Buses (80s and 90s) - Great Britain: Books - London Transport

London's Buses 1979-1994

In 1979, fresh from its general election victory, the Conservative government began formulating plans to deregulate bus services and privatise the companies operating them in England, Scotland and Wales.
London was not to be excluded, so from the outset, London Buses was broken up into several areas and from 1985, a tendering system was introduced which permitted other operators to bid for the routes. Opposition from the Labour group at the Greater London Council had to be dealt with - eventually achieved by abolishing it in 1986.

However, as each subsequent year passed, promises that deregulation was coming were not met. In late 1992, the privatisation timetable was set, and was ultimately completed at the end of 1994. The issue of deregulation never resurfaced.

Copiously illustrated with over 230 photographs, virtually all of which are being published for the first time, this is the story of London Buses over those sixteen tumultuous years. To give greater context to the narrative, annual vehicle acquisition listings show how purchasing policy changed over the period; important route changes, tendering gains and losses and a fleet list for the entire period are also included.

London's Buses- The Colourful Era 1985-2005

Ask any tourists what colour London's buses are and they will say red - and so they are. However, that has not quite always been the case as from 1985 until around 2005 there were buses in all sorts of colours running around the Greater London area. They did not even necessarily say that they were London buses - some claimed to be Kentish buses, while others had intriguing fleet-names like Armchair, Blue Triangle or Grey-Green.

Even London Buses themselves started running vehicles in the Bexley area in a blue-and-cream livery. How did this situation come about, and why did it end?
This book looks at the period of route tendering and privatisation, the variety of operators who came to work London's bus routes and the range of vehicle types and liveries they brought to the capital.