Buses in London
This article is a general one on buses in London. For a specific article on the organisation responsible for running most buses in London, see London Buses. |
A new London icon? A new Enviro 400 operating for Metroline. Its curved front window makes it an ideal bus to view tall London iconic buildings such as Big Ben's tower and the London Eye on the 24 route |
The
London Bus is one of
London's principal icons, with the archetypal red rear-entrance double-deck
Routemaster bus being recognised world-wide.
Organisation
 |
A representation of the design of the standard London bus stop - yellow squares mean "buy tickets before boarding" and blue squares denote a night bus |
Buses have been used on the streets of London since 1829, when
George Shillibeer started operating his horse drawn
omnibus service from
Paddington to the
city. The
London General Omnibus Company or LGOC was founded in 1855 to amalgamate and regulate the horse-drawn omnibus services then operating in London. LGOC began using motor omnibuses, in 1902, and manufactured them itself from 1909.
The last LGOC horse-drawn bus ran on
25 October 1911, although independent operators used them until 1914.
In 1912 the
Underground Group, which at that time owned most of the
London Underground, bought the LGOC. In 1933 the LGOC, along with the rest of the Underground Group, became part of the new
London Passenger Transport Board. The name London General was replaced by London Transport, which became synonymous with the red
London bus.
During the 1980s a decision was made by the government of
Margaret Thatcher to
privatise the bus operating industry in the
United Kingdom, which at that time was dominated by London Transport in London, large municipally-owned operators in other major cities and the government-owned
National Bus Company and
Scottish Bus Group elsewhere. For largely political reasons a completely different model was followed in London as compared to the rest of the country. In London a part of London Transport called
London Buses was set up, with the remit to contract out operation of services but to determine service levels and fares within the public sector.
This regime is still in place, although the ownership of
London Buses moved from the central (UK) government-controlled London Regional Transport to the
Mayor of London's transport organisation,
Transport for London, in 2000, as part of the formation of the new
Greater London Authority.
Vehicles
Main category: London BusesUntil the 1950s, London tended to go its own way in terms of bus design, designing its own vehicles specifically for London use rather than using the bus manufacturers' general products used elsewhere in the UK. The last such bus specifically designed for London was the
AEC Routemaster. Since the turn of the Millennium, there has been a shift to low-floor double-deck and
articulated buses.
Other buses used in
London:
*
Bristol VR*
Dennis Trident (
Alexander ALX400/
Plaxton President body)
*
Dennis Dart*
Dennis Dart SLF (
Plaxton Pointer/
Alexander ALX200/
Caetano Nimbus body)
*
Leyland Titan*
Leyland Olympian*
Mercedes-Benz Citaro rigid/articulated/Fuel Cell bus
*
MCW Metrobus*
Optare Solo*
Scania OmniDekka*
DAF/VDL DB250 (
Alexander ALX400/
Plaxton President/
Wright Pulsar Gemini body)
*
DAF/VDL SB120 (
Wright Cadet/Merit body)
*
Volvo Citybus*
Volvo Olympian*
Volvo B7TL*
Alexander Dennis Enviro 400Local Buses
Local buses within London form a network managed by
London Buses, an arm of
Transport for London, although most services are operated by
private sector operators operating under contract to London Buses. All such buses are painted in a largely red colour scheme, with only minor variations and
logos to distinguish the operator in question, and operate the same fare regime.
Although the rear-entrance double-deck
Routemaster is the archetypal London bus, their numbers are now reducing quite quickly due to their age, inability to accept
wheelchairs or
baby transports, and requirement for a two-person crew. The first Routemaster (
RM1) was 50 years old in 2004. Two Routemaster-operated routes are to be launched in late 2005 as working heritage services, akin to the
F Market heritage streetcar line in
San Francisco.
Most local bus services are now operated by modern low-floor buses, which may be single-deck, double-deck, or one of the new type of
articulated buses, locally called
bendy buses. With the introduction of the
London congestion charge in central London and because at peak times the
Underground is operating at maximum capacity, many bus service improvements have been undertaken, and central bus services are currently enjoying something of a resurgence.
Some local bus routes in the outer areas of London cross the London boundary. London Buses services that cross the boundary have standard red buses, and charge London fares, at least within the boundary. Buses from outside London that cross into London are in their operators' own colour schemes, and may not accept London fares even within the boundary.
Night buses
The first night buses were in existence as early as 1913, and they form part of the
London Buses network. Originally they had their own (premium) fare structure and all the routes were distinguished by an N prefixed route number, for example the N21 running to
Foots Cray or the N29 to
Winchmore Hill and
Enfield. Most night bus services operate from a central London terminus in
Trafalgar Square.
More recently, under the influence of the
Mayor of London,
Ken Livingstone, night buses have adopted standard London bus fares. Some daytime bus routes, including an increasing number of orbital rather than radial services, have also started operating 24 hours a day, using the same (non-N prefixed) route number throughout the day and night. All-night buses (whether on N-prefixed routes or 24-hour routes) are standard red buses. London's night bus services have seen passenger numbers soar in recent years - by mid 2005, up by over 80% over levels at the start of the twenty first century.
Tour buses
A common sight in central London is open-top buses (i.e. double-decker buses with an open upper deck), which provide tourist services with either live or recorded commentary. Most of these services allow passengers to embark and disembark at chosen
stops along their route, continuing their journey on a later bus. There are several competing operators of such services and, although at least one paints its buses in the same red as London's local buses, they have no connection with
London Buses. Fares are set by the operators and usually involve a flat fee for a day (or multiple days) usage; there is no need to pre-book and tickets can be bought from the driver and/or bus stop ticket sellers.
Other more formally organised tours use luxury coaches and in generally need to be booked in advance through
travel agents.
Long distance coaches
Long-distance coaches link London with the rest of the
UK and with other cities in
Europe. Most of these services are run by
National Express and their European affiliate
Eurolines. National Express's predominantly white vehicles are common on the roads of central London, on their way to and from their terminus at
Victoria Coach Station.
Recently competition for long distance traffic has been introduced by
Megabus, a subsidiary of the large UK bus operating company
Stagecoach. This company operates cheap services aimed at
students and the like, which must be booked in advance on the
web.
Other coach services link London to medium-distance destinations, and unlike National Express or Megabus provide walk-on fares. A good example of this is the service to the city of
Oxford, where
Stagecoach's frequent
Oxford Tube service competes with both
Go-Ahead's similar
Express service and the less frequent but cheaper service from its sister company Megabus.
Airport buses
National Express is also the principal airport operator, serving
Heathrow,
Gatwick and
Stansted with its
National Express Airport brand. Unlike their longer distance cousins, these services are walk-on services, which serve stops throughout central London rather than running to
Victoria Coach Station.
London City Airport used to provide express shuttle bus services to connect the airport to rail and underground stations at
Canning Town,
Canary Wharf and
Liverpool Street. These operated at a premium fare (compared to the parallel but slower
London Buses services) and did not survive the extension of the
Docklands Light Railway to the airport in late 2005.
Main category: July 2005 London bombings*
February 18,
1996: An
improvised explosive device detonates prematurely on a bus travelling along
Aldwych in
central London, killing Edward O'Brien, the
IRA operative transporting the device, and injuring eight others.
*
July 7,
2005: An explosion occurred as part of a
coordinated attack on London at 09:47 on a
No. 30 Hackney Wick to
Marble Arch double-decker bus operated by
Stagecoach Group for
Transport for London, which was following a planned diversion from its normal route in
Tavistock Square, outside the
British Medical Association (BMA) building on Upper Woburn Place, ripping the roof off the top deck and destroying the back of the bus. Thirteen people plus the suicide bomber were killed.
*
July 21,
2005: A suicide bomber attempted to explode a bomb as part of a
second coordinated attack on London at 13:30 on a No. 26
Waterloo to
Hackney Wick double-decker bus operated by
Stagecoach Group for
Transport for London, on Hackney Road at the corner of Columbia Road in
Shoreditch. The device failed to operate properly, causing no injuries.
*
Transport for London*
London Buses*
London Underground*
London Bus - Transport of London*
London Bus Page*
London Bus Routes Home Page*
Overground.org*
Toby & John's Local Transport History*
SE London bus website with many pictures
