List of British Rail TOPS depot codes
Encyclopedia
From the introduction of TOPS
TOPS
Total Operations Processing System, or TOPS, is a computer system for managing the locomotives and rolling stock owned by a rail system...

 in 1973, all British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...

 diesel and electric locomotives and multiple units were allocated to a particular Traction Maintenance Depot
Traction maintenance depot
In the United Kingdom, a traction maintenance depot, or TMD, is a railway depot where locomotives are serviced and maintained. A traction and rolling stock maintenance depot, or T&RSMD, is a maintenance depot where locomotives, multiple units and rolling stock are serviced and maintained. Each rail...

 or TMD. Drawing from the terminology of steam traction, these deports were generally referred to as "sheds", and indeed most locations were those which had possessed depots for steam locos. Each TMD had a two-character code which was originally displayed underneath the number of each locomotive allocated there. Later this was extended to cover each carriage of Diesel Multiple Units
Diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...

 (DMUs), and even some coaching stock; at this time additional depot codes were added covering places with Coaching stock allocations, and also Works locations.

Depot allocations were discontinued during the 1990s when British Rail moved to a system of allocating locomotives to pools related to their use.

About allocations and TOPS depot codes

Locations given a TOPS code included all TMDs, servicing depots (where minor work such as A exams could be undertaken), and some Stabling Points
Stabling point
A stabling point, in UK railway parlance, is a small traction maintenance depot where locomotives are parked whilst awaiting their next turn of duty. A stabling point may be fitted with a fuelling point and other minor maintenance facilities. A good example of this was Newports Godfrey road...

 (SPs) where locomotives or multiple units would be parked when not required. The locations varied from comprehensively equipped depots through covered accommodation with fuelling point to a mere siding. The use of TOPS codes for SPs was also somewhat haphazard, with Machynlleth (code MN) hosting 1 or 2 locomotives on some weekends while Wolverhampton Station
Wolverhampton railway station
Wolverhampton railway station in Wolverhampton, West Midlands is on the West Coast Main Line. It is served by London Midland, CrossCountry, Virgin Trains and Arriva Trains Wales.-History:...

, which had no TOPS code, could be found with more than a dozen locos stabled there.

The application of a depot code was generally reliable as a guide to the base from which the locomotive or multiple unit operated but with some variations, mainly relating to shunters and departmental locomotives.

EMU
Electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...

 depots such as Birkenhead North (BD) often required a diesel shunter for moving stock when not powered. As there was no fuelling or maintenance capability at BD, a shunter allocated to nearby Birkenhead Mollington Street (BC) was used, returning to its home depot once every 4 weeks. This arrangement also existed at other locations such as Ilford/Stratford.

Departmental locomotives, by the nature of their use, were sometimes reported as allocated to a base location or even to a region in general rather than an official depot. The Western Region sometimes followed this practice, with number 20 (latterly 97020) reported as allocated to "Reading Signal Works" throughout the 1970s. Locomotives used for research purposes would be reported as allocated to the Derby Research Centre
Railway Technical Centre
The Railway Technical Centre in London Road, Derby, UK, was built by the British Railways Board in the early 1960s to be its technical headquarters....

.

List of TMD, Servicing Depot and SP codes

TOPS code Shed name Origins Comments
AB Aberdeen Ferryhill
AC Aberdeen Clayhills Carriage maintenance depot
AF Ashford Chart Leacon
AN Allerton
Allerton TMD
Allerton TMD is a railway traction maintenance depot situated in Liverpool. The depot is opposite Liverpool South Parkway and is visible to the north on the way to Hunts Cross. The depot is now owned and soon to be operated by Northern Rail, but used to be owned by EWS...

AY Ayr
BC Birkenhead Mollington Street
BD Birkenhead North
Birkenhead North TMD
Birkenhead North TMD is a traction maintenance depot located opposite Birkenhead North railway station for servicing Merseyrail Class 507 and 508 multiple units and rolling stock. The depot code is BD.-History:...

EMU depot
BE Bedford Midland Station No allocation - Fuelling Point only.
BG Botanic Gardens (Hull)
BH Barrow Hill (Staveley)
Barrow Hill Engine Shed
Barrow Hill Roundhouse & Railway Centre, until 1948 known as Staveley Roundhouse & Train Centre, is a former Midland Railway roundhouse in Barrow Hill, near Staveley and Chesterfield, Derbyshire .-History:...

Midland Railway
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....

BI Brighton Lovers Walk EMU depot
BJ Bristol Marsh Junction DMU depot
BL Blyth
BM Bournemouth EMU depot
BN Bounds Green
Bounds Green TMD
Bounds Green TMD is situated in North London. The depot is operated by East Coast. The depot code is BN.-Allocation:*Class 08*Class 91*HSTs may also, be seen, However rarely-References:...

HST depot
BQ Bury EMU depot
BP Blackpool Carriage maintenance depot
BR Bristol Bath Road
Bristol Bath Road TMD
Bristol Bath Road TMD was a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated in Bristol.Originally built for the Bristol and Exeter Railway, it was rebuilt in 1934 by the Great Western Railway. The depot was rebuilt again in the early 1960's as its role changed from maintaining steam locomotives to...

GWR
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

BS Bescot
Bescot TMD
Bescot TMD is a locomotive traction maintenance depot in the West Midlands, England. It is situated adjacent to Bescot Stadium station. The depot is currently operated by DBS . The current depot code is BS but, in steam days, the shed code was 3A.Bescot Marshalling Yard is to the south-east of the...

BU Burton
BW Barrow
BX Buxton DMU depot
BY Bletchley
Bletchley TMD
Bletchley TMD is a railway traction maintenance depot situated in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire to the north of Bletchley Station on the West Coast Main Line . The depot is operated by London Midland...

BZ St. Blazey (Par)
St Blazey engine shed
St Blazey Engine Shed is located in Par, Cornwall, United Kingdom. The depot operator is DB Schenker. It is named after the adjacent village of St Blazey and has the depot code is BZ.-History:...

Cornwall Minerals Railway
CA Cambridge DMU depot
CC Clacton EMU depot
CD Crewe Diesel Depot
Crewe Diesel TMD
Crewe Diesel Traction Maintenance Depot or Crewe Diesel TMD was a diesel-electric locomotive Traction Maintenance Depot situated to the south of and visible from Crewe railway station. The depot is owned by EWS. The depot code is CD...

CE Crewe Electric Depot
Crewe Electric TMD
Crewe Electric TMD is an AC electric locomotive Traction Maintenance Depot situated to the north of Crewe railway station. The depot is situated on the south side of the Crewe to Chester railway line opposite Crewe Works on Victoria Avenue. The depot is operated by EWS...

CF Cardiff Canton
Cardiff Canton TMD
Cardiff Canton TMD is a diesel locomotive Traction Maintenance Depot which is situated in Cardiff, Wales. The depot code is CF. In steam days the depot was known as Cardiff Canton and its shed code was 86C. Originally built as the main maintenance base for the South Wales Railway, it became the...

CG Croxley Green EMU depot
CH Chester
CJ Clapham Junction No allocation.
CK Corkerhill DMU depot
CL Carlisle Upperby Carriage maintenance depot
CM Camden Carriage maintenance depot
CP Crewe Carriage Shed No allocation - Fuelling Point only.
CQ Crewe Heritage Centre Crewe Heritage Centre Storage Facility & Heritage Centre
CR Colchester
CV Coalville
CW Cricklewood
DA Darnall DMU depot
DE Dundee
DM Dollands Moor No allocation.
DN Darlington
DR Doncaster
DT Dunfermline Townhill
DY Derby Etches Park DMU depot
EC Edinburgh Craigentinny HST depot Carriage Maintenance Depot
ED Eastfield
Eastfield TMD
Eastfield TMD was a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated in Glasgow, Scotland. Eastfield was a steam shed under British Railways with the depot code 65A; the depot code of the diesel depot under BR was ED....

EG Edge Hill
EH Eastleigh
EJ Ebbw Junction (Newport)
EM East Ham EMU depot
EN Euston Downside Carriage maintenance depot
EU Euston Station
EX Exeter St Davids
Exeter TMD
Exeter TMD is a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated in Exeter, Devon, England, next to the city's main St Davids station. The depot is operated by First Great Western.There are 12 roads, the Traction Maintenance Depot can hold 2 sets of vehicles...

FH Frodingham (Scunthorpe)
FP Finsbury Park
Finsbury Park TMD
Finsbury Park TMD was a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated in London, England. It was the first purpose built main line diesel locomotive depot opened in this country and it was fully commissioned in April 1960 . It was downgraded in June 1981 and closed in October 1983...

FR Fratton EMU depot
FW Fort William
GC Cowlairs (Glasgow) Carriage maintenance depot
GD Gateshead
GF South Gosforth DMU depot
GI Gillingham EMU depot
GL Gloucester
GM Grangemouth
GU Guide Bridge
GW Glasgow Shields Road
Glasgow Shields Road TMD
Glasgow Shields Road ETD is a railway Electric Traction Depot in Glasgow, Scotland. The depot is located on the south side of the Glasgow Central to Paisley lines, adjacent to Shields Junction, close to the site of the former station...

Electric locomotive/EMU depot
HA Haymarket
Haymarket TMD
Haymarket TMD is a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated inside Edinburgh, Scotland, next to Haymarket Station and Murrayfield Stadium. The depot is operated by First ScotRail. The depot code is HA.-External links:A of the depot.-References:...

HD Holyhead
HE Hornsey
Hornsey TMD
Hornsey Electric Multiple Unit Depot is a railway maintenance depot for First Capital Connect's Great Northern fleet of electric multiple units, as well as carrying out those maintenance tasks on FCC's Thameslink Class 319 and 377 units which Bedford Cauldwell depot is unable to do...

EMU depot
HF Hereford
HG Hither Green
HI Hitchin
HM Healey Mills (Wakefield)
HN Hamilton DMU depot
HO Holbeck (Leeds)
HR Hall Road (Liverpool)
Hall Road TMD
Hall Road TMD was a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated adjacent to Hall Road railway station. The depot was a facility for storage and servicing of Merseyrail multiple units and rolling stock...

EMU depot
HS Hammerton Street (Bradford)
HT Heaton
Heaton TMD
Heaton TMD is a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated in the Heaton area of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is located next to the East Coast Main Line, around east of Newcastle railway station. The depot is operated by Northern Rail, and mostly houses stock operated by them and Grand Central...

HST and DMU depot
HY Hyndland EMU depot
IL Ilford EMU depot
IM Immingham
Immingham TMD
Immingham TMD is a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated in Immingham, North East Lincolnshire outside Grimsby, England.- History :Originally built by the Great Central Railway in 1912 to service the newly opened Immingham Docks, it was taken over by the LNER and later Eastern Region of...

IP Ipswich Station No allocation - Fuelling Point only.
IS Inverness
KD Carlisle Kingmoor
Carlisle Kingmoor TMD
Carlisle Kingmoor TMD is a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated in Carlisle, England. The depot is operated by the Direct Rail Services . The depot was originally used to service Diesel Locomotives and Diesel Multiple Units. The current depot code is KM...

KM Carlisle Yard No allocation - Fuelling Point only.
KX Kings Cross No allocation - Fuelling Point only.
KY Knottingley
LA Laira (Plymouth)
Laira TMD
Laira TMD is a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated in Plymouth, Devon, England. The depot is operated by First Great Western and is mainly concerned with the overhaul and daily servicing of their fleet of High Speed Trains and also the DMUs used on local services...

LE Landore (Swansea)
Landore TMD
Landore TMD is a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated in Landore, near Swansea, Wales. The depot is operated by First Great Western and is used to service their fleet of Class 43 High Speed Trains. The depot code is LE.-References:...

LG Longsight Electric Depot (Manchester)
Longsight Electric TMD
Longsight Electric TMD is an AC Electric railway locomotive Traction Maintenance Depot situated in Longsight, Manchester, England. The depot code is LG....

Electric locomotive and EMU depot
LJ Llandudno Junction
LL Liverpool Edge Hill Carriage maintenance depot
LN Lincoln DMU depot
LO Longsight Diesel Depot (Manchester)
Longsight Diesel TMD
Longsight Diesel TMD is a railway diesel locomotive Traction Maintenance Depot situated in Longsight, Manchester, England. The depot code is LO. There are many various roads in which individual train sets can be overhauled.-References:...

LR Leicester
LV Liverpool Street No allocation
MA Manchester Longsight Carriage Maintenance Depot
ME Marylebone DMU depot
MG Margam (Port Talbot)
Margam TMD
Margam TMD was a railway locomotive Traction Maintenance Depot situated in Port Talbot, South Wales. The depot code was MG, which has now been re-allocated to Margam Knuckle Yard service point....

MH Millerhill (Edinburgh)
ML Motherwell
Motherwell TMD
Motherwell TMD is a closed locomotive Traction Maintenance Depot situated in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The depot code is ML.The depot was operated by EWS following the privatisation of British Rail and was used for the maintenance of their fleet of Diesel locomotives and wagons as...

MN Machynlleth
MR March
March TMD
March TMD was a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated near March, England. March was a steam shed under British Railways with the depot code 31B; the depot code of the diesel depot under BR was MR. The nearest railway station is March, and the depot was located close to the Whitemoor...

MV Manchester Victoria (Red Bank) Carriage maintenance depot
NA Newton Abbot South Devon Railway
NC Norwich Crown Point
Norwich Crown Point
Crown Point was originally the name given to an area within the city of Norwich in the United Kingdom.The name is now more commonly associated with the Crown Point Traction Maintenance Depot operated by National Express East Anglia. Intercity and Diesel Multiple Unit trains are serviced and...

Carriage maintenance depot
NG New Cross Gate Carriage maintenance depot
NH Newton Heath (Manchester) Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway DMU depot
NL Neville Hill (Leeds) HST and DMU depot
NM Nottingham Carriage Sidings
NR Norwich
NW Northwich No allocation - Fuelling Point only.
OC Old Oak Common
Old Oak Common TMD
Old Oak Common TMD is situated to the west of London, in Old Oak Common. The Traction Maintenance Depot is the main facility for the storage and servicing of locomotives and multiple-units which utilise Paddington Station. The depot codes are 'OC' for the diesel depot, and 'OO' for the carriage shed...

OM Old Oak Common Carriage Maintenance Depot
ON Orpington EMU depot
OO Old Oak Common (HST)
Old Oak Common TMD
Old Oak Common TMD is situated to the west of London, in Old Oak Common. The Traction Maintenance Depot is the main facility for the storage and servicing of locomotives and multiple-units which utilise Paddington Station. The depot codes are 'OC' for the diesel depot, and 'OO' for the carriage shed...

HST depot
OX Oxford
OY Oxley (Wolverhampton) Carriage maintenance depot
PA St Pancras No allocation.
PB Peterborough
PC Polmadie Carriage Maintenance Depot (Glasgow)
PH Perth Station
PM Bristol St Phillips Marsh HST depot
PO Polmadie (Glasgow)
PZ Penzance
Penzance TMD
Penzance TMD, also known as Long Rock TMD, is a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated in the village of Long Rock east of Penzance, Cornwall, United Kingdom, and is the most westerly and southerly rail depot in the country. The depot operator is First Great Western...

RB Ranelagh Bridge No allocation - Fuelling Point only.
RE Ramsgate EMU depot
RG Reading
Reading TMD
Reading TMD is a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated in Reading, England, and operated by First Great Western. The depot code is RG.The depot is situated to the west of Reading station and to the north of Reading West station...

DMU depot
RL Ripple Lane
RR Radyr
RS Reddish
RY Ryde EMU depot
SA Salisbury
SB Shirebrook
SE St Leonards DEMU depot
SF Stratford
Stratford TMD
Stratford TMD was a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated in Stratford, London, England, and was also the site of a Railway Works. Originally built in 1847 for the...

SG Slade Green EMU Depot
SI Soho (Birmingham)
SL Stewarts Lane Electric locomotive and EMU depot
SP Wigan Springs Branch
SR Stratford Repair Depot
Stratford TMD
Stratford TMD was a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated in Stratford, London, England, and was also the site of a Railway Works. Originally built in 1847 for the...

ST Severn Tunnel Junction
SU Selhurst EMU depot
SW Swindon
SY Saltley (Birmingham)
SZ Southall DMU depot
TE Thornaby (Tees)
Thornaby TMD
Thornaby TMD was a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated in Thornaby, England, and latterly operated by D B Schenker.Thornaby opened as a steam shed under British Railways in June 1958 with the depot code 51L. It took over the allocations of the 'decrepit establishments' at Newport and...

TF Thornton Fields (Stratford) Carriage maintenance depot
TI Tinsley (Sheffield)
Tinsley Motive Power Depot
Tinsley Motive Power Depot, latterly Tinsley Traction Maintenance Depot was built as part of the Sheffield district rail rationalisation plan of the 1960s opening during 1965 and situated adjacent to, but at a higher level than the new Tinsley Marshalling Yard alongside the Sheffield District...

TJ Thornton Junction
TO Toton
Toton TMD
Toton Traction Maintenance Depot is one of the largest rail depots in the United Kingdom. Toton TMD is bordered by Long Eaton and Sandiacre in Derbyshire and Toton in Nottinghamshire...

TS Tyseley
Tyseley TMD
Tyseley TMD is a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated in Tyseley, outside Birmingham, England. Originally opened by the Great Western Railway in 1908 it later passed through the Western Region and London Midland Regions of British Railways eventually to be assigned to Central Trains and...

DMU depot
TW Tunbridge Wells West Station DEMU depot
TY Tyne Yard
Tyne Yard
Tyne Yard is a railway yard in Gateshead, England, on the East Coast Main Line, operated by DB Schenker Rail Ltd. The yard is the major freight yard of the region, with the majority of rail freight movements in Tyne and Wear from around the UK passing through the yard.The yard is about south of...

VR Vale of Rheidol Railway
Vale of Rheidol Railway
The Vale of Rheidol Railway is a narrow-gauge gauge heritage railway that runs for between Aberystwyth and Devil's Bridge in the county of Ceredigion, Wales...

 (Aberystwyth)
Steam locomotive depot
WB Willesden Brent Sidings Carriage maintenance depot
WC Waterloo & City line
Waterloo & City Line
The Waterloo & City line is a short underground railway line in London, which was formally opened on 11 July 1898. It has only two stations, Waterloo and Bank...

WD Wimbledon EMU depot
WH Wath
WJ Watford Junction No allocation - Fuelling Point only.
WK Workington
WN Willesden
Willesden TMD
Willesden TMD is a railway locomotive Traction Maintenance Depot situated in Willesden, north London. The depot is visible from the West Coast Main Line, to the south-east of Willesden Junction, on the way into London's Euston Station...

WO Wellingborough No allocation - Fuelling Point only.
WS Worcester
WT Westhouses No allocation - Fuelling Point only.
WY Westbury
YC York Clifton
YK York
York TMD
-Background:There were several locomotive depots at York: York North was ex-North Eastern Railway. Within the triangle of lines bounded by York railway station, Holgate Junction and York North Junction, were three further depots, one each ex-Great Northern Railway, Midland Railway and North...



In addition to the 2 character codes given above, a single additional character in brackets could be added to indicate that a locomotive had been placed into storage. The relevant codes were:
  • (S) Stored serviceable
  • (U) Stored unsericeable

Works codes

TOPS code Works name Origins Comments
ZC Crewe Works
ZD Derby Litchurch Lane Works
ZE Derby Locomotive Works
ZF Doncater Works
ZG Eastleigh Works
ZH Glasgow St Rollox Works
ZL Swindon Works
ZN Wolverton Works
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