Regional Vehicle Finder help page

Last updated: 6/3/2025

For all data presented in mode RVF, due to the way the vehicle data is obtained, no guarantee can be made that the specified vehicle will appear. This is down to the way that ticket machines and modules may be swapped between vehicles and is particularily true of withdrawn and sold vehicles reappearing after sale.

Contacting the Admin Team - Please do not email LOTS

If you need to contact the LVF admin team please send an email to this address :- lvf_help@hotmail.com

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Modes

The Vehicle Finder application currently covers all major operators in England, Stagecoach in Scotland & Wales and Lothian with its subsidaries. This single interface can access data from any of the areas covered. Data that is only dependent on an operator code can be accessed in all modes ie LRT 1-50 to list all of Lothians' Volvo 7900s or GAL WHV100-110 to list some GoAhead London Volvo/Gemini 3s work independent of the current mode. Accessing Route data and most shortcuts are mode dependent.

To change mode the command is "mode" followed by either "LDN", "LRT" or "RVF" for London, Lothian and English regional Operators respectively. When the mode command is executed the banner header and help page will change.

Obtaining Data from the VF application

Data can be requested in a number of ways by :-

Registration
Operator/Fleet number
Route
Stop Code/Stop Name
Short Code

A history facility is available for all except by stop (see below)

The entered value will attempt to match in the order:- registration, operator/fleetnumber, route, or stop.

Wildcards

In most cases any individual character can be replaced by an underscore '_' to create a wildcard search. The '*' character can be used to replace multiple characters..

Ranges

In some cases ranges can be specified. A range is signified by the "-" character. A wildcard cannot be used in a request where a range is specified.

In all cases of multiple output, a maximum of 180 entries will be displayed. Each of the requests is explained in detail below

By Registration:

Enter the registration of the vehicle you wish to lookup. Wildcards are allowed as are ranges. Example of valid ranges are YN66EZM-S, returns details of 5 vehicles or RGB 701-10, returns details of 10 vehicles. YN*EZM-S is not valid as it is potentially many ranges.

By Operator/Fleetnumber:

Operator codes cannot be wildcarded and must be included in any fleetnumber request. To lookup more than one vehicle in a request the fleet nummber may include wildcards or a range may be specified

Valid Operator codes below are listed by major operator groups and then followed by the smaller independant operators

Arriva :-

AS	Southern Counties	NU	North East	TS	The Shires	YK	Yorkshire
MN	Midlands	NW	North West & Cymru

Centrebus :-

CB	Centrebus & High Peak	DAG	D & G and Chaserider

First Bus :-

DC	Devon, Cornwall & Somerset	FW	Cymru	MR	Midland Red	TV	First Berkshire & Railair
EC	Eastern Counties	HD	Hampshire & Dorset	PM	Potteries	WE	West of England
EN	Essex	LE	Leicester	SY	South Yorkshire	WY	West Yorkshire & York
FM	Manchester

GoAhead :-

BH	Brighton & Hove	GLC	Go Ahead London (Commercial)	GS	Go South Coast	PL	Plymouth & Go Cornwall
EY	East Yorkshire	GM	Go North West (Manchester)	MB	Metrobus	SPS	Southdown PSV
GA	Go East Anglia	GN	Go North East	OB	Oxford Bus

National Express :-

WM	West Midlands

Rotala :-

DB	Diamond Bus	HM	Diamond Bus South East	RN	Diamond Bus North West	PB	Preston Bus

Stagecoach :-

BB	Bluebird	EM	East Midlands	MY	Merseyside	SO	South
CM	East	ES	East Scotland (Fife)	NE	North East	SW	West
CU	North West	HI	Highland	OX	Oxford	WS	West Scotland
DG	South West	MA	Manchester	RW	Wales	YT	Yorkshire
EK	South East	MS	Midlands

Smaller Groups :-

MLC	Metroline Commercial	RAT	RATP Commercial	TB	Wellglade	TD	Transdev

Former Municipals :-

BP	Blackpool	NT	Nottingham	RB	Reading Buses	WA	Warrington
IP	Ipswich	NP	Newport

Large Independants :-

BRY	Brylaine	FAR	Faresaver	LYX	Lynx	STE	Stephensons
BVC	Belle Vue Coaches	GLT	Central Connect	NIB	NIBS	SUL	Sullivan Buses
CHK	Chalkwell	GOG	Go Godwins	NV	Nu-Venture	TYR	Tyrers
CMF	CumfyBus	GPM	Grant Palmer	PUL	Pulhams	UBS	University Bus
COP	Compass Bus	HAL	Happy Als Coaches	RLN	Redline	WCM	West Coast Motors
DEL	Delaine	HCT	Harrogate Coach Travel	SND	Sanders of Holt	WBS	White Bus Services
EB	Ensignbus	HUY	Huyton Travel

Supported Independants :-

ACW	AC Williams	DTL	Dartline	LTR	Libra Travel	SIM	Simmonds, Bottesdale
ALE	A-Line	EAZ	Eazibus	LTT	Littles Travel	SLB	Select Bus Services
AMT	Ambassador Travel	ELV	Ellenvale	MAG	Maghull Coaches	SLE	Sleafordian
ASD	ASD Coaches	FAL	Falcon Coaches	MAR	Marshalls of Sutton	SLV	Silverline
ATB	A2B Travel	FBS	1st Bus Stop	MBT	Mark Bland Travel	SMM	Summercourt Travel
ATL	Atlantic Travel	FIN	Finches Coaches	MDC	MD Coaches	SPM	Stringers Pontefract
AVM	Axe Valley	FOW	Fowlers, Holbeach	MRS	Marshopper	SPS	Southdown PSV
BAN	Banga Buses	FRM	Frome Minibus	NMC	Nick Maddy	SRG	Sargents
BBC	Bath Bus Co	FTL	Filers	NXM	Nexus Move	SSC	Shoreline Suncruisers
BDR	Border Buses	GRC	Grayscroft	OTS	Office & Transport Serv	STN	Stanley Travel
BEC	Beeline Coaches	GVT	Glen Valley Tours	PCC	PC Coaches	STO	Stotts Tours
BEE	Beestons	GYL	Grayline Coaches	PHO	Phoenix of Blyth	STR	Streamline
BRC	Britannia Coachlines	HAT	Hattons, Wigan	OUR	Our Bus	STT	E Stott & Sons
BUL	Bullocks	HCC	Henry Cooper Coaches	PPB	Peoples Bus	TCM	TC Minicoaches
CAT	Catch22Bus	HDG	Hodgsons Coaches	PRC	Primrose Coaches	TCN	Transport Connect
CCC	Cumbria Classic	HGC	Hatch Green Coaches	RBT	Roberts	TKT	TK Travel
CKM	Cuckmere Commty Bus	HNT	Hornsby Travel	REE	Red Eagle	TYH	Tally Ho Coaches
CLA	Claribels	HOP	Hopleys Coaches	REL	Reliance	VEC	Vectare
CLN	Carlone	HUN	Hunts of Alford	RGT	Regents Coaches	VIK	Viking Coaches
COA	CoachStyle	JAN	Jansen Travel	RIC	Richmond Coaches	WBC	West Berkshire
COT	Coatham Coaches	KET	Keane Travel	SCR	Scraggs	WHP	Whippet
CRU	Crusiers of Redhill	KIL	Kilvingtons	SEL	Selwyns	WMS	Weardale Motor Services
CTN	Commity Trans for Notts	LMS	LMS Travel	SFG	Safeguard	WNC	West Norfolk Community
DRM	DRM Coaches	LOW	Luckets of Watford	SFN	Suffolk Norse	YOP	Yorkshire Pullman

Unsupported Independants (no Timetable data loaded) :-

No timetable data available is a function of the operators not providing current data to BODS

BET	Bayliss Executive Travel	HAM	Hams Travel	LTK	Langston & Tasker	SFD	Seaford & District
CEL	Celtic Travel	HUL	Hulleys of Baslow	MPT	MP Travel	TAN	Tanat Valley
CLO	JH Coaches	IRV	Irving of Dalston	NTB	Notts Bus	TLC	TLC Travel
CSV	Coach Services Thetford	KEV	Kevs Coaches	OGD	Ogdens Coaches	TSC	Travelsure Coaches
DJW	DJ Watts	KLC	Kirkby Lonsdale	OLY	Olympia Travel	TTY	Tetleys
ESC	Essex Council	LAN	Langtoft	REP	Reptons	TWT	Travel Wright
GBS	The Green Bus Transport	LLC	Lloyds of Machynlleth	RSS	Ross	VSB	Vision Bus
						YEO	Yeomans/Lugg Valley

Company XXX

The following companies are all grouped under company XXX due to the limited amount of stage carriage work undertaken :-

Blueworks Taxis	Coventry Minibus	Lydney Dial-a-Ride	Rosevidney Travel	Wright Bros(Hexham)
Chiltern Automotive	Haines Coaches	Olympic, Scarborough	Western Dales Community	Woofs of Sedburgh
		Reays of Wigton

Operator codes with historic data are :-

AB	Abellio	CTP	CT Plus	RBS	River Boat Services	SB	Sullivan Buses
AKE	Arriva Southern Counties	EP	Epsom Buses	RTP	RATP Transdev	TT	Tower Transit
ASE	Arriva The Shires

Operator codes for other modes are :-

AL	Arriva London	ETR	Edinburgh Trams	LCY	Lothian Country	SLN	Stagecoach London
CTL	Croydon Trams	FL	First Bus London	LRT	Lothian Buses	TL	Transport UK London
EBT	Edinburgh Tours	GAL	GoAhead London	ML	Metroline	UNO	University Bus (london)
ECB	East Coast Buses

By Route:

Any input character string less than 5 character long is checked to be a route number. If it is not found to match a valid route then further matching will take place. Wildcards are not allowed as part of the route number. By default information will be displayed by direction of travel and then by vehicle fleet number order. The short code ZZ can be used to toggle the way information is displayed between fleet number order and stop sequence order

By Stop:

Stops can be indentified by the 12 character naptan stop codes. If 12 digit stop codes are entered then spaces and wildcards are not allowed. One or more stop code can be entered by putting a comma between the codes. However no check is made that stop codes are geographically close to each other.

Alternatively a stop or stops can be entered by name. Wildcards can be used as part of the name. Because special characters, eg '&' and ',', cannot be entered to be able to lookup somewhere like "Elephant & Castle" the "&" must be entered as a wildcard character.

Vehicles will be displayed in the order they are expected to arrive although this cannot be guaranteed.

History & Fullhist:

The facility exists to request the history of a vehicle, ie what routes it has worked, or the history of a route - what vehicles have been used on the route and when they were last recorded. To obtain history data enter the keyword history (or Fullhist) followed by a registration, operator/fleetnumber or Route number. This request does not allow wildcards. The keyword History limits the historic data to date from 1/1/18 whereas Fullhist will give the full history of a vehicle or route

With history it is possible to add date parameters to show either the vehicles on a route on a particular day (a single date) or what a vehicle worked between a range of dates. For vehicle history the first date entered sets the earliest date history is found for and if entered the second date sets the highest date history is given for. If the second date is not entered then the range is from the entered date to the present. Alternatively the parameter can be a 3 letter code for a day of the week to filter the data for that day.

Journey History

The facility exists to request the journeys that a vehicle, ie what journeys on which routes it has worked, or the journey history of a route - what vehicles have been used on the route and which journeys they made. To obtain journey history data enter the keyword dethist followed by a registration, operator/fleetnumber or Route number. This request does not allow wildcards. The system only keeps detailed journey history for 14days

With journey history it is possible to add date parameters. If a single date is entered then the detailed history will be from that date to present. If a second date is entered then that will be the last date history is display for.

ETA:

The facility exists to request the current predictions for an active vehicle. The request can be by operator/fleet number or by registration. Wildcards are not valid.

List:

Lists are used to provide a number of system defines sets of data. Lists are :-

A number of commonly used commands are available as short codes. Currently all short codes start with the letter "Z" The following short codes are defined :-

new	Vehicles new into service or expected into service. Once a batch of vehicles is complete into service it will be removed from the list
ads	This list provides information on all the overall advert buses currently operating in Reading
brand	A list of all vehicles with route branding applied

ZA	List new
ZB	List ads
ZV	Toggle list output order between operator/fleet number and just fleet numbers
ZW	Toggle list output between all vehicles and those in service vehicles
ZX	Toggle stop output between all vehicles and those within the ads list
ZY	Toggle list output between all vehicles and excluding withdrawn vehicles
ZZ	Toggle route output between fleet number order and stop sequence order