After the amalgamation of London's bus, tram and underground
system in July 1933, and the end of the era of
the independent operator by the acquisition of most by the new
London Passenger Transport Board, a
new
bus and tram route numbering system was introduced in
October 1934.
S433, one of the S-class
single-deckers dating from 1923, loads at Morden in 1930 for route
155
B to South Wimbledon via Worcester Park. The
route was renumbered 245 in 1934, then on double-decking with
the Central Area's first low-height buses in 1941 was renumbered
out of the single-deck series as
127.
The renumbering was described in the publicity as ''necessary
owing to the duplication of numbers now used. Further, the
numbering of the routes is simplified to assist the travelling
public". In fact, the exercise was for bureaucratic
convenience at the instigation of the Metropolitan Police.
One element of the renumbering, which became distinctive to
enthusiasts but probably bemused the travelling public, was that
all single-deck routes (including those with some double-deck
workings) were to be numbered in the 200-series.
Other single-deck routes at October 1934, already in the
200-series which had originally been used by independent operators,
are listed on the next page.
