The privatisation of London bus services was the process of the transfer of operation of
buses in London
Buses have been used as a mode of public transport in London since 1829, when George Shillibeer started operating a horse-drawn ''omnibus'' service from Paddington to the City of London. In the decades since their introduction, the red London b ...
from public bodies to private companies.
For half a century, operation of London bus services for public transport was under the direct control of a number of entities known as London Transport. The
London Regional Transport Act 1984
The London Regional Transport Act 1984 (1984 c. 32) was an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament which created the statutory corporation named London Regional Transport. It received royal assent
Royal assent is the method by which a monar ...
resulted in
London Regional Transport
London Regional Transport (LRT) was the organisation responsible for most of the public transport network in London, England, between 1984 and 2000. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operatio ...
taking control of London's bus routes, with the operation divested in stand alone companies that were privatised in 1994/95.
Since then, direct provision of bus services in London has been run by private companies, although Transport for London did operate its own company, East Thames Buses between 1999 and 2009.
Unlike those in the rest of the United Kingdom, the bus services in London, although still ultimately privatised, were not deregulated to the same extent. In London, details of routes, fares and services levels were still specified by public bodies, with the right to run the services contracted to private companies on a tendered basis.
The privatised period produced for the first time buses in London painted in different schemes from the traditional red. This ceased following a 1997 edict that London buses be 80% red.
Formation of London Buses
On 29 June 1984, in the general move towards deregulation, responsibility for running London bus services transferred from the last public body running London's buses, the
Greater London Council
The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...
to
London Regional Transport
London Regional Transport (LRT) was the organisation responsible for most of the public transport network in London, England, between 1984 and 2000. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operatio ...
under the
London Regional Transport Act 1984
The London Regional Transport Act 1984 (1984 c. 32) was an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament which created the statutory corporation named London Regional Transport. It received royal assent
Royal assent is the method by which a monar ...
. This Act required arm's-length subsidiaries to be established to oversee operation of bus services, and on 29 March 1985 London Buses Limited was incorporated.
The implementation of the Transport Act 1985 that deregulated bus services in England, Scotland and Wales did not apply to London Buses.
Initially, bus livery continued to be all-over red with a simple solid white roundel, but in 1987 this livery was revised with the addition of a grey skirt and a white mid-level relief line; in the same year a modified red and yellow roundel, with the name 'London Buses' in capitals, was introduced.
Introduction of competition
Under the 1984 Act, London bus services were to be tendered. The first round of tendering took place in the summer of 1985, bringing the first private operator into the market, in the form of London Buslines on route 81. By 1988 Boro'line Maidstone, Grey-Green and Metrobus were also operating numerous London routes.
Controversially, these operators were allowed to operate buses in liveries other than standard red, meaning that for the first time it was possible for non-red buses to run into the centre of London, such as those on high-profile route 24 operated by Grey-Green. The only requirement was to display the London Transport roundel on the bus, to designate a London Transport tendered service. Ironically, several of the new private entrants were descendants of London Transport's former 'green' buses division, which operated outer London services that were passed to the National Bus Company's control as London Country Bus Services, in 1969.
The private competition was not without controversy, with objections to non-red buses leading to an edict in 1997 specifying 80% red liveries. The tendering also caused problems with several operators needing to hire buses due to late delivery of new buses for newly won routes.
One such controversial route was the arrangements for tendering route 60 which was initially awarded to Capital Logistics. Difficulties in setting up the route eventually saw operation by eight different operators and 10 different bus types in a short space of time, before the route finally gained a stable arrangement.
The collapse of Harris Bus in December 1999, led to London Transport forming East Thames Buses as an arm's-length company to provide temporary operation of the routes. It was retained by the new Transport for London authority, to tender for routes itself until sold in October 2009 to the Go-Ahead Group.
Break-up of London Buses
On 1 April 1989 London Buses was divided into 12 business units, in preparation for sell-off. The companies were created along geographic lines, with all but Westlink having routes running into
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...
. The division names and a small graphic device were added to the buses, in white. An exception to this was the Westlink unit, which received a new livery altogether. Some of the names chosen were drawn from the pre London Transport era, namely London General Omnibus Company and
London United Tramways
London United Tramways Company Limited was an operator of trams and trolleybuses in the western and southern suburbs of London, UK, from 1894 to 1933, when it passed to the London Passenger Transport Board.
Origins
The company was formed in 18 ...
.
The separate business units created were:
Unlike the other units, Centrewest quickly branded its buses into separate groups, in the main removing the London Buses roundel in favour of various gold designs, with just the central services remaining in a slightly altered roundel based scheme. The group brands were: ''Challenger'', ''Ealing Buses'', ''Gold Arrow'', ''Uxbridge Buses'', ''Hillingdon local service'' and ''Orpington Buses''.
Intermediate operation
During this time of separate business unit operation by London Buses, many new bus types were also being introduced, notably the Dennis Dart midibus as well as numerous
minibus
A minibus, microbus, minicoach, or commuter (in Zimbabwe) is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, ...
es. Several of these new vehicles received specialist branding from normal unit liveries, such as Camden Link, Kingston Hoppa or Southall Shuttle.
In the new era of private tendering, in an effort to compete with the new private operators entering the market, London Buses set up some low cost units to compete for tenders, painted in non-red liveries. The most notable were Harrow Buses and
Bexleybus
Bexleybus was an English bus operator. A subsidiary of Selkent, it was established as a low cost operator. It operated services under contract to London Regional Transport from January 1988 until January 1991.
History
Bexleybus was formed by Sel ...
Bexleyheath
Bexleyheath is a town in south-east London, England. It had a population of 31,929 as at 2011.
Bexleyheath is located south-east of Charing Cross, and forms part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...
areas respectively.
These units were not overly successful, due to unreliable service, and industrial disputes due to lower pay rates than for the main London units. Their routes were quickly surrendered to other units or private operators.
Proposed deregulation of routes
The implementation of the Transport Act 1985 that deregulated bus services in England, Scotland and Wales did not apply to London Buses. Despite this, the Government desired to deregulate bus routes in London, to allow for full competition on individual bus routes. The
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
manifesto at the 1992 general election proposed "Deregulating buses in London and privatising the London Buses subsidiaries".
In March 1991, the Government published "A Bus Strategy for London", outlining its proposals for deregulation of bus routes in London. A "London Bus Executive" was also proposed, to provide socially essential but uneconomic bus routes, and to provide bus stops, shelters and stations. This would be separate from
London Regional Transport
London Regional Transport (LRT) was the organisation responsible for most of the public transport network in London, England, between 1984 and 2000. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operatio ...
, as it was felt that an independent body would not be "distracted by the major challenges which London Transport faces".
The Government claimed that deregulation would lead to more and varied bus services, leading to increased bus ridership, less congestion and better choice of services for passengers. Criticism of those against deregulation included the potential of traffic congestion caused by multiple operators competing on popular bus routes (especially in Central London), the potential that bus operators would not use the popular
Travelcard
The Travelcard is an inter-modal travel ticket for unlimited use on the London Underground, London Overground, Elizabeth line, Docklands Light Railway, London Trams, London Buses and National Rail services in the Greater London area. Tr ...
scheme, as well as the loss of strategic
transport planning
Transportation planning is the process of defining future policies, goals, investments, and spatial planning designs to prepare for future needs to move people and goods to destinations. As practiced today, it is a collaborative process that i ...
from a overarching body like London Transport. In July 1991,
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Department for Transport. The incumbent is ...
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
that 60% of respondents to the consultation were against the proposal.
In November 1993, the Government deferred the proposed deregulation of buses in London, noting that the sell-off of London Buses business units would continue. It remained an aspiration of the Conservative Government to deregulate London bus services in future. Following the election of
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of t ...
and the Labour Party following the 1997 general election, deregulation of London bus services was no longer pursued. Bus routes therefore continued to be tendered by London Transport and post 2000, its successor, Transport for London.
Business unit sell-off
Between September 1994 and January 1995, the separate London Buses business units were sold off. Competition rules restricted the number of units that could be bought by one group. All the units were sold either to their management or employees, or to one of the emerging national bus groups that had been growing through acquisition of deregulated companies in the rest of the UK. The exception was London Northern, which was bought by MTL, itself an expanding company formed from the privatisation of the
Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive
Merseytravel is the passenger transport executive, responsible for the coordination of public transport in the Liverpool City Region in North West England. Merseytravel was established on 1 December 1969 as the Merseyside Passenger Transport ...
bus company.
Following sell-off, the new operators introduced new liveries, logos and trading names to many of the business units. Initially some buses appeared in liveries other than red, but an edict that all buses be 80% red saw this reversed from 1997. Some companies having been renamed, have since resumed their original identities.
The only unit not to be sold off was London Forest, which was wound up in the autumn of 1991 following poor financial performance and industrial action; its operating area was subsequently taken up by
East London
East or Orient 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 ...
and Leaside Buses, although 11 of its routes in the
Walthamstow
Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London and the ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Charing Cross, the town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and Sout ...
area passed to private operators
Capital Citybus
Capital Citybus was a bus operator in London operating services under contract to London Regional Transport.
History
Capital Citybus was established on 29 December 1990, with the purchase of the London tendered bus services of Ensignbus by the ...
In the period before the sell off of the main business units, London saw operation by several private companies who gained tenders for routes. Many of these either ceased trading, or were ultimately purchased by large groups, some of which also bought some of the ex-London Buses units. Below is a list of private operators, some of which still operate.
*
Armchair Passenger Transport
Armchair Passenger Transport was a bus and coach charter operator in London.
History
Armchair Passenger Transport was established as a coach operator in November 1960, being sold to EH Mundy in 1974. In June 1990 it became a London Regional Tra ...
, acquired by Metroline in November 2004
*Atlas Bus & Coach, acquired by London Coaches in July 1994, resold to Metroline in November 1994
*
Blue Triangle
Blue Triangle is a bus company operating services in East London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and operates most services under contract to Transport for London. It is the operator of the East London Transit service.
History
...
RATP Group RATP may refer to:
Transportation:
* RATP Group, or ', a public transport operator based in Paris, France
* RATP Iași (), a transit operator responsible for public transportation in Iași, Romania
* RATP Ploiești (), a transit operator respon ...
in March 2014 and resumed London Sovereign identity
*
Capital Citybus
Capital Citybus was a bus operator in London operating services under contract to London Regional Transport.
History
Capital Citybus was established on 29 December 1990, with the purchase of the London tendered bus services of Ensignbus by the ...
Tellings-Golden Miller
Tellings-Golden Miller is a charter coach operator in England. It was a subsidiary of Arriva twice previously, but once again has returned to family ownership. The company is now a subsidiary of Falcon Coaches based in Byfleet, Surrey.
History ...
in June 1999
*
Carousel Buses
Carousel Buses is a bus company based in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. Originally an independent company, it is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group. It is grouped together with Oxford Bus Company and Thames Travel, both of Oxfordshi ...
, acquired by Go-Ahead Group
*Centra ceased in May 2006
*Cityrama, sightseeing company acquired by Ensignbus
* Connex, sold to
National Express
National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
in February 2004 and rebranded as Travel London
*Connexions
*Crystals,
Dartford
Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and
is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...
based operator acquired by
Tellings-Golden Miller
Tellings-Golden Miller is a charter coach operator in England. It was a subsidiary of Arriva twice previously, but once again has returned to family ownership. The company is now a subsidiary of Falcon Coaches based in Byfleet, Surrey.
History ...
*
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 ...
Ealing Community Transport
Ealing Community Transport (ECT) is a London social enterprise which provides community transport in the Ealing, Milton Keynes, and Dorset areas. In the past it has also operated in the national rail industry.
In 2008 the Group experienced seve ...
Capital Citybus
Capital Citybus was a bus operator in London operating services under contract to London Regional Transport.
History
Capital Citybus was established on 29 December 1990, with the purchase of the London tendered bus services of Ensignbus by the ...
Arriva
Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Arriva London
* Harris Bus, ceased trading in December 1999, operations taken over by
London Buses
London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...
Arriva Kent Thameside
Arriva Kent Thameside is a bus operator based in North-West Kent, England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva. The company operates services in Northfleet, Gravesend & Dartford as part of the Arriva Southern Counties division from their Northfleet ...
*Lea Valley,
Hoddesdon
Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River.
Hoddesdon ...
FirstGroup
FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.First CentreWest
*London Coaches, London operations acquired by Metroline in November 1994, other operations acquired by
Arriva
Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.London Country North West, acquired by Luton & District Transport
*
London Country North East
London Country North East was a bus operator in South East England and London. It was formed from the split of London Country Bus Services in 1986 and operated a fleet of around 350 buses from six garages, with its headquarters located in Hatf ...
Sovereign Bus & Coach
London Country North East was a bus operator in South East England and London. It was formed from the split of London Country Bus Services in 1986 and operated a fleet of around 350 buses from six garages, with its headquarters located in Hatf ...
* London Easylink, ceased trading August 2002 operations taken over by
London Buses
London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...
Arriva Guildford & West Surrey
Arriva Guildford & West Surrey was a bus operator based in Guildford, England. It was a subsidiary of Arriva. The company operated services in West Sussex and Surrey, as part of the Arriva Southern Counties division. Services that were run were ...
Transdev
Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a French-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020.
History
The group was formed by the merger of ...
and rebranded as Transdev London sold to
RATP Group RATP may refer to:
Transportation:
* RATP Group, or ', a public transport operator based in Paris, France
* RATP Iași (), a transit operator responsible for public transportation in Iași, Romania
* RATP Ploiești (), a transit operator respon ...
in March 2014 and resumed London Sovereign identity
*London Suburban, acquired by MTL
* London Traveller, purchased by
Thorpes
Thorpes was an English bus operator. It operated services under contract to Transport for London.
History
Thorpes was a coach operator that diversified into operating bus services under contract to Transport for London in the 1990s. Their St ...
*Luton & District Transport, now
Arriva Shires & Essex
Arriva Shires & Essex is a bus operator providing services in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire, with services extending to Oxfordshire and Greater London. Until 2002 its operations included Colchester. It is a subsidiary o ...
* Metrobus, acquired by Go-Ahead Group in September 1999
*Mitcham Belle, acquired by Centra in August 2004
*NCP Challenger, renamed
NSL Buses
NSL is an outsourcing company formed in Spring 2007 by the demerger of NCP into two separate businesses. It provides parking services, bus and coach operations, city centre CCTV monitoring, back office processing, streetscape consultancy and debt ...
, acquired by Transdev London in November 2009
*Nostalgiabus
*
Quality Line
Quality Line was a bus company based in Epsom, England. A subsidiary of the RATP Group, Quality Line operated bus services throughout the South West London and Surrey area, with many under contract to Transport for London. It ceased operations ...
, acquired by
RATP Group RATP may refer to:
Transportation:
* RATP Group, or ', a public transport operator based in Paris, France
* RATP Iași (), a transit operator responsible for public transportation in Iași, Romania
* RATP Ploiești (), a transit operator respon ...
in April 2012
*R&I Coaches, acquired by MTL in June 1996
*Sampson Coaches,
Hoddesdon
Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River.
Hoddesdon ...
based operator acquired by County Bus & Coach in February 1989
*Scanbus
*
Southdown PSV
Southdown PSV Limited, trading as Southdown Buses, is a medium-sized country bus operator, with 18 routes across East Surrey, West Sussex, South London and Kent, 9 of which are school bus routes. Most of their routes are operated on behalf ...
*
Sullivan Buses
Sullivan Buses is a bus company based in South Mimms, Hertfordshire, England. Founded in 1998, it operates local bus services in and around Hertfordshire and north London including school services, rail replacement bus services in and near Londo ...
*
Tellings-Golden Miller
Tellings-Golden Miller is a charter coach operator in England. It was a subsidiary of Arriva twice previously, but once again has returned to family ownership. The company is now a subsidiary of Falcon Coaches based in Byfleet, Surrey.
History ...
, London operations sold to Travel London in June 2005, remaining Tellings-Golden Miller operations sold to
Arriva
Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Transport for London operator again in June 2014
*Thames bus
*Thameside, Grays based operations of County Bus & Coach (now
Arriva Shires & Essex
Arriva Shires & Essex is a bus operator providing services in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire, with services extending to Oxfordshire and Greater London. Until 2002 its operations included Colchester. It is a subsidiary o ...
First Essex
First Essex is a bus company operating services in the county of Essex. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
History
First Essex arose from an amalgamation of Eastern National and Thamesway Buses. First Essex was originally part of the Eas ...
*
Thorpes
Thorpes was an English bus operator. It operated services under contract to Transport for London.
History
Thorpes was a coach operator that diversified into operating bus services under contract to Transport for London in the 1990s. Their St ...
acquired by Metroline in November 2004
*Timebus
*Town Link,
Harlow
Harlow is a large town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a new town, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire and London, Harlow occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the uppe ...
Abellio
Abellio (also Abelio and Abelionni) was a god worshiped in the Garonne Valley in Gallia Aquitania (now southwest France), known primarily by a number of inscriptions which were discovered in Comminges, in the Pyrenees. He may have been a god o ...
Hayes
Hayes may refer to:
* Hayes (surname), including a list of people with the name
** Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president of the United States
* Hayes (given name)
Businesses
* Hayes Brake, an American designer and manufacturer of disc brakes
* Hay ...
based operator acquired by
Tellings-Golden Miller
Tellings-Golden Miller is a charter coach operator in England. It was a subsidiary of Arriva twice previously, but once again has returned to family ownership. The company is now a subsidiary of Falcon Coaches based in Byfleet, Surrey.
History ...