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London Country Bus Services
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London Country Bus Services
London Country Bus Services was a bus company that operated in South East England from 1970 until 1986, when it was split up and later sold as part of the bus deregulation programme.
From 1933, London Passenger Transport Board ran public transport services across the London Passenger Transport Area, with an approximate radius of 30 miles (48 km) from Charing Cross, extending beyond the boundaries of what later officially became Greater London, to Baldock in the North, Brentwood in the East, Horsham in the South and High Wycombe in the West.
In the late 1960s, it was decided that the responsibilities of the London Transport Board were to be shrunk to the area controlled by the Greater London Council (GLC). London Transport's green Country Area buses and Green Line cross-London express coaches would be passed to the National Bus Company (NBC), with the red Central Area buses passing from the London Transport Board to a new London Transport Executive, controlled by the GLC.
London Country Bus Services Ltd was incorporated on 9 October 1968 as a subsidiary of the nationalised Transport Holding Company in anticipation of the Transport (London) Act 1969, which took effect on 1 January 1970. The company had a nominal share capital of £100 of which only £2 was paid up. The original subscribers were J D Tattersall and E M Walker, both employees of the Transport Holding Company. The company's paid up capital remained the same throughout its existence.
London Country's territory was likened to a circle around London with a hole in the middle, operating in Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex. The company was NBC's biggest subsidiary, starting life with 1,267 buses and coaches. The fleet was very elderly, being mainly 484 AEC Regent III RT double-deckers and 413 AEC Regal IV RF single-deckers, with eight Daimler Fleetlines, three Leyland Atlanteans, 209 AEC Routemasters, 14 AEC Reliances and 109 AEC Merlins.
Staff who were employed before 1 January 1970 retained free travel throughout the original London Transport area. This arrangement continues today, with free pass wording changed to account for bus deregulation.
Steps were taken to reduce the age of the fleet, and NBC quickly ordered 90 Park Royal bodied Leyland Atlanteans. In 1970/71 London Transport's last Country order, for 138 AEC Swifts, was delivered. The Atlantean soon became London Country's standard double deck bus, and by 1981 there were 291 in the fleet. The highest fleet number was AN293, but AN98 and AN99 had been previously lost to fire. Most were bodied by Park Royal, with some by Roe to the same design and 30 Metro Cammell Weymann bodied Atlanteans, diverted from a Midland Red order. There were also 11 Leyland-engined, Godstone-based Daimler Fleetlines diverted from Western Welsh, becoming the first NBC-ordered buses in the fleet, just before the Atlanteans. The only other London Country double-deckers in the 1970s were 15 Bristol VRTs, rare highbridge Eastern Coach Works bodied examples. These were allocated to Grays garage in 1977 but were quickly moved on.
There was also activity in the single-decker fleet. Some of the AEC Regal IV RFs had been refurbished in the 1960s, with twin headlights, curved windscreens, new side mouldings and improved interiors, mainly allocated to Green Line services. There were 14 Willowbrook bodied AEC Reliances at Hertford garage, which had been bought by London Transport in 1965. By 1975 they were on bus work, which some thought was idiosyncratic when vehicles twice as old were still on Green Line work.
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London Country Bus Services
London Country Bus Services was a bus company that operated in South East England from 1970 until 1986, when it was split up and later sold as part of the bus deregulation programme.
From 1933, London Passenger Transport Board ran public transport services across the London Passenger Transport Area, with an approximate radius of 30 miles (48 km) from Charing Cross, extending beyond the boundaries of what later officially became Greater London, to Baldock in the North, Brentwood in the East, Horsham in the South and High Wycombe in the West.
In the late 1960s, it was decided that the responsibilities of the London Transport Board were to be shrunk to the area controlled by the Greater London Council (GLC). London Transport's green Country Area buses and Green Line cross-London express coaches would be passed to the National Bus Company (NBC), with the red Central Area buses passing from the London Transport Board to a new London Transport Executive, controlled by the GLC.
London Country Bus Services Ltd was incorporated on 9 October 1968 as a subsidiary of the nationalised Transport Holding Company in anticipation of the Transport (London) Act 1969, which took effect on 1 January 1970. The company had a nominal share capital of £100 of which only £2 was paid up. The original subscribers were J D Tattersall and E M Walker, both employees of the Transport Holding Company. The company's paid up capital remained the same throughout its existence.
London Country's territory was likened to a circle around London with a hole in the middle, operating in Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex. The company was NBC's biggest subsidiary, starting life with 1,267 buses and coaches. The fleet was very elderly, being mainly 484 AEC Regent III RT double-deckers and 413 AEC Regal IV RF single-deckers, with eight Daimler Fleetlines, three Leyland Atlanteans, 209 AEC Routemasters, 14 AEC Reliances and 109 AEC Merlins.
Staff who were employed before 1 January 1970 retained free travel throughout the original London Transport area. This arrangement continues today, with free pass wording changed to account for bus deregulation.
Steps were taken to reduce the age of the fleet, and NBC quickly ordered 90 Park Royal bodied Leyland Atlanteans. In 1970/71 London Transport's last Country order, for 138 AEC Swifts, was delivered. The Atlantean soon became London Country's standard double deck bus, and by 1981 there were 291 in the fleet. The highest fleet number was AN293, but AN98 and AN99 had been previously lost to fire. Most were bodied by Park Royal, with some by Roe to the same design and 30 Metro Cammell Weymann bodied Atlanteans, diverted from a Midland Red order. There were also 11 Leyland-engined, Godstone-based Daimler Fleetlines diverted from Western Welsh, becoming the first NBC-ordered buses in the fleet, just before the Atlanteans. The only other London Country double-deckers in the 1970s were 15 Bristol VRTs, rare highbridge Eastern Coach Works bodied examples. These were allocated to Grays garage in 1977 but were quickly moved on.
There was also activity in the single-decker fleet. Some of the AEC Regal IV RFs had been refurbished in the 1960s, with twin headlights, curved windscreens, new side mouldings and improved interiors, mainly allocated to Green Line services. There were 14 Willowbrook bodied AEC Reliances at Hertford garage, which had been bought by London Transport in 1965. By 1975 they were on bus work, which some thought was idiosyncratic when vehicles twice as old were still on Green Line work.
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