Today's London Buses

Introduction

London’s Buses – The Last Eleven Years.

London has always been a very special and unique city of the world and it is only right that it should have a transport system to match that status. London’s first Underground railway opened on 10 January 1863 between Farringdon Street and Paddington, but what always seems to be overshadowed is the fact that London had its first bus service operating some 34 years beforehand.

London’s First Omnibus and the London General Omnibus Company (LGOC)

On 4 July 1829, a coachbuilder and stable keeper by the name of George Shillibeer started the first omnibus service in the capital. He named his bus service Omnibus, with the route following much of today’s route 205 between Paddington along the Marylebone Road (then called ‘New Road’), Somers Town, and City Road before terminating at The Bank. The service was well patronised but competition from other ‘Pirate’ companies led George Shillibeer into bankruptcy. The ‘pirate’ companies would continue vying for custom well into motor bus days before the formation of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933.

The London General Omnibus Company (LGOC) you could say (apart from George Shillibeer’s short operation) was London’s first principal bus operator, being established in 1855. This bus company lasted right the way through until its incorporation into the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) in 1933 and, unlike poor George Shillibeer, survived the ‘pirate’ operators who competed to steal other operators’ passengers. The LGOC very smartly bought out hundreds of independent operators and absorbed the routes and vehicles into its company, in order to amalgamate and regulate the many private horse bus and omnibus services that were competing against it, making it the largest omnibus operator in London at the time, controlling 600 out of the 810 omnibuses operating at the time on London’s streets.

The LGOC began using motorbuses in 1902 and became a manufacturer of its own purpose-built bus, the famous B Type, the first entering service in 1910. The introduction of the B Type spelled the end for horse bus operation with its last horse bus departing London Bridge Station on Service 32 on the 25 October 1911. Thomas Tilling, another reputable London bus operator of the time, would operate London’s last ever horse omnibus on 4 August 1914 between Peckham and Honor Oak Tavern, interestingly the date that the First World War was declared (perhaps the horses were commandeered for war use). The LGOC’s successor, London Transport, would similarly absorb independent operators into one operating body under the Act of Parliament and would also design and build its own buses purposely for London.

The B Type bus would be the first of London’s specially designed standardised buses for London, and was mass built in large quantities by the LGOC. The first entered service in 1910 gradually replacing the company’s horse buses and by December 1913, the fleet had reached 2,500 vehicles and were very reliable machines revolutionising bus travel in London at the time. They were so reliable that four years after being introduced, they would be sent to the Western Front during the First World War, where they would carry troops and wounded often ‘crewed’ by the bus drivers and conductors who were working on them in London when they were conscripted. Here, at the Routemaster 60 event in Finsbury Park, we see recently beautifully restored B2737 belonging to the London Transport Museum. Saturday 12 July 2014.

First World War

During the First World War, a great number of London’s bus drivers and conductors were called up to serve in the trenches on the Western Front. Due to their driving experience, many would be given driving posts to help with troop movements, using much of London’s bus fleet, some converted into army style trucks, but a large number appearing as normal London buses freshly commandeered from service until they could get converted. It is sadly a well-known fact that many did not return from the Western Front but those who did were hugely decorated with medals of bravery and took part in the yearly remembrance parades that took place, with many returning back to their driving and conductor roles. The First World War would also be London’s first flirtation with women working on the buses as clippies, cleaners, and engineers only, as they were not permitted to drive.

London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB)

The London Passenger Transport Act was passed by parliament in 1931, whereby all private bus companies and Underground Railways would be amalgamated under one governing body in the public sector. On 1 July 1933, the London Passenger Transport Board came into effect, inheriting some very antiquated vehicles and rolling stock as well as some newly built ones that would become design classics. It would also inherit some bus routes which today would be classed as outer London routes into the country area which became known as London Country. However, before the coming of the Greater London Council in 1965, whereby the London area had been downsized, many of the operating areas of some routes were still within the London area. The LPTB would become known simply as London Transport to staff and Londoners alike. London Transport would bring about the development of a clean and modern transport network which would become the envy of the world, thanks to the Chairman Lord Ashfield and Vice Chairman Frank Pick (who even got medals for architecture from Adolf Hitler and Stalin for Underground station architecture of the 1930s and ‘40s) pushing it into what would be called and viewed as LT’s golden years.

Everything from staff cutlery, stationery and uniforms, to vehicles and even bus stop flags, shelters, and street furniture would be carefully designed and thought through so that it would be long lasting and fit for purpose, and ensuring that everything was standardised into a corporate being instead of having everything mixed and different.

Trams, Trolleybuses, And Motor Buses

The LPTB had inherited some very old vehicles when it took over the major tramway companies as well as the private municipals such as London United Tramways and Metropolitan Electric Tramways, and the LGOC’s fleet. Bit by bit, LT started to replace the older vehicles it had inherited with specially designed modern vehicles with classics such as the STL, RT, RM, and RF to name some of the more known ones, although it did inherit a few new designs from the LGOC era such as the ST and LT type buses which had developed greatly since its B Type buses.

London’s first experimental tram route was introduced a short route along Victoria Street in 1857 by the LGOC. However, due to parliamentary opposition, its proposed tramway would be dropped. After several other unsuccessful experiments, London finally got its first three short routes in 1870 pulled along by horses. Towards the end of the century, these tramways would gradually upgrade to electric power, offering a fast and cheap method of transport for Londoners competing with the steam railways and the new motor buses. The last tram routes were withdrawn in 1952. Here, at the London Trolleybus 50 event, we see an example of the trams that lasted until the end standing next to A1 class trolleybus ‘Diddler’ No.1 which was introduced in 1931, replacing the trams out of Fulwell Depot. The design of this class of trolleybus resembled a motor bus in many respects but later classes to come would be of a more modern, futuristic design. Sunday 6 May 2012.

It would inherit London United’s Trolleybus system in South West London and gradually favour this silent, trackless mode of electric transport, replacing much of its tramway network with trolleybuses especially in North, East and West London. A few tram routes would survive however due to the intervention of the Second World War, after which LT decided that they would rather replace the last remaining trams and entire Trolleybus network with motor buses. London’s last trams ran on 5 July 1952, with the last trolleybus following ten years later on 8 May 1962. It has of course come full circle again with the introduction of the Croydon Tramlink, but this hasn’t expanded to other parts of London, although proposals have come and gone over the years. Perhaps clean, pollution-free trolleybuses may return?

Second World War

In 1939, LT had just started building and introducing its latest design of bus into service that would aim to standardise its fleet – the RT – when another war was declared, allowing only RT1 to enter service. RT2-151 were delivered between autumn 1941 and early 1942 in dribs and drabs, with production resuming in 1947. Like during the First World War, many employees would be called up or answer the call to serve, but due to a new type of warfare many drivers would be kept behind in London to continue driving as a reserved occupation as part of the Home Front war effort. Women would once again return as clippies, and in various engineering roles which required muscle work, but still they were not allowed to drive the bus.

Staff who fought returned and were decorated with their respective medals, with many returning to their driving, conductor, and engineering jobs. But LT would decide to change its policy slightly and allow women to become conductors, with many taking up the position in the late 1940s, but only if they were unmarried and didn’t have children.

Recruitment 1950s and 1960s

The 1950s would see London Transport with a staff shortage problem. London Transport would start a recruitment drive in other parts of the country such as Scotland, Northern England and eventually in Ireland, with many applying and getting the job, but this was not enough to ease the shortages; so in 1956, at the request of the Barbados government, London Transport travelled to the Caribbean to recruit men and women directly from Barbados to come to work as bus drivers/conductors, Underground staff, and canteen assistants. This recruitment would last until 1970 with recruitment spreading to Jamaica and Trinidad in 1966, although many who migrated before this recruitment drive had already joined LT. London Transport would see a further influx of migrant workers from other Commonwealth countries in Africa and Asia. My grandfather came from Barbados and would be one of those bus drivers at Barking Garage in East London.

The Routemaster and RT

The famous Routemaster bus would be London’s last bus that was designed especially for London service and built in London by Londoners. The bus was designed to replace the trolleybus fleet that was gathering pace in the latter half of the 1950s into the early 1960s, and would latterly be used to replace some of the RT family. Ironically, although the Routemaster did replace some of the RT family of vehicles,