London's Buses, 1979-1994

The Capital's Bus Network in Transition

Andrew Bartlett

• Publisher: Pen and Sword Transport
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781526755476
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Transportation & Navigation
• Index: Technology & Engineering

In 1979, fresh from its general election victory, the Conservative government began formulating plans to deregulate bus services and privatise the companies operating them in England, Scotland and Wales. London was not to be excluded, so from the outset, London Buses was broken up into several areas and from 1985, a tendering system was introduced which permitted other operators to bid for the routes. Opposition from the Labour group at the Greater London Council had to be dealt with – eventually achieved by abolishing it in 1986. However, as each subsequent year passed, promises that deregulation was coming were not met. In late 1992, the privatisation timetable was set, and was ultimately completed at the end of 1994. The issue of deregulation never resurfaced. Copiously illustrated with over 270 photographs, virtually all of which are being published for the first time, this is the story of London Buses over those sixteen tumultuous years. To give greater context to the narrative, annual vehicle acquisition listings show how purchasing policy changed over the period; important route changes, tendering gains and losses and a fleet list for the entire period are also included.

1979

In what proved to be a watershed year for LT (and indeed for the wider bus industry too), the first tentative steps towards a system based on a form of regional autonomy were taken. The events that unfolded had their genesis in the GLC elections that had taken place two years earlier. With control passing from Labour to the Conservatives, it soon became apparent that a different policy towards LT was being pursued in the areas of organisation and provision of revenue support.

Early January found LT still in the middle of implementing ‘Busplan ‘78’, a network-wide review which began prior to the 1977 elections and sought, inter alia, to improve off-peak coverage and to standardise frequencies. The first two sets of changes had been introduced in April and October 1978; the third and final tranche was implemented on 31 March 1979. However, driver shortages at several garages were a continuing cause for concern and had an impact on the roll-out.

Proposals were also put forward in 1978 to reorganise LT into eight districts. The plan was that each one should be run by a general manager with control over all the resources required to run the operations in his area, including maintenance, planning and liaison. Hopes that implementation would take place early in 1979 never came to fruition; it took until 1 October for the ambition to be realised. At the same time, London Buses was announced as the new trading name for LT’s bus work.

The new districts, and the garages allocated to them, were as follows:

ABBEY – AF - Putney, B - Battersea, CF - Chalk Farm, GM - Victoria, HT - Holloway, R - Riverside, S - Shepherds Bush, SW - Stockwell, WD - Wandsworth, X - Middle Row

CARDINAL – AV - Hounslow, FW - Fulwell, HL - Hanwell, HW - Southall, K - Kingston, M - Mortlake, NB - Norbiton, UX - Uxbridge, V - Stamford Brook

FOREST – AP - Seven Kings, BK - Barking, L - Loughton, NS - North Street, RD - Hornchurch, T - Leyton, U - Upton Park, WW - Walthamstow

LEASIDE – AD - Palmers Green, AR - Tottenham, E - Enfield, EM - Edmonton, FY - Finchley, MH - Muswell Hill, PB - Potters Bar, SF - Stamford Hill, WN - Wood Green

SELKENT – AM - Plumstead, AW - Abbey Wood, BX - Bexleyheath, NX - New Cross, PM - Peckham, SP - Sidcup, TB - Bromley, TL - Catford

TOWER – BW - Bow, CT - Clapton, D - Dalston, H - Hackney, PR - Poplar, Q - Camberwell, WH - West Ham, WL - Walworth

WANDLE – A - Sutton, AK - Streatham, AL - Merton, BN - Brixton, ED - Elmers End, N - Norwood, TC - Croydon, TH - Thornton Heath

WATLING – AC - Willesden, AE - Hendon, EW - Edgware, HD - Harrow Weald, ON - Alperton, SE - Stonebridge, W – Cricklewood

Vehicle news – single deck fleet

It was time to say farewell to the most venerable saloon in the fleet, the RF. Now over twenty-five years since their introduction, the 218/219 (Kingston – Staines/Weybridge) became their final haunt, and RF507 performed the last rites on Friday 30 March, Leyland Nationals taking over thereafter. Only one RF was left in LT ownership by 31 December.

So far as the AEC Swifts were concerned, there was little or no major change to numbers of either the MB or SM classes scheduled for service, at around 245, though the stock of SMs dropped by approximately 130 during the year. But on the plus side, over 150 Leyland Nationals (LS) were delivered in 1979, bringing the total to 435. Finally, five new Ford Transits with Dormobile sixteen-seat bodywork, FS22-26, arrived in October and November and entered service at Hampstead Garden Suburb, for the H2, and Potters Bar, on the PB1.

RF504 (MXX 481) entered service in March 1953 at Sidcup, and moved from Uxbridge to Kingston in 1976. Seen here in Portsmouth Road on its way to Staines with a 218 working in March 1979, it appears to be in reasonably good condition, but withdrawal came that same month, and after a period with a private owner, it was used as a source of spares for preserved RF444.

Vehicle news – double deck fleet

The other old stager, a stalwart of the fleet for almost forty years, was the RT, which by the beginning of 1979 was only found regularly on the 62 (Creekmouth/Barking-Barkingside). The type was finally withdrawn on 7 April, RT624 having the distinction of being the last one in service before taking part in a parade headed by the restored and preserved RT1. They could still be seen on London’s streets, as over 100 were retained as staff buses and trainers, but they too were gone by the year end.

Daimler Fleetlines were being delivered right up until August 1978, but the type was neither totally reliable or especially popular, and the decision was taken to concentrate resources on the better Park Royal examples. Once those in poor condition – a number had suffered fire damage – had gone, Metro-Cammell bodied withdrawals began in April, although they immediately started appearing elsewhere in the country, most notably in Oxford and for the West Midlands PTE. Away from London, they would in the main give several more years’ service for their new operators. Out of a total of 2,646 built, less than 2,300 remained by the year end, and of those, only around 1,850 were scheduled for service.

The 62 had for just over twenty years been the province of the RT, the type taking over from the RTL in November 1958. It turned out to be the final RT-operated route, and Saturday 7 April 1979 marked the end, with RMs taking over progressively during the day. RT624 was the last to go, but Weymann bodied RT3016 (NLE 906), pictured in High Street, Barkingside, was one of the twelve reported as still active up to that point, although it was then immediately withdrawn.

With the distinctive white upper deck window surrounds, DM2626 (THX 626S) prepares to leave Victoria bus station for Brent Cross on a 16A working in October 1979.

Even the future of some more recent stock was looking precarious. The Scania BR111DH or Metropolitan, of which 164 were acquired in the period 1975-77, was prone to corrosion and was of questionable reliability. Seven accident victims were scrapped during 1979, and it was planned to withdraw the type as their certificates of fitness expired.

Routemaster news principally concerned the return to LT of former London Country vehicles, RMCs, RCLs and RMLs, a process that had begun two years earlier. Most were put into store until they could be prepared for service. LT also acquired nine ex Northern General Routemasters, numbering them RMF2761-69. Finally, with the ending on 31 March 1979 of the British Airways service populated by the RMA class, LT acquired thirty-eight of the type and many were soon utilised as staff buses or trainers.

Metro-Cammell had only supplied the bodywork for the Metropolitan, but decided subsequently to take over the entire process. The result, the MCW Metrobus, was trialled in London at the end of 1977 using vehicle TOJ 592S, and the first five production models came in 1978, though only three were used in service before the year end, with their classification revised from MT1-3 to M1-3. Further orders were placed, and by the end of 1979, deliveries had reached M205, with 300 more due in 1980.

While the Metropolitan was still entering service, LT engineers worked alongside British Leyland in the development of a new double decker, code-named B15. Prototypes NHG 732P (1976) and BCK 706R (1977) were tested, and the first seven production models, now known as the Titan, entered service in 1978. Once again the original class letters, in this case TN, were amended to a simple T, before they arrived. A further 119 appeared in 1979, and the original order for 250 was eventually fulfilled the following year. However, Leyland announced during 1979 that production of the Titan at Park Royal would cease with the closure of the plant there.

Service news

Perhaps the most unusual event was the collapse of the carriageway in Petersham Road in January, affecting the 65 (Ealing-Chessington) and 71 (Richmond-Leatherhead). Until it was filled in, buses terminated on either side of the obstruction. However, a later and more serious crater opened up, leading on 5 May to the curtailment of the 71 at Petersham, while the 65 ran in two sections, Ealing-Petersham (River Lane) and Petersham (Fox & Duck)-Chessington. By this time the 71 had been withdrawn from the Surbiton-Leatherhea...