This fleet has a common management with Arriva The Shires and the fleet is numbered in the same series. Vehicles operate from two garages - Harlow (HA) and Ware (WE). Fleet strength is around 110 vehicles with only a small selection shown here at present.

Arriva Guildford & West Surrey operates out of garages at Cranleigh and Guildford with a fleet of around 90 vehicles.
From March 2007 the fleet of Arriva West Sussex at Horsham was transferred to this licence. Some of the vehicles from this fleet not illustrated in this gallery are available in the seperate gallery for the West Sussex fleet.
Fleet details correct at November 2007.

Arriva Kent & Sussex is part of the Arriva Southern Counties group. Depots are at Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells and Tenterden. Most vehicles are in standard corporate livery, a few with route branding. From 2009 more vehicles started being put into the 2003 livery (originally interurban). Notable exceptions to this is the 6 Maidstone Park & Ride vehicles 3964-3969. Some vehicles working route 402 are painted in TfL red.
fleet correct to October 2009

Arriva Kent Thameside operates out of two garages at Dartford and Northfleet. Dartford garage concentrates on routes for Transport for London with vehicles in the London red livery. Northfleet garage operates services outside London, principally in the Gravesend/Dartford area. In March 2006 a new Kent County Council service Fastrack route B started using 14 buses in a dedicated livery, a further batch being added in 2007 for route A.
Fleet details correct to November 2009

One of a number of Arriva companies to operate in London, this was formed from the former Leaside operation of London Buses, plus the Grey Green operation of Cowies. The fleet operates out of a number of garages in the north east of London. AD - Palmers Green, AE - Ash Grove, AR - Tottenham, CT - Clapton, DX - Barking, E - Enfield, EC - Edmonton, LV - Vea Valley, SF - Stamford Hill, WN - Wood Green. There are around 920 vehicles in the fleet, so quite a way to go to complete the collection.

Arriva London South operate services for Transport for London out of garages at Battersea (BA), Beddington Farm, Croydon (CN), Brixton (BN), Brixton Tram depot (BS), South Croydon (TC), Norwood (N) and Thornton Heath (TH) with a total fleet strength of around 550 vehicles. The majority of the fleet are illustrated, although there are a couple of batches of vehiclesstill to track down.

This operator, part of the Arriva Southern Counties group operates from depots at Gillingham and Sheerness. In 2004 much of the fleet at Gillingham was replaced with new vehicles with 12 Darts and 64 Volvo B7TL replacing most of the older vehicles. 12 older deckers were retained and painted into yellow for school bus duties. These do occasionally stray onto normal services.
In 2007 the route branding on much of the fleet was changed to a generic branding rather than individual routes.
In late 2008 some of the Volvo B7TLs were replaced by Alexander Dennis Enviro400s for use on route 101. The displaced vehicles have moved to Arriva Kent & Sussex.
In 2009 a batch of Enviro200s arrived at Gillingham displacing more of the Volvo B7TLs to other parts of the group.
fleet details correct to October 2009

Northernmost member of the Arriva Southern Counties group, Arriva Southend operates out of two depots in Southend and Grays. All of Grays allocation are used on Transport for London routes and carry London red livery. Total fleet strength is around 110 vehicles.

Arriva the Shires operate across Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire from garages at Aylesbury, Hemel Hempstead, High Wycombe, Leighton Buzzard, Luton, Stevenage (2 depots) and Watford. In 2005 the operations of Sovereign in Hertfordshire, and some of the vehicles are illustrated in their old Sovereign colours. Some routes for Transport for London are operated, meaning that some of the vehicls carry Arriva's red London livery

Smallest member of the Arriva Southern Counties group of operators, all vehicles based at Horsham.
On 7 March 2007 this licence was not continued, with the vehicles at Horsham transferring to the Arriva Guildford & West Surrey licence.

One of the two major sightseeing operators in London, Big Bus Company operate a fleet of mainly Leyland Titans and ex-Hong Kong Dennis Condors and MCW Metrobuses. Some older vehicles in the fleet see occasional use, particularly as advertising vehicles at the principal pick up points. Some vehicles are stored in a yard in Northfleet, Kent including a number which have yet to be converted for service.
Due to the confusing fleet numbering system in use by Big Bus, I have not attempted to include fleet numbers for this fleet.

The Brighton & Hove Bus & Coach Company Ltd are part of the Go-Ahead group and are the main operator in the Brighton area, operating out of depots at Hove (Conway Street) and Brighton (Lewes Road and Whitehawk Road). For full details of the company and it's fleet see the company website at www.buses.co.uk.
Current livery is red and cream, with a few vehicles in non-standard liveries. In 2005 the Lewes operations of Southdown were taken over and some vehicles initially operated in Stagecoach livery. A few of the double-deck fleet are convertible to open-top for use on tourist routes in the summer.
fleet details updated to February 2008

Centrebus operate out of garages at Dunstable and Stevenage. Until March 2008 they also had a garage at St Albans, but this operation has now been disposed off to Universitybus (Uno Buses)

One of a number of Firstgroup companies operating in London, Centrewest operates a fleet of around 750 vehicles from garages in West and South London at Acton (AT), Greenford (G), Hayes (HS), Alperton (ON), Uxbridge (UX), Willesden Junction (WJ) and Westbourne Park (X). Vehicles are numbered in Firstgroup's national series with the addition of prefixes to designate vehicle types. The routemasters used on route 9 do not display their national fleet numbers so are listed under their traditional numbers.
In December 2007 the operations in the Orpington area operated out of St Mary Cray garage (Y) were sold to Metrobus together with a number of 41xxx Darts.

Chalkwell are based in Sittingbourne and operate a network of services in the area. In addition they operate London commuter services and schools work, plus private hire.

Oxford Bus Company are part of the Go-Ahead group. Services are operated around the city of Oxford, with coach services to London and Heathrow/Gatwick airports. Fleet livery is red, with park & ride buses green and Brookes bus blue. A current fleetlist can be obtained via the company website www.oxfordbus.co.uk

Compass are based in Worthing and operate services over parts of East and West Sussex.

Countryliner was formed in 1998 from Arriva Southern Counties coaching unit based in Guildford, and now runs a number of services in the Guildford and Woking area. In 2006 further expansion came with the purchase of the operations of RDH Services in East/West Sussex, operated from bases at Bolney and Piltdown.
At December 2007, total fleet strength was around 90 vehicles with just under half illustrated here.

East Kent Road Car is part of the Stagecoach group and operates from garages at Ashford (A), Dover (DO), Folkestone (FK), Herne Bay (HB) and Thanet (TH). At April 2006 there were 245 vehicles in the fleet. Most vehicles are in Stagecoach corporate livery, with a number having route branding in the form of large symbols representing the route. East kent formerly worked the Canterbury Park & Ride service with vehicles in an unusual purple & silver livery. Following the loss of this contract to Kent Top Travel in 2008 these vehicles were painted into standard Stagecoach livery. A few vehicles carried a version of traditional East Kent livery whilst the coaches carry National Express white livery.

Formerly part of the Stagecoach empire, East London (together with Selkent) was sold on 30 August 2006 to Macquarie Bank, and is now part of the East London Bus group. The initial photos in this collection all date from prior to the sale so show the fleet in Stagecoach London days. East London operate out of the following garages - BK (Barking), BW (Bow), NS (Romford), SD (Stratford), T (Leyton), U (Upton Park), WA (Waterden Road, Stratford)

Eastbourne Buses operates their fleet of around 60 vehicles from a depot in Eastbourne. Fleet livery is blue replacing blue and cream, although with route branding and a number of vehicles in advertising liveries there is plenty of variety.

In December 2008 the company was sold to Stagecoach and subsequent photos will be shown on a seperate gallery.
fleet updated to December 2008

On 18th December 2008 Stagecoach took over Eastbourne Buses and placed it under control of its East Kent division. First outward sign of the Stagecoach takeover was the delivery of a batch of Enviro300 in corporate livery. On 6th January 2009 the commercial network of Cavendish Motor Services was taken over with 28 vehicles added to the fleet.

At the time of my first visit to Eastbourne following the takeover in February 2009 the first repaints to corporate livery had just been done with the rest of the fleet operating as before, the allocated Stagecoach fleet numbers not being carried.

Ensignbus operate a number of services in the Grays Thurrock area of Essex, and also rail replacement work. In addition they have a collection of vintage vehicles which are used on private hires and occasional use in service.

First Beeline operates in Berkshire from depots at Slough and Bracknell, with two schoolbus outstations at Chertsey and Merrow. Unlike many Firstgroup fleets there is quite a bit of variety in the fleet with a number of special liveried vehicles for specific routes.

Part of the First London group of Companies, operating out of garages at Dagenham (DM), Hackney Wick (H), Northumberland Park (NP), Ponders End (PE) and Romford (RD). The combined fleet of the two companies is around 550 vehicles. In common with the other First London fleets, prefixes to the fleet numbers are used to distinguish vehicle types, although I have not used them here.

First Essex Buses run bus services throughout Essex from depots at Braintree, Basildon, Chelmsford, Clacton, Colchester, Harwich and Hadleigh. Most vehicles are in corporate livery, many with route branding added. This gallery initially illustrates 120+ vehicles from the fleet

Hampshire Bus is part of the Stagecoach South group and operates a fleet of around 180 vehicles from depots at Andover, Basingstoke and Winchester. The majority of the initial collection of photos are from a visit to Winchester depot and a visit to Basingstoke town centre

Hastings & District is part of the Stagecoach group. All vehicles are based at a depot in Hastings. Main operations are in the Hastings area, although services do operate to Eastbourne and Dover
fleet updated to September 2007

Hedingham operate from 6 depots in Essex and Suffolk. Many of their vehicles are used on schools contracts and thus difficult to photograph in normal service, especially if you don't live in the area. Most of the photos in this collection are taken during visits to the depots or at Showbus. Current fleet at August 2009 is just over 100 vehicles with depots at Sible Hedingham (HD), Clacton (CN), Harwich (HW - outstation), Kelvedon (KN), Sudbury (SY) and Tollesbury (TY).

HR Richmond is based in Epsom and operates a number of services in the area under the Quality Line fleetname, mostly for Transport for London. In addition there is a coach operation using the fleetname of Epsom Coaches. Total fleet strength is around 90 vehicles.

Kent County Council are based in Aylesford, near Maidstone although vehicles can be found all over the county. Numerous bus services are operated, many under the associated Kent Top Temps (Kent Top Travel) licence. There is also a fleet of coaches used mainly for schools work, plus a large fleet of welfare buses and minibuses used by schools, community centres etc around the county. The PSV licences are for 135 vehicles (including 75 on the Kent Top Temps licence) although when the non-psv fleet is included the actual number of vehicles operated is much larger.

In October 2008 Kent Top Temps took over the Park & Ride contract in Canterbury with vehicles painted in a green & silver livery. Prior to delivery of the new dedicated vehicles a number of other vehicles were painted up for use on the service, remaining in the livery after transfer back into the main fleet.

Kings Ferry became part of the National Express group in September 2007. A fleet of 75 vehicles is operated, mostly coaches used on commuter services to London and other coaching work. A few buses are operated - B3 and B4 are used on a service in Chatham, whilst B8 was based in Cambridge for a Home Office contract, and now acts as spare for B3/4. Many vehicles have been re-registered, and some of the photos in this collection show the old registrations.

Before privatisation London Buses was the largest operator in the country operating nearly all bus services in London. The company was resurrected in 2000 to take over the services of Harris Bus. Since then they have moved to concentrate on work south of the river Thames and operate out of garages at Mandela Way, Southwark and Belvedere. This operation uses the trading name East Thames Buses.
In addition to this work, London Buses are responsible for operating the Dial-a-Ride fleet of minibuses which operate from various bases all over the capital, and a large fleet of service vehicles.

Part of the Go-Ahead group, London Central operates out of garages at Bexleyheath (BX), Camberwell (Q), New Cross (NX), Peckham (PM) and Mandela Way with a fleet of just over 600 vehicles. A common fleet numbering system is shared with London General. There is an amount of movement between the two fleets and some of the vehicles illustrated here are carrying London General fleetnames.

Part of the Go-Ahead Group, London General operates out of garages at Merton (AL), Putney (AF), Stockwell (SW), Sutton (A), Waterloo (RA) and Wimbledon (PL) with a fleet of 600+ vehicles.

London Soverign operate a fleet of around 120 vehicles from two garages at Edgware and Harrow. The fleet is in common ownership with London United by French transport group Transdev, and now there is nothing to distinguish between the two fleets which both carry Transdev fleetnames.

London United operate services from the west of London from 6 garages Hounslow (AV), Fulwell (FW), Hounslow Heath (HH), Shepherds Bush (S), Tolworth (TV and Stamford Brook (V).
Vehicles cerry Transdev fleetnames, replacing the previous London United name and logo. Some of the photos in this collection illustrate vehicles with the old fleetnames.

Metrobus have a large presence on Transport for London routes in the Bromley, Croydon and Eltham areas, together with a network of routes in east Surrey. The fleet of around 370 vehicles operates from garages in Crawley, Croydon and Orpington (Green Street Green). The previous standard blue and yellow livery is being replaced by a two-tone blue livery whilst newer vehicles on London work are in variations of London red livery. In addition the buses on the Crawley fasttrack routes carry a blue and silver livery. In late 2007 the Orpington operations of First London (Centrewest) were taken over together with the fleet of Marshall bodied Dennis Darts. Initially only a couple of these are illustrated here, although they are illustrated under the Centrewest gallery.

This is principally the coaching arm of the Arriva Southern Counties group, although some bus services are also operated. Services operate from a depot in Tonbridge. In 2008 an additional depot was opened near Gatwick Airport to operate service EB2 from Gatwick to London Victoria with a fleet of minibuses in Easybus orange livery. Initially some 04 reg vehicles were used, shortly replaced by a fleet of new 57 and 08 vehicles.

Unusually for Arriva this fleet does not carry corporate livery, with vehicles transferred from the main fleets usually being repainted into New Enterprise's white livery.
Fleet updated to March 2009.

Nu-Venture Coaches Ltd and the associated Invictabus Ltd operate over a large part of West Kent and their vehicles are a common sight in Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway Towns. The main depot is in Aylesford, with some vehicles based at a yard at Hoo Marina. A few vehicles wear commemorative liveries, whilst three schoolbuses carry First Student yellow

Originally formed from the coaching arm of London Buses (London Coaches), Original London Sightseeing operates from a depot at Wandsworth. A number of sightseeing routes are operated and the buses are a common sight at all the main tourist areas in central London. The company is part of the Arriva group and uses the fleetname Arriva presenting London on many vehicles which carry a variation of Arriva London livery. In addition some vehicles operate in City Sightseeing livery. Some of the vehicles are convertible to closed top, and where I have photos in both variations these are illustrated.

In addition to sightseeing work, one normal route is operated (337) with a batch of Transbus bodied Volvo B7TLs in standard Arriva London livery.

Reading Transport has their main operating base in Reading, although there is an additional base at Newbury using the fleetname Newbury Buses. Initially very few of the Newbury fleet are illustrated here. Many of the Reading fleet are route branded, making the bus scene in Reading rathercolourful. This collection in addition to the usual photos from the current fleet and recent disposals includes a few older shots, plus a selection of preserved Reading vehicles.

Until 30 August 2006, Selkent was part of the Stagecoach London group, but it is now part of the East London Bus group owned by Macquarie Bank. Photos taken prior to the ownership change have been suffixed (S). Selkent operates out of garages at Bromley (TB), Catford (TL) and Plumstead (PD). Various Stagecoach London liveries are being replaced by plain red, some vehicles being illustrated with both old and new liveries.

Solent Blue line is part of the Go Ahead Group, and is based in Eastleigh with an additional depot at Hythe. Main area of operation is in the Eastleigh and Southampton area.
The majority of vehicles are in a blue based livery although there is a batch of red Darts and a few livery variations. Current fleet strength at April 2006 is around 90 vehicles. Initially just under half the fleet is illustrated.

Southdown is part of the Stagecoach South group operating out of garages at Chichester, Portsmouth & Worthing. Fleet strength is around 200 vehicles.

Not to be confused with the Stagecoach company, Southdown PSV is a small perator based at Copthorne in West Sussex. Most of the routes operated are in Surrey. Three of their main routes terminate in Redhill, where the majority of the photos in this collection were taken.
http://www.southdownpsv.co.uk/index.html

Stagecoach (South) operates out of Aldershot with a fleet of around 90 vehicles

Sullivan Buses are based at South Mimms with a workshop nearby at North Mymms and an outstation at Thorpe Park, Staines. Some stage work is operated, together with rail replacement work. Their vehicles also make regular appearances in TV adverts. Some of the photos in this collection show vehicles at work in Kent. This operation was bought from Southlands in 1/2005 and sold to Griffin Buses in 2/2007. Fleet strength is just over 50 vehicles.

Not buses, but part of the Transport for London network. 24 trams run a small network of services out from Croydon to New Addington, Wimbledon, Beckenham Junction and Elmers End

Part of the National Express Group, this was formed from the purchase of Connex Bus London operations , later expanded by the purchase of Tellings-Golden Miller's bus operation. Garages are at Battersea (QB), Beddington (BC), Byfleet (BF), Fulwell (TF), Hayes (WS) and Walworth (WL). Total fleet strength is around 450 vehicles operating under three licences.
From March 2007 the fleet was renumbered into a common series with the West Midlands Travel fleet, although initially many vehicles did not carry their new fleet numbers. The photos in this gallery are in the new fleet number order, although many are illustrated carrying their old numbers.

Universitybus started by operating services for students of the University of Hertfordshire between the various campuses, but have now expanded their operations to operate services over large parts of south Hertfordsire. Livery used to be white but has now been replaced by a Ray Stenning designed livery with uno fleetnames. There are a few vehicles left in the old livery which are due for disposal. The depot is in Hatfield where the whole fleet of 60+ vehicles are based.

In March 2008 the St Albans-based operations of Centrebus were taken over, operation on a second licence in the name of Uno Buses Ltd. This was initially operated from the existing St Albans depot but from July 2008 the fleet moved into the main Hatfield depot. At present none of this fleet are illustrated although some can be seen on the Centrebus gallery.

Note some of the photos in this collection are scans from slides so not as good quality as the digital photos.