Tower Transit Operations Limited, which traded as Tower Transit, is a bus company who operated in

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: Central London, N ...

. They are a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group and operated services under contract to

Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...

. Currently they operate services via their subsidiaries in both the Channel Islands and Liverpool. In December 2021, Tower Transit's West London operations were transferred to RATP Dev Transit London. In June 2022, their remaining operations were sold to

Stagecoach London Stagecoach London is a major bus operator in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach and operates services under contract to Transport for London mostly in East and South East London, as well as some services running into Central Londo ...

History

A Tower Transit bus is on route 488 to Dalston Junction

In June 2013,

Transit Systems Transit Systems Group is an Australian-based public transport company, which also operates overseas through its subsidiary Tower Transit Group. Transit Systems Group is a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group, formerly SeaLink Travel Group. History ...

purchased First London's Atlas Road (

Park Royal Park Royal is an area in North West London, England, divided between the London Borough of Ealing and the London Borough of Brent. It is the site of the largest business park in London, but despite intensive existing use, the area is, togethe ...

), Lea Interchange (

Leyton Leyton ( ) is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Ri ...

) and Westbourne Park garages with 24 London bus routes and 412 buses. Also included were contracts to operate three routes ( 425, N550 and N551) that had yet to commence. In October 2014, Tower Transit purchased Impact Group which operated 130 small buses for local authorities and schools out of depots in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

and

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

. This was sold in August 2018 to

HCT Group HCT Group was a social enterprise providing transport services and community services in several areas of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1982 as Hackney Community Transport in the London Borough of Hackney, to provide transport services f ...

. Tower Transit was included in the purchase of Transit Systems by SeaLink Travel Group in January 2020. In September 2021, SeaLink Travel Group and the

RATP Group The RATP Group () is a French state-owned enterprise (Établissement public à caractère industriel et commercial, EPIC) that operates public transport systems primarily in Paris, France. Headquartered in Paris, it originally operated under th ...

announced that their respective West London bus operations (including London United,

London Sovereign London Sovereign is a bus operator brand under London Sovereign Limited, trading as First Bus, which operates bus services in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of First Bus London and operates bus services under contract to Transport for London ...

and Tower Transit's Westbourne Park garage) would merge into a new joint venture called RATP Dev Transit London, with RATP Dev having an 87.5% shareholding and Tower Transit 12.5%. The incorporation of the joint venture was finalised on 11 December 2021. Tower Transit's Lea Interchange garage, located in East London, was not part of the joint venture and remained unaffected. In May 2022, it was announced that Tower Transit's remaining East London operations would be sold to

. The acquisition was finalised on 25 June 2022 and these services are now operated by Stagecoach under the Lea Interchange Bus Company Limited legal entity. In September 2022, Tower Transit announced the acquisition of LibertyBus in Jersey and CT Plus in Guernsey. In February 2025, Tower Transit announced the acquisition of Liverpool-based Huyton Travel.

Garages

Atlas Road (AS)

On 1 October 2011, this garage opened when part of Westbourne Park garage was closed to make way for

Elizabeth line The Elizabeth line is a railway line that runs across Greater London and nearby towns, operating similarly to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries. It runs services on dedicated infras ...

construction works, with the operation of routes 28, 31, 328, N28, and N31 transferred. Atlas Road operated as an outstation for Westbourne Park, so buses are seen on Atlas Road routes and vice versa. With the completion of Crossrail works, all routes returned to Westbourne Park in June 2017 with Atlas Road retained as a maintenance centre. It closed in October 2017, being taken over by London United.

Lea Interchange (LI)

As at June 2022, Lea Interchange garage operated routes 58, 135, 236, 262, 276, 308, 339,

473 __NOTOC__ Year 473 ( CDLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Leo without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1226 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...

, 488, 678, D8 and W14. The garage opened in 2007 to replace the Waterden Road, Stratford garage that closed as part of the development of the Olympic Park for the 2012 Olympic and

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

. Waterden Road was opened in 1996 after a number of tender wins. Lea Interchange began operating route 69 on 30 April 2016.

CT Plus HCT Group was a social enterprise providing transport services and community services in several areas of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1982 as Hackney Community Transport in the London Borough of Hackney, to provide transport services f ...

took over operation of route 26 and route N26 on 25 June 2016.

London General London General Transport Services Limited, trading as Go-Ahead London, is a bus company operating in Greater London. The London General brand is a subsidiary of Go-Ahead London and operates services under contract to Transport for London. The ...

took over operation of the route 212 and route 444 on 7 March 2020 and Docklands Buses took over the 69 on 1 May 2021. On 25 June 2022, the garage and its operations was acquired by Stagecoach London.

Westbourne Park (X)

As of December 2021, Westbourne Park garage operated routes 13, 23, 28,

218 Year 218 ( CCXVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Adventus (or, less frequently, year 971 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 218 for th ...

, 295, 414, 452, C3 and N97. Westbourne Park Garage was part of the reconstruction programme undertaken by London Transport in the early 1980s. As was common practice at the time, the new garage replaced two older garages - the small and inadequate Middle Row (X), and the larger former trolley bus garage at Stonebridge (SE). The new garage, which opened in 1981 in Great Western Road, is of unusual design in that it is built beneath the elevated A40 Westway, the roof of the garage being profiled to match the concrete flyover. Originally, the garage allocation consisted of

AEC Routemaster The AEC Routemaster is a Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, front-engined double-decker bus that was designed by London Transport Executive, London Transport and built by the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) and Park Royal Vehicles. The ...

s, and a small number of

Daimler Fleetline The Daimler Fleetline (known as the Leyland Fleetline from circa 1975) is a rear-engined double-decker bus chassis which was built between 1960 and 1983. It was the second of three bus models to have a marque name as well as an alphanumeric ...

s to B20 "quiet" specification for route 18. These were supplemented in 1983 by a number of Leyland Titans for comparative trials. A new 180 metre bus parking area was built on a raised platform over railway lines as part of the

Crossrail Crossrail is a completed railway project centred on London. It provides a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system, akin to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries, kn ...

project opening in 2017.

Metroline Metroline is a bus operator operating primarily in Greater London and partially in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro and operates bus services for London Buses under contract to Transport for Lon ...

took over the operation of route 295 on 31 October 2015. On 5 March 2016, Westbourne Park took over the operation of route N97 from London United. On 3 October 2020, Westbourne Park depot also took over the operation of route C3 from

Abellio London Transport UK London Bus, formerly Abellio London, is a bus company operating services under contract to Transport for London in Greater London, England. History The origins of Transport UK London Bus can be traced back to June 1998, when Nat ...

. On 1 May 2021, routes 28 and N28 transferred to London United, with route 328 transferring to Metroline. Westbourne Park garage was transferred to RATP Dev Transit London on 11 December 2021.

Fleet

As at May 2015, the fleet consisted of 437 buses.

References

External links

Company website
{{London bus operators Former London bus operators Transport companies established in 2013 Transport companies disestablished in 2022 2013 establishments in England 2022 disestablishments in England