Other Operators: A–D

Last updated 24-12-07.

A green lettering on white background scheme was normally used for “foreign” bus companies who operated into the London Transport area. As LT was responsible for all bus and coach stops in its territory, it produced these special “E” plates on behalf of those companies.

Aldershot & District
ALDERSHOT & DISTRICT 1 FARE STAGE

Aldershot & District route 1 ran between Victoria Coach Station and Farnham via Kensington, Hammersmith, Turnham Green, Osterley, Staines, Egham, Virginia Water, Sunningdale, Bagshot, Camberley, Frimley, Farnborough and Aldershot.

This is an especially rare and interesting “E” plate as although it is for another operator—which is why it was green—the FARE STAGE is in black. Indeed, it was unusual to show fare stages for other companies. In addition, the route served only a limited number of stops in London, and even fewer would have been fare stages, so this is probably an exceedingly rare version.

Aldershot & District express service.

This “E” plate appears to be very old: the edges have rusted a little which has slightly discoloured the surface. The previous owner asks “Why ‘A & D’ instead of ‘Aldershot & District’?”; though “E” plates also exist for Aldershot & District routes 48 and 48A that have the A & D heading.

 A & D EXPRESS SERVICE
Alder Valley

Alder Valley was formed in 1972 from the merger of Thames Valley and Aldershot & District. It survived privatisation and several changes of ownership until 1992 when the name disappeared into Stagecoach Hants & Surrey. These “E” plates would have been found in an area west of London where their services mixed with those from London Country Bus Service after 1970.

Thanks to Paul Davis of High Wycombe for information about Alder Valley routes. If anyone can more details, I will be happy to add to the descriptions.

High Wycombe bus stop flag

The first five “E” plates below are likely to be quite rare as I believe the routes only ran together with LCBS services on one street in High Wycombe. The photo shows the stop flag from where they came from. Also unusual is the appearance of 3xx and 4xx routes on the same flag, as the first series was for routes running north of the Thames, the latter for those south of the river (but the 455 was an exception to that rule).

Route 305 ran from High Wycombe to Uxbridge via Chalfont St. Giles, route 326 from Mill End Road to Micklefield Estate via High Wycombe, route 441 from High Wycombe to Staines, and route 455 between High Wycombe and Uxbridge direct.

Paul Davis adds:

I always thought 3xx was south and 4xx was north like most people. However, I have been told by a local expert that in fact groups of route numbers were allocated to whatever they called the head garage in the groups of garages. Thus 3xx and 4xxx went south/north of the Thames. But… Wycombe had over the years been tied to Garston and Windsor. So 442 and 455 were presumably spare route numbers made available to Windsor and its satellite garages at times when Wycombe needed a spare number and its “Head Office” was Windsor.

Alder Valley route 20 provided a regular daily service between High Wycombe (Bus Station) and Windsor Central Station via Wycombe Marsh, Loudwater, Wooburn Green, Bourne End, Cookham, Boulters Lock, Maidenhead and Fifield. One bus per hour was numbered 20A and served Hatch Bridge instead of Fifield.

This is a standard example of a split “E” plate where the operator’s name is shown once, and came from a bus stop in High Wycombe.

 ALDER VALLEY 20-20A
25 25A 25B ALDER VALLEY

Alder Valley routes 25, 25A & 25B were High Wycombe to Flackwell Heath.

This is a standard example of a split “E” plate where the operator’s name is shown once, and came from a stop in High Wycombe.

Alder Valley route 28 was a daily service, from High Wycombe to Reading (now 328 with Arriva).

 28 ALDER VALLEY
29 - 29A ALDER VALLEY 29 - 29A ALDER VALLEY

Alder Valley routes 29 and 29A took the same roads as the 28, but only ran to Marlow. The 29A was a peak hours variant via Cressex Industrial estate.

These two plates are a variation of the standard split “E” plate where the operator name is shown once, but with an unusual off-centre horizontal line betwenn 29 and 29A. They came from a bus stop in High Wycombe. (See the photo above of the stop before the plates were removed.)

Alder Valley route 42 ran from Wycombe Marsh to Bookerhill Road, providing additional service along the core of Alder Valley’s 26 and London Country 326.

 42 ALDER VALLEY 42 ALDER VALLEY
48A ALDER VALLEY

Alder Valley’s route 48A ran between Camberley and Chertsey Bridge, running a short distance into the London Transport area at Addlestone.

Aldershot & District (predecessor to Alder Valley) route 48A timetable, dated 22 December, 1958. Size is 12" × 10" (approximately 30 cm by 25 cm).

 Aldershot & District route 48A timetable

Alder Valley route 201.

 201 ALDER VALLEY
ALDER VALLEY 300 310
“E” plates with the operator’s name above the route number are more unusual.		ALDER VALLEY 300 310
This “E” plate is particularly notable in that it is black on the reverse.		ALDER VALLEY 300 310
Notice the sublte variation in colour in the text of these three “E” plates.

Alder Valley ran express buses between London and Reading during the 1980s.

One or more of these plates may well have come from Heathrow bus station where the 310 and 300 converged. The ALDER VALLEY 300 310 may possible be the single most common non-London Transport “E” plate.

The Alder Valley LondonLink group of routes ran between Victoria and Reading, I believe, and the different numbers represented different routeings. Some routes may have finished at other towns.

This “E” plate is a particularly unusual one as it shows three route numbers and an operator’s name.

 300 310 311 ALDER VALLEY
320 ALDER VALLEY 320 ALDER VALLEY

Alder Valley route 320 was renumbered from service “C” on 23rd May 1976, and ran between London (Victoria) and Farnham via Staines. It was again renumbered, this time to X20 on 13th April 1980, lasting just under four years.

As can be seen by these two plates, there was great variation on the green colour used by London Transport on “E” plates.
← →
Click on any of the tiles below to go to images of the “E” plates and the route descriptions for that number series.
Clicking on any stop flag will return to the home page.
Central Area Routes 1-3 Central Area Routes 4-6 Central Area Routes 7-9
Central Area Routes 10-12 Central Area Routes 13-16 Central Area Routes 17-19
Central Area Routes 20-24 Central Area Routes 25-29
Central Area Routes 30-35 Central Area Routes 36-39 Central Area Routes 40-44
Central Area Routes 45-49 Central Area Routes 50-55 Central Area Routes 56-59
Central Area Routes 60-69 Central Area Routes 70-73 Central Area Routes 74-76
Central Area Routes 77-79 Central Area Routes 80-89 Central Area Routes 90-99
Central Area Routes 100-106 Central Area Routes 107-109 Central Area Routes 110-115
Central Area Routes 116-119 Central Area Routes 120-129
Central Area Routes 130-133 Central Area Routes 134-139 Central Area Routes 140-149
Central Area Routes 150-159 Central Area Routes 160-164 Central Area Routes 165-169
Central Area Routes 170-174 Central Area Routes 175-179 Central Area Routes 180-184
Central Area Routes 185-189 Central Area Routes 190-194 Central Area Routes 195-199
Central Area Routes 200-209 Central Area Routes 210-219 Central Area Routes 220-223
Central Area Routes 224-229 Central Area Routes 230-239 Central Area Routes 240-245
Central Area Routes 246-249 Central Area Routes 250-259 Central Area Routes 260-269
Central Area Routes 270-279 Central Area Routes 280-289 Central Area Routes 290-299
Country Area Routes 300-303 Country Area Routes 304-309 Country Area Routes 310-316
Country Area Routes 317-319 Country Area Routes 320-324 Country Area Routes 325-329
Country Area Routes 330-334 Country Area Routes 335-339 Country Area Routes 340-344
Country Area Routes 345-349 Country Area Routes 350-359
Country Area Routes 360-369 Country Area Routes 370-379
Country Area Routes 380-389 Country Area Routes 390-394 Country Area Routes 395-399
Country Area Routes 400-405 Country Area Routes 406-409 Country Area Routes 410-419
Country Area Routes 420-423 Country Area Routes 424-429 Country Area Routes 430-439
Country Area Routes 440-449 Country Area Routes 450-456 Country Area Routes 457-459
Country Area Routes 460-469 Country Area Routes 470-479
Country Area Routes 480-484 Country Area Routes 485-489 Country Area Routes 490-499
Red Arrow & Express Routes 500-616 Trolleybus Routes 513-699
Green Line Routes 701-703 Green Line Routes 704-705 Green Line Routes 706-708
Green Line Routes 709-710 Green Line Routes 711-713 Green Line Routes 714-715
Green Line Routes 716-718 Green Line Routes 719-720 Green Line Routes 721-724
Green Line Routes 725-799 Country Area Routes 800-804 Country Area Routes 805-854A
Mobility Routes 900-980 Lettered Routes A-C Lettered Routes D-M
Night Routes N1-N83 Night Routes N84-N88
Night Routes N89-N93 Night Routes N94-N299 Lettered Routes P-W
Other Operators’ Routes Other Operators’ Routes
Other Operators’ Routes Other Operators’ Routes Other Operators’ Routes
Stops
Bus Stops
 Sources
Sources		 Maps
Maps

Links
Links		 Advanced Search
Advanced Search