The London Mini and Midi Bus Types

Author: David Beddall
Publisher: Pen and Sword Transport
ISBN: 1399095293
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 226

Book Description
London Passenger Transport Board inherited a number of small buses from various independent operators during the early 1930s, followed by the introduction of the Leyland Cub around the same period. The introduction of the big-bus policy saw many of the small buses withdrawn from service. The 1950s saw the introduction of the GS-class Guy Special for use on the lightly-trafficked country routes. More smaller buses entered the London Transport fleet in the form of the Ford Transit and Bristol LH / LHS saloons. The mid-1980s saw a resurgence in small-bus operation as a cost-cutting exercise. Many new types entered service with London Buses Limited and other independent operators. The introduction of these minibuses saw a number of new services introduced to serve previously unserved areas of London. However, the success of these small buses led to their replacement by the larger Dennis Dart midibus. while the introduction of varying lengths of Darts catered for many of London’s needs, other types of mini and midibuses were taken into stock by London based operators for fill in gaps. London’s Mini and midibuses takes a look at the various types of mini and midibuses that have operated on routes in the Greater London area.

London Bus Garages and Allocations

Author: Jordan Paul
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781908347220
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 64

Book Description

The London DMS Bus

Author: Matthew (Matt) Wharmby
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1783831731
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Book Description
Vilified as the great failure of all London Transport bus classes, the DMS family of Daimler Fleetline was more like an unlucky victim of straitened times. Desperate to match staff shortages with falling demand for its services during the late 1960s, London Transport was just one organization to see nationwide possibilities and savings in legislation that was about to permit double-deck one-man-operation and partially fund purpose-built vehicles. However, prohibited by circumstances from developing its own rear-engined Routemaster (FRM) concept, LT instituted comparative trials between contemporary Leyland Atlanteans and Daimler Fleetlines.The latter came out on top, and massive orders followed. The first DMSs entering service on 2 January 1971. In service, however, problems quickly manifested. Sophisticated safety features served only to burn out gearboxes and gulp fuel. The passengers, meanwhile, did not appreciate being funnelled through the DMS's recalcitrant automatic fare-collection machinery only to have to stand for lack of seating. Boarding speeds thus slowed to a crawl, to the extent that the savings made by laying off conductors had to be negated by adding more DMSs to converted routes! Second thoughts caused the ongoing order to be amended to include crew-operated Fleetlines (DMs), noise concerns prompted the development of the B20 quiet bus variety, and brave attempts were made to fit the buses into the time-honored system of overhauling at Aldenham Works, but finally the problems proved too much. After enormous expenditure, the first DMSs began to be withdrawn before the final RTs came out of service, and between 1979 and 1983 all but the B20s were sold as is widely known, the DMSs proved perfectly adequate with provincial operators once their London features had been removed. OPO was to become fashionable again in the 1980s as the politicians turned on London Transport itself, breaking it into pieces in order to sell it off. Not only did the B20 DMSs survive to something approaching a normal lifespan, but the new cheap operators awakening with the onset of tendering made use of the type to undercut LT, and it was not until 1993 that the last DMS operated.

London Transport's Last Buses

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.

London's Low-floor Buses

Author: David Beddall
Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited
ISBN: 1398101206
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 180

Book Description
With 180 wonderful photographs, this is a stunning photographic tribute to London's low-floor buses.

The London MB and SM Buses - A London Bus Disappointment

Author: Jim Blake
Publisher: Pen and Sword Transport
ISBN: 1399034839
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 186

Book Description
PURCHASED to replace London Transport's ageing RT-type fleet, and also to ease staff shortages by extending one-man operation, the MB-types were not only a disappointment, but an unmitigated disaster! Their successors, the SM-types, were if anything worse, being underpowered as well as equally unsuitable for London operation. In this new volume of his photos, Jim Blake takes a critical look at what were therefore some of the most unsuccessful buses ever operated by London Transport, operating only between 1966 and 1981, most of them however achieving only six or seven years' service - if that. Most of the pictures featured have never been published before and many show rare and unusual scenes, several inside LT's garages and Aldenham Works, now themselves no longer in existence. In addition to the buses themselves, Jim also catches glimpses of London life spanning the period from the "swinging 'sixties" to the harsh first years of the Thatcher regime. The MB and SM family of vehicles also saw service with London Country, the latter being delivered new to them - but they fared just as badly in the outlying countryside around London as in Central London. They brought to a sad end London Transport's long association with A.E.C. buses, and could not have been more different from the legendary, long-lived RT, RF and Routemaster classes produced by that manufacturer!

The London Dennis Dart & Dart SLF

Author: David Beddall
Publisher: Pen and Sword Transport
ISBN: 1399095218
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 210

Book Description
Introduced in 1989, the Dennis Dart became one of the most successful midibuses in the UK. Bodywork was supplied by Carlyle, Wrightbus, Reeve Burgess, Plaxton, Alexander and Wadham Stringer. A large number were taken into stock by London operators, replacing many of the smaller midibuses. A low-floor version, the Dart SLF, was introduced in 1995, and like the step-entrance Dart this model also became popular with operators around the United Kingdom, as well as Hong Kong. In 2001 Transbus took over production, only to revert to the Alexander Dennis name in 2005. The last Darts entered service in London during 2007, after which time the Enviro 200 took over. London Dart and Dart SLF provides a history of this popular London single-decker, from its introduction to its demise.

The London Enviro 200

Author: David Beddall
Publisher: Pen and Sword Transport
ISBN: 1399095250
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 218

Book Description
Launched by Transbus in 2004, the original Enviro 200 mode was not a success. The Enviro 200 was relaunched in 2006, this new model becoming more successful. The new model was taken into stock by many London operators, replacing older single-deckers in their fleets. The Enviro 200 had just as much success as its predecessor, the Dennis Dart SLF. As with the Dart SLF, the Enviro 200 was available in a number of lengths. 2014 saw the launch of the Enviro 200 MMC (major model change), this replacing the original classic Enviro 200 in 2018. The first all-electric Enviro 200 MMCs arrived in London in 2016, this becoming the standard model for new contracts. The London Enviro 200 looks at the history of the Enviro 200 and Enviro 200 MMC model in London service.

Transit Journal

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electric railroads
Languages : en
Pages : 1308

Book Description

London's Buses, 1979–1994

Author: Andrew Bartlett
Publisher: Pen and Sword Transport
ISBN: 1526755475
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 478

Book Description
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.