Privatisation of London bus services#Break-up of London Buses
{{Short description|Transfer of bus operations in London from public bodies to private companies}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
File:Routemaster buses RML2724 (SMK 724F) and RML2680 (SMK 680F), Routes 23 %26 11, Strand, London.jpg and London General AEC Routemasters on The Strand]]
The privatisation of London bus services was the process of the transfer of operation of buses in London 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 resulted in London Regional Transport 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
File:London Buses bus M1203 (B203 WUL), Piccadilly Circus, 9 October 1987.jpg at Piccadilly Circus in October 1987]]
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 to London Regional Transport under the London Regional Transport Act 1984. This Act required arm's-length subsidiaries to be established to oversee the operation of bus services. In March 1985, London Buses Limited was incorporated as an LRT subsidiary amid a wider split of LRT's operations.{{cite magazine |date=23 March 1985 |title=LRT split |url=https://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/23rd-march-1985/21/lrt-split |magazine=Commercial Motor |volume=161 |issue=4113 |page=21 |location=Sutton |publisher=Transport Press |access-date=29 June 2024}}
The implementation of the Transport Act 1985 that deregulated bus services in England, Scotland and Wales did not apply to London Buses.{{Cite web|last=Butcher|first=Louise|date=18 June 2010|title=Buses: deregulation in the 1980s|url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN01534/SN01534.pdf|access-date=10 August 2021|website=House of Commons Library}}
Initially, London Buses' fleet livery continued to be all-over red with a simple solid white roundel. In 1987, however, this was revised with the addition of a grey skirt and a white mid-level relief line;{{cite magazine |date=11 February 1988 |title=End of the road for London's big reds? |url=https://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/11th-february-1988/24/end-of-the-road-for-londons-big-reds |magazine=Commercial Motor |volume=168 |issue=4258 |page=24 |location=Sutton |publisher=Reed Business Publishing |access-date=29 June 2024}} in the same year a modified red and yellow roundel designed by consultants Wolff Olins, featuring the name 'London Buses' in capitals through the centre of the roundel, was introduced.{{cite web|url=https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/collections-online/photographs/item/2000-21877 |title=Colour transparency; London Buses roundel, circa 1990 |publisher=London Transport Museum |access-date=29 June 2024}}
Introduction of competition
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2024}}
File:Preserved Grey-Green bus 115 (F115 PHM) 1988 Volvo Citybus Alexander RV, 2003 North Weald bus rally.jpg Alexander bodied Volvo Citybus as used on route 24]]
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.{{cite book |last=King |first=Nicholas |title=London Bus Handbook Part 2: Independents |date=1990 |publisher=Capital Transport |ISBN=1-85414-127-9}}
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.{{cite magazine |title=Route 60: the highs and lows of a London fiasco |magazine=Buses|issue=530|date=May 1999 |location=Hersham |publisher=Ian Allan Publishing|pages=32–33}}
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 collapsed operator's routes.{{cite magazine |last=Aldridge |first=John |url=https://archive.org/details/buses-issue540/page/13/mode/1up |title=Harris Bus - LT steps in |magazine=Buses |issue=540 |location=Hersham |publisher=Ian Allan Publishing |page=13 |date=March 2000 |access-date=29 June 2024}} East Thames Buses was retained by the new Transport for London authority to tender for routes itself before being sold for £5 million ({{Inflation|UK|5,000,000|2009|fmt=eq|r=-3|cursign=£}}) in October 2009 to the Go-Ahead Group.{{cite news |url=http://www.busandcoach.com/newspage.aspx?id=2688&categoryid=0 |title=Go-Ahead buys East Thames Buses |work=Bus & Coach Professional |date=3 August 2009 |access-date=17 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524003953/http://www.busandcoach.com/newspage.aspx?id=2688&categoryid=0 |archive-date=24 May 2014}}
Break-up of London Buses
File:Routemaster RML2509 (JJD 509D), route 38.jpg AEC Routemaster in 1991]]
File:Leyland Titan NUW 661Y.jpg in 1992]]
File:MA18 F618XMS Centrewest.jpg bodied Mercedes-Benz]]
On 1 April 1989, London Buses was divided into 12 business units in preparation for being individually sold off. The companies were created along geographic lines, with all but Westlink having routes running into Central London. 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.{{cite magazine |date=6 April 1989 |title=LRT launches 11 fleets for dereg |url=https://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/6th-april-1989/20/lrt-launches-11-fleets-for-dereg |magazine=Commercial Motor |page=20 |volume=170 |issue=4313 |location=Sutton |publisher=Reed Business Publishing |access-date=10 June 2023}}
The separate business units created were:{{cite magazine |author=Barclays de Zoete Wedd |url=https://archive.org/details/cbw-issue109/page/30/mode/2up |date=26 March 1994 |title=The sale of London Buses' ten operating companies |magazine=Coach & Bus Week |issue=109 |pages=30-31 |location=Peterborough |publisher=Emap |access-date=29 June 2024}}
| class="wikitable" |
| Business unit
!Area !Logo !Legal entity |
|---|
| CentreWest
|West |Arrow {{dagger}} |CentreWest London Buses Limited |
| East London
|East |Barge |East London Bus & Coach Company Limited |
| Leaside
|Swan |Leaside Bus Company Limited |
| London Central
|South central |Ship |London Central Bus Company Limited |
| London Forest
|Oak tree |
| London General
|Southwest |Omnibus |London General Transport Services Limited |
| London Northern
|North |Parliament |London Northern Bus Company Limited |
| London United
|Southwest |Crest |London United Busways Limited |
| Metroline
|Northwest |Stripes |Metroline Travel Limited |
| Selkent
|Southeast |Hops |South East London & Kent Bus Company Limited |
| South London
|South |Tower Bridge |South London Transport Limited |
| Westlink
|n/a |
| London Coaches
|n/a |
{{dagger}} 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=
File:Bexleybus_T888.JPG Leyland Titan]]
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 minibuses. 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, tendering for routes in the Harrow and Bexleyheath areas respectively.{{cite magazine |date=14 January 1988 |title=Bexleybus leads London race |url=https://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/14th-january-1988/15/bexleybus-leads-london-race |magazine=Commercial Motor |page=15 |volume=168 |issue=4255| location=Sutton |publisher=Reed Business Publishing |access-date=14 December 2022}}
These units were not overly successful, due to unreliable service, and industrial disputes due to lower pay rates than for the main London units.{{cite magazine |date=7 January 1988 |title=In brief |url=https://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/7th-january-1988/17/manufacturer-is-entering-the-market-for-bus-ticket |magazine=Commercial Motor |volume=167 |issue=4254 |page=17 |location=Sutton |publisher=Reed Business Publishing |access-date=14 December 2022}}{{cite magazine |date=3 March 1988 |title=Bexleybus falls flat? |url=https://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/3rd-march-1988/6/bexleybus-falls-flat |magazine=Commercial Motor |page=6 |volume=168 |issue=4261 |location=Sutton |publisher=Reed Business Publishing |access-date=14 December 2022}} Their routes were quickly surrendered to other units or private operators.{{cite magazine |date=13 September 1990 |title=Harrow Buses hit |url=https://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/13th-september-1990/20/recovery-move-kingston-upon-hull-city-transport-gr |magazine=Commercial Motor |volume=172 |issue=4386 |page=20 |location=Sutton |publisher=Reed Business Publishing |access-date=14 December 2022}}{{cite magazine |date=18 October 1990 |title=Subsidiaries restructured |url=https://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/18th-october-1990/18/subsidiaries-restructured |magazine=Commercial Motor |page=18 |volume=172 |issue=4391 |location=Sutton |publisher=Reed Business Publishing |access-date=14 December 2022}}
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;{{Cite web|last=Rifkind|first=Malcolm|date=22 July 1991|title="A Bus Strategy for London" (Hansard, 22 July 1991)|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1991/jul/22/a-bus-strategy-for-london|access-date=2021-08-10|website=api.parliament.uk|quote=The Government's policy remains, as it has been since the Transport Act 1985 was introduced into Parliament, that the London bus market should be deregulated and privatised as soon as possible.}} the Conservative Party manifesto at the 1992 general election proposed "Deregulating buses in London and privatising the London Buses subsidiaries".{{Cite web|date=1992|title=The Best Future For Britain - 1992 Conservative Manifesto|url=http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/man/con92.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619201834/http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/man/con92.htm|archive-date=19 June 2013|access-date=10 August 2021|website=politicsresources.net|publisher=Conservative Party}}
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 proposed, providing socially essential but uneconomic bus routes, as well as bus stops, shelters and stations. This would be separate from London Regional Transport, as it was felt that an independent body would not be "distracted by the major challenges which London Transport faces".{{Cite web|last=Rifkind|first=Malcolm|date=22 July 1991|title="A Bus Strategy for London" (Hansard, 22 July 1991)|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1991/jul/22/a-bus-strategy-for-london|access-date=2021-08-10|website=api.parliament.uk}}
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 scheme, as well as the loss of strategic transport planning from an overarching body like London Transport. In July 1991, Minister of State for Public Transport Roger Freeman stated in the House of Commons that 60% of respondents to the consultation were against the proposal.{{Cite web|last=Freeman|first=Roger|date=25 July 1991|title="A Bus Strategy for London" (Hansard, 25 July 1991)|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1991/jul/25/a-bus-strategy-for-london|access-date=2021-08-10|website=api.parliament.uk|quote=Approximately 60 per cent. of respondents, including the hon. Lady, commented unfavourably on the Government's plans to deregulate bus services in London.}}
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.{{Cite news|date=8 November 1993|title=Delivering the best bus services for London|work=Department for Transport}} It remained an aspiration of the Conservative Government to deregulate London bus services in future.{{Cite web|title=Buses (London) (Hansard, 22 April 1996)|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1996/apr/22/buses-london|access-date=2021-08-10|website=api.parliament.uk}} Following the election of Tony Blair 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.
In 2024, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan pledged to bring bus routes back into public ownership as contracts expire.{{Cite web |last=Frank-Keyes |first=Jessica |date=2024-04-16 |title=Sadiq Khan to review bringing London buses into public ownership |url=https://www.cityam.com/sadiq-khan-to-review-bringing-london-buses-into-public-ownership/ |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=CityAM |language=en-GB}}
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 via a management buyout or employee buyout, 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 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 and Leaside Buses, although 11 of its routes in the Walthamstow area passed to private operators Capital Citybus, Thamesway Buses and County Bus.{{cite magazine |author= |date=27 September 1991 |issue=124 |page=4 |title=London Forest closure details |magazine=Bus & Coach Buyer |location=Spalding}}
The sell-off of the units proceeded as follows:
List of independent operators
File:Capital_Citybus_130_J130YRM.jpg Northern Counties bodied Leyland Olympian at Chingford station in June 1999]]
File:Centra M82 MYM.jpg Royale bodied Volvo Olympian]]
File:Kentish_Bus_AEC_Routemaster_RML2574.jpg AEC Routemaster in July 1993]]
File:London_%26_Country_311_G311DPA.jpg Leyland Lynx in Purley in May 1993]]
File:London_Traveller_510_V510_EFR.jpg East Lancs Spryte bodied Volvo B6BLE in August 1999]]
File:Metrobus_395_C395_DML.jpg Leyland Olympian]]
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, acquired by Metroline in November 2004
- Atlas Bus & Coach, acquired by London Coaches in July 1994, resold to Metroline in November 1994
- Blue Triangle, London operations acquired by Go-Ahead Group in June 2007
- Boro'line London operations acquired by Kentish Bus
- Borehamwood Travel Services acquired by Blazefield Group in 1994 and renamed London Sovereign, later rebranded as Transdev London, sold to RATP Group in March 2014 and resumed London Sovereign identity
- Capital Citybus purchased by FirstGroup in July 1998 and rebranded as First Capital and later as First London, acquired by Tower Transit in June 2013
- Capital Connections
- Capital Logistics, acquired by Tellings-Golden Miller in June 1999
- Carousel Buses, acquired by Go-Ahead Group in March 2012
- Centra ceased in May 2006
- Cityrama, sightseeing company acquired by Ensignbus
- Connex, sold to National Express in February 2004 and rebranded as Travel London
- Connexions
- Crystals, Dartford based operator acquired by Tellings-Golden Miller
- CT Plus
- Docklands Buses, acquired by Go-Ahead Group in September 2006
- Ealing Community Transport
- Ensignbus, London operations sold to Hong Kong Citybus and renamed Ensign Citybus, then Capital Citybus
- Frontrunner, London operations sold to Ensignbus
- Grey-Green, Arriva subsidiary, integrated into Arriva London
- Harris Bus, ceased trading in December 1999, operations taken over by London Buses subsidiary East Thames Buses
- Kentish Bus (originally London Country South East), now part of Arriva Kent Thameside
- Lea Valley, Hoddesdon based operations of County Bus (now Arriva East Herts & Essex)
- Limebourne, acquired by Connex in July 2001
- London Buslines, purchased by FirstGroup and integrated into First CentreWest
- London Coaches, London operations acquired by Metroline in November 1994, other operations acquired by Arriva in December 1997
- London Country North West, acquired by Luton & District Transport
- London Country North East, divided into County Bus and Sovereign Bus & Coach
- London Easylink, ceased trading August 2002 operations taken over by London Buses subsidiary East Thames Buses
- LondonLinks, merger of London operations of London & Country and Kentish Bus
- London & Country (originally London Country South West), now Arriva Guildford & West Surrey
- London Sovereign, sold by Blazefield Group to Transdev and rebranded as Transdev London sold to RATP Group in March 2014 and resumed London Sovereign identity
- London Suburban, acquired by MTL
- London Traveller, purchased by Thorpes
- Luton & District Transport, now Arriva Shires & Essex
- Metrobus, acquired by Go-Ahead Group in September 1999
- Mitcham Belle, acquired by Centra in August 2004
- NCP Challenger, renamed NSL Buses, acquired by Transdev London in November 2009
- Nostalgiabus
- Quality Line, acquired by RATP Group in April 2012
- R&I Coaches, acquired by MTL in June 1996
- Sampson Coaches, Hoddesdon based operator acquired by County Bus & Coach in February 1989
- Scanbus
- Southdown PSV
- Sullivan Buses
- Tellings-Golden Miller, London operations sold to Travel London in June 2005, remaining Tellings-Golden Miller operations sold to Arriva in December 2007, became a Transport for London operator again in June 2014
- Thames bus
- Thameside, Grays based operations of County Bus & Coach (now Arriva Shires & Essex), later transferred to Arriva Southern Counties
- Thamesway Buses (Eastern National Omnibus Company), now part of First Essex
- Thorpes acquired by Metroline in November 2004
- Timebus
- Town Link, Harlow based operations of County Bus & Coach (now Arriva East Herts & Essex)
- Town & Country
- Travel London, acquired by Abellio in May 2009 and rebranded Abellio London
- Wings Buses, Hayes based operator acquired by Tellings-Golden Miller
References
{{reflist}}
{{Bus companies in Greater London}}
{{History of bus transport in the United Kingdom}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Privatisation of London Bus Services}}
Category:1984 in economic history
Category:June 1984 in the United Kingdom
Category:Bus transport in London