these Buses are 10.2m.
EN = ENviro - This is the code used to represent the company's 8.9m E200 Buses. Simply coded EN which stands for Enviro, these were the first E200s for the company however the further delivery of more E200 Buses with different lengths has made the fleetcode seem slightly awkward.
ENL = ENviro Long - This code is used to represent the company's 10.2m long Alexander Dennis Enivro 200s. The 'L' is used to represent the extra length of the bus in comparison to their shorter sister vehicles.
ENS = ENviro Short - This code is used to represent the company's 8.9m and 9.3m E200s. The significance of this code is that the 9.3m ENSs are dual doored and they are 2007 plates and the 8.9m ENSs are single door and arrived in 2012 with 12 plates.
ENX = ENviro Xtra - This is one of the stranger codes in Arriva's fleet coding system. The 'E' and 'N' prefix stand for the Enviro 200 as the body and chassis of the Bus due to the fact the Bus is an integral, however the addition of the 'X' represents that the Buses are longer than standard as they are 10.8m long. The code ENL which should have been the code for these Buses was already taken by their 10.2m E200 Buses. As of 2011, these Buses operate exclusively on the Route 313.
HV = Hybrid Volvo - This code is used to represent the company's Wright Gemini2 bodied Volvo B5LH Buses. The first set (HV1 - 6) were built with the Gemini1 bodywork in 2009 for the Route 141, the second batch arrived a year and a half later in November 2010 for the Route 76, a third batch was added in September 2011 for the Route 73 and a third batch is due to arrive in January 2013, this will consist of 75 vehicles.
HW = Hybrid Wright - This code is used to represent the company's Hybrid Wright Gemin2 integral buses that were delivered to Wood Green garage in 2009 for the Route 141 which runs from Palmer's Green to London Bridge Station, interestingly the route used to run all the way to Catford back in the 80s! The fleet consists of 5 vehicles.
PDL = Pointer Dennis Lowfloor - This code is used to address Arriva London's Plaxton Pointer bodied Darts, which range from 9.3m to 10.8m. The first being delivered in 1998 for Arriva London South, some of the original pointer darts moved to Garston Garage in 2008 where they can be seen daily on the Route 303 and 305.
T = Trident - The code simply means Trident. The reason Arriva went with simplistic one digit code is due to the fact these are the only Buses in the Arriva fleet to be on the Trident Chassis. Since their introduction in 2008, the company has ordered nearly 300 of these buses!
VLA = Volvo Lowfloor Alexander - This is the code used to represent the company's Alexander ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL Buses which come in the lengths of 10m and 10.6m. They are similar in appearance to the company's DLAs with the major difference being in the size of the rear lower deck windows. The DLAs have a rectangular rear window style while the VLAs have a long rectangular rear window style with rounded corners. From the years 2003 - 2005, 179 vehicles were delivered.
VLW = Volvo Lowfloor Wright = This code is used to represent the company's 10m and 10.6m Volvo B7TLs with Wright Gemini bodywork. From the years 2000 - 2003, 199 vehicles were delivered to the company, all of them being based in the North London sector of Arriva.
CT Plus
CT Plus are small Hackney based bus company who share a compound in Ash Grove, Bethnal Green, East London. They used to trade under the name of Hackney Community Transport up until 2010. They operate 10 routes from their Ash Grove Garage and were rumoured to be building a new site in Walthamstow.
They used a letter coded system, with the first letter of the code signifying the chassis of the bus, the second code signifying the body of the bus and the third code signifying the length of the bus if applicable.
Lets get started
DAS = Dennis Alexander Short - This code is used to signify the company's 9.3m ADL E200s which operate on their route 394.
DE = Dennis Esteem - This code signifies the company's 10.2m Esteem bodied Dennis Dart Buses. This batch of buses is far and few between as only Go Ahead London have some of these models. These vehicles were delivered in 2007 for the Route W13.
DCS = Dennis Ceatano SLF - This code is used to represent the company's Salvador Ceatano bodied Dennis Darts that were purchased in 2000 for use on the 153.
DPS = Dennis Pointer - This code is used to represent the company's sole Plaxton Pointer bodied Dennis Dart that was purchased from Go Ahead London to be used on the Route 153.
DPS = Dennis Pointer SLF - This code is used to signify the company's 9.6m Pointer bodied Dennis Darts which were purchased from Abellio London to be used as logistical spares.
EO = Enviro Olympus - This code is used to designate the company's single Dawren Group Olympus bodied Enviro 400 that was purchased back in 2007 for use on the Route W13.
HDC = Hackney Dart Ceatano - For some reason or another CT Plus when known as Hackney Community Transport, they used to put the 'H' prefix in front of their codes to signify the area of their establishment.
HTL = Hackney Trident Lolyne - This code is used to prefix the company's East Lancashire bodied Trident 2 Buses that were delivered new in 2003 for use on their flagship route 388.
HTP = Hackney Trident President - This code is used to represent the company's 9.9m Plaxton President bodied Dennis Tridents that were purchased from Go Ahead for use on their school route 675.
OS = Optare Solo - This code is used to represent the company's Optare Solo vehicles that can be seen in numbers throughout the CT Plus fleet.
SD = Scania Decker - This code is used to represent the company's small fleet of 10 of Scania Omnicity Double Deck Buses that were ordered back in 2009 when it was announced CT Plus had won the route 212 off First London.
First London (Centrewest, Capital & Uxbridge Buses)
First are a very well known organisation across the World particularly in England and the United States. They found their way into the London Bus market in 1997 by taking over companies such as Capital Citybus where they operated under the brand of 'First Capital' and other identities such as First Challenger and Gold Arrow.
The key to understanding First's fleet code, is gaining an understanding into what the middle letters in a fleet code mean. M is used to represent single deck vehicles while N is used to represent double deck vehicles. For example, we have DML which represents a Dennis Chassis vehicle, with the L indicating the length of the vehicle. Interestingly DML is used to refer to both their E200 bodied buses and their Marshall bodied Buses which may make it slightly confusing to understand the codes. You then have codes such as DN which only refer to the chassis of the vehicle but not the body, however we can use initiative and understand that DN is actually the code used for Enviro 400s.
Lets get started
DM = Dennis Midibus - This code refers to the company's standard length Marshall and E200 bodied Dart Buses. It seems quite weird that one fleet codes is used to designate two types of vehicle. The first caption is of the Marshall bodied dart and the second is of the E200 bodied dart.
DMC = Dennis Midibus Caetano - This code refers to the company's surprise order of Salvador Caetano bodied Dennis Darts that were purchased in 2003. Interestingly this batch of vehicles were actually set to be bodied by Marshall Bus, however after the chassis's for the buses had been made in Guildford, they were left in the yard for months on end and the decision was made to get them bodied by nearby Salvador Caetano as opposed to Marshall in Ely, Cambridgeshire.
DMS = Dennis Midibus Short - This code refers to the company's 10.2m long Marshall and E200 bodied Dart Buses. Another example where one fleet codes is used to designate two types of vehicle. The first caption is of the Marshall bodied dart and the second is of the E200 bodied dart.
DMV = Dennis Midibus V = Although the V in this code has no matching Acronym to this code, it actually is used to represent the company's 10.8m long Dennis Enviro 200 vehicles that have been with the company since late 2011.First are known to use codes such as these which have no direct reference to the vehicle type or vehicle length.
DN = Dennis Decker = Although the second letter in this code does not explicitly explain the vehicle type, we can gather that as a Dennis Vehicle the body would be an E400 which it rightly is.The code DN is used to designate E400s in First's fleet coding system.
TN = Trident Decker - This is the code First use to designate their Plaxton President bodied Trident 2 vehicles.
TNA = Trident Decker Alexander - This code is used to represent the company's Trident 2 Alexander ALX 400 vehicles that were delivered to the company in 2003. This is one of the rare fleet codes within the first numbering system which sees the last digit representing the body of the vehicle. The next code will be different.
TNL = Trident Decker Long - This code is used to represent the company's 10.5m Plaxton President bodied Trident 2 Buses with the 'L' representing a change in the length from their sister TN vehicles.
2 Comments:
at: Thursday, October 18, 2012 3:57:00 pm said...
I wonder why First didn't put "D" instead of a "N" as a code for there Deckers, like this:
DD = Dennis Decker
TD = Trident Decker
TDA= Trident Decker Alexander
TDL= Trident Decker Long
at: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 7:28:00 pm said...
I'm guessing why First used 'N' instead of 'D' because the N probably stood for Northern Counties, which was then taken over(?) by Plaxton, and therefore the Plaxton President. It was built at the Scarborough factory of the former Northern Counties. This however explains only the TN and TNL.
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