Author: Matthew Wharmby Publisher: Transport Systems Series ISBN: 9781913870881 Category : Languages : en Pages : 96
Book Description
London's bus routes are always changing. In this snapshot of 2021, this book captures routes 1-100 at their current physical extent and with their current operating company. Illustrated with over 180 photos, this unique volume gives an insight into what can be seen on each route every day.
Author: Jim Blake Publisher: Pen and Sword ISBN: 1473887224 Category : Transportation Languages : en Pages : 325
Book Description
Using photographs from Jim Blake's extensive archives, this book examines the turbulent period in the history of London's buses immediately after London Transport lost its Country Buses and Green Line Coaches to the recently-formed National Bus Company, under their new subsidiary company, London Country Bus Services Ltd.The new entity inherited a largely elderly fleet of buses from London Transport, notably almost 500 RT-class AEC Regent double-deckers, of which replacement was already under way in the shape of new AEC MB and SM class Swift single-deckers.London Transport itself was in the throes of replacing a much larger fleet of these. At the time of the split, it was already apparent that the 36ft-long MB class single-deckers were not suitable for London conditions, particularly in negotiating suburban streets cluttered with cars, and were also mechanically unreliable. The shorter SM class superseded them but they were equally unreliable. January 1971 saw the appearance of London Transport's first purpose-built one-man operated double-decker, the DMS class. All manner of problems plagued these, too.Both operators were also plagued with a shortage of spare parts for their vehicles, made worse by the three-day week imposed by the Heath regime in 1973-4. London Transport and London Country were still closely related, with the latter's buses continuing to be overhauled at LT's Aldenham Works. Such were the problems with the MB, SM, and DMS types that LT not only had to resurrect elderly RTs to keep services going, but even repurchased some from London Country! In turn, the latter operator hired a number of MB-types from LT, now abandoned as useless, from 1974 onwards in an effort to cover their own vehicle shortages. Things looked bleak for both operators in the mid-1970s.This book contains a variety of interesting and often unusual photographs illustrating all of this, most of which have never been published before.
Author: Matthew Wharmby Publisher: Pen and Sword ISBN: 1473869439 Category : Transportation Languages : en Pages : 223
Book Description
Between 2002 and 2006 six of Londons bus companies put into service 390 articulated bendy buses on twelve routes for transport in London.rnrnDuring what turned out to be a foreshortened nine years in service, the Mercedes-Benz Citaro G buses familiar on the continent and worldwide earned an unenviable reputation in London; according to who you read and who you believed, they caught fire at the drop of a hat, they maimed cyclists, they drained revenue from the system due to their susceptibility to fare evasion, they transported already long-suffering passengers in standing crush loads like cattle and they contributed to the extinction of the Routemaster from frontline service. In short, it was often referred to as the bus we hated.rnrnThis account is an attempt by a long-time detractor of the bendy buses to set the vehicles in their proper context not quite to rehabilitate them, but to be as fair as is possible towards a mode of transport which felt about as un-British as could be.
Author: Matthew Wharmby Publisher: Casemate Publishers ISBN: 1473869706 Category : Transportation Languages : en Pages : 268
Book Description
The Olympian was Leyland's answer to the competition that was threatening to take custom away from its second-generation OMO double-deck products. Simpler than the London Transportcentric Titan but, unlike that integral model, able to respond to the market by being offered as a chassis for bodying by the bodybuilder of the customer's choice, the Olympian was an immediate success and soon replaced both the Atlantean and Bristol VRT as the standard double-decker of the NBC. It wasn't until 1984 that London Transport itself dabbled with the model, taking three for evaluation alongside trios of contemporary double-deckers.The resulting L class spawned an order for 260 more in 1986, featuring accessibility advancements developed by LT in concert with the Ogle design consultancy, but the rapid changes engulfing the organisation meant that no more were ordered. During the 1990s company ownerships shifted repeatedly as the ethos of competition gave way to the cold reality of big business, an unstable situation which even saw London's bus operations broken up.The L class was split between three new companies, but the backlog of older vehicles to replace once corporate interests released funding ensured the buses up to a further decade in service. Finally, as low-floor buses swept into the capital at the turn of the century, Olympian operation at last declined, and the final examples operated early in 2006.This profusely illustrated book describes the diversity of liveries, ownerships and deployments that characterised the London Leyland Olympians' two decades of service.
Author: Tony Lewin Publisher: ISBN: 9781858946245 Category : Routemaster buses Languages : en Pages : 160
Book Description
Few things are as synonomous with London as its famous red buses, thousands of which carry millions of passengers a year on hundreds of separate routes. Yet since the withdrawl from service of the much loved Routemaster in the mid-2000s, noe of its replacements has succeeded in generating the same kind of affection among the travelling public. Now, however, the stylish, Thomas Hetherwick-designed New Routemaster looks set to recapture the imagination of Londoners and visitors alike. This book tells the story of the New Routemaster.
Author: OpenCityGuides Project Publisher: Ledizioni ISBN: 8867051490 Category : Travel Languages : en Pages : 97
Book Description
This is the London ebook guide realized by the OpenCityGuides Project. We realize user-friendly ebook extracting content from open sources on the world wide web. Why buying an awkward paper guide when you can have an easy and interactive one on your smartphone or tablet? Our guides are both cheap and complete, and offer a more advanced user experience compared with the traditional ones. And, last but not least, they are under an open content license.
Author: Rob Baker Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited ISBN: 1445651203 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 469
Book Description
London's forgotten scandals, secrets and personalities from the twentieth century, told by the writer of the popular blog Another Nickel in the Machine.
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee Publisher: The Stationery Office ISBN: 0215030923 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 193
Book Description
Buses are a key local service, but usage has been in decline since the 1950s. The Transport Act 1985 introduced deregulation, but that has failed to reverse that decline. The report examines the particular problems local authorities face in developing and implementing effective bus strategies. It is clear to the Committee that, for many areas, including all major metropolitan areas outside London, the current regime is not working. The Committee recommends more flexibility, and is particularly attracted by Quality Contracts. These would replace open competition with a licensed regime. Operators bid for exclusive rights to run bus services on a route or group of routes, on the basis of a local authority service specification. Independent Traffic Commissioners are another development that the Committee welcomes, and would like to see them have a higher profile and more resources and powers, especially to enforce Quality Contracts and penalise operators who do not meet their obligations. Others areas covered in the report are: securing socially necessary services outside the PTAs; congestion and bus priority; concessionary fares; and the image of the bus.
Proudly powered by WordPress |
Theme: Rits Blog by Crimson Themes.
Author: Matthew Wharmby
Author: Jim Blake
Author: Matthew Wharmby
Author: Matthew Wharmby
Author: Tony Lewin
Author: Michael Leapman
Author: Malcolm Batten
Author: OpenCityGuides Project
Author: Rob Baker
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee