If

The
London
0(1982

--

The
London
'.

0(1982
Written by
Paul Dabrowski, Chris Holland,
Colin Fradd, David Stewart and Guy Brigden
Compiled by
Dominic N. West and Paul Dabrowski
Produced by
Adrian Figgess
The assistance of the following
in the preparation of this publication
is gratefully acknowledged:
Colin Stannard, Ken Robinson, Lawrie Bowles
and Brian Bell

--

2 5 SEP1983.

First published 1983

ISBN 0 95080611 0
Typesetting and printing by Adlard & Son Ltd, Dorking, Surrey.
@ London Omnibus Traction Society 1983
8 Anerley Station Road, London SE20 8PT

Contents
4
20
26
36
43

The Year in General

London Transport Routes
Summary of London Transport Route Alterations
London Transport Vehicles
Summary of London Transport Vehicles

44 London Country Routes

52 Summary of London Country Route Alterations

66 London Country Vehicles
74 Summary of London Country Vehicles

The Year
in General
Introduction
The legacy of such unprecedented legal
and political interference in London Transport affairs, as had occurred during the
previous year, was to effect considerable
repercussions throughout 1982. The Greater London Council consistently defended
its Fares Fair policy which had been
declared illegal by the Law Lords and
upheld on appeal by the House of Lords in a
particularly shortsighted judgement at the
end of 1981. The strictly literal interpretation of just one clause in the Transport
(London) Act 1969 rendered Section 5
irreconcilable with the stated aims and
intentions of that legislation in Section 1
and left both LT and the GLC, together
with certain other Transport Executives
operating under similar statute, faced with
little alternative but to substantially increase fares, reduce services, cut back on
recruitment and close certain railway stations and bus garages. Despite a private
member's Bill aimed at legalising the GLC's
Fares Fair policy achieving a majority vote
on first reading in the House of Commons
on 9th February, it became apparent that
the 'Fare Fight' campaign, organised in the
interim between the Law Lord's verdict and
the first implementation of that ruling in
March, was destined to fail and that fare
and service levels would, of necessity,
become considerably worse than even
under the previous GLC administration
simply to remain within the Law as it now
stood. Media comment
surprisingly
favoured the GLC, with Sir Richard Way,
the first chairman of the LTE, having "little
doubt that the House of Lords ruling as
regards the 1969 Act in no way correctly
interprets the intention of Parliament when
it passed the Act" according to a letter
published in The Times (4/1/82).
Following news of a 'recovery' budget for
London Transport which featured a 100%
increase in fares, a 15% reduction in
scheduled bus mileage and a 3% reduction
in tube mileage, the outgoing Chairman, Sir
Peter Masefield, stated in LT News (8/1/82)

that "I very much regret that fares have to

be put up because the present level is
reasonable compared with any other major
urban transport undertaking in the world".
However, central Government refused to
remedy the situation, except by providing a
125m loan, to ease LT's short-term financial burden, together with a 63m grant to
safeguard old people's bus and tube concessions jeopardised by the Law Lords' ruling
whilst corrective legislation on this matter
alone was pending. LT staff were sufficiently incensed and worried about the effects of
the outlawing of cheap fares that the first
total London Transport strike since the
General Strike of 1926 took place on 10th
March. With some 7,000 redundancies
reputedly in the offing, the stoppage was
totally effective. However, at some garages, although a few employees reported
for work, the engineering staff prevented
services from operating.
Naturally, the cessation of the GLC's
Fares Fair scheme affected London Country fares within the GLC area. However,
LCBS took the opportunity to raise their

bus and coach fares by 10% from the same

date thereby removing the possibility of any
real anomalies. Political involvement with
LCBS operations changed little during the
year, although the differing levels of
financial support afforded by the County
Councils meant that the Kent and Berkshire
fare scales were maintained slightly higher
than the norm and Hertfordshire's significantly lower. However, the trend of previous years as regards LT's out-county
services continued with the transfer of
routes to LCBS in both Hertfordshire and
Surrey occurring in April. More general
reductions to the relevant LT services also
concerned Essex at this time followed by yet
more alterations in December connected
with severe retrenchment on the Epping to
Ongar branch of the Central Line.
Meanwhile, debate on the Fares Fair
policy continued with protest from certain
passengers
taking part in a 'Can't
Pay- Won't Pay' campaign proving particularly ineffective and protest from the
operating staff, concerned more especially
with redundancies and services, culminat-

POSSIBLE INDUSTRIAL ACTION

ON 10th MARCH

Bus

Passes

If industri )1acti
f~
the opercJti
on Wednt~!.d.
l' I"
holders of Bus P .s'
cover 1Otll ~.
granted an a. ht,
their nex.t tickets

.,

ing in a morning rush-hour strike in early

May, which affected all but Forest District.
Against this background, London Transport began seriously looking for a suitable
successor to Sir Peter Masefield who, yet
again, had agreed to his term of office being
extended until 30th June. Even this was
deferred a further two months when Dr.
Keith Bright, chief executive of Huntley
and Palmers Foods, was appointed to take
the post of Chairman from 1st September at
a record salary of 42,000 per annum.
Selected by an all-party committee of the
GLC, he was recorded as having 'an
impressive track record in the business
world' and quoted as saying, in perhaps the
understatement of the year, that "this could
be a very exciting time to join London
Transport" LT News (21/5/82).
In July, therefore, Sir Peter presented his
last LT annual report-for
1981-which
commended the simplified zonal system of
charges introduced as a result of an election
pledge made by the incumbent County Hall
administration. This had reversed a 20-year
decline in LT's patronage although the
curse of traffic congestion still remained.
When Fares Fair had been introduced, the
result was the largest rise in the number of
passengers carried on LT ever recorded in
its 49-year history. When the fares were
subsequently doubled, as a direct result of
the Law Lords' ruling, the result was a huge
drop in the number of passengers carried.
Improved levels of service had helped to
reduce the number of letters of complaint
by nearly 40% compared with the previous
year whilst staff commendations rose 30%
in the same period. However, even after
taking into account (lawful) GLC grants of
162.2m, the Executive ended the year with
a deficit of 64. 7m, prompting the incoming
Chairman to suggest a 20% fare cut at once.
Interestingly, the front c()ver of the report
subtly illustrated the conflict between
Westminster and County Hall.
London Country's financial report revealed that the company finished 1981 with
a small operating surplus of 6,000 (within a
43m turnover), itself a healthy sign in a
climate of recession. A total of 18% of costs
that year were covered by local authority
revenue support, a level regarded as so
critical that LCBS produced a sixteen-page
briefing booklet outlining the necessity for
continued financial support which was sent
out to various councillors and MPs. The
appalling weather at the turn of the year
caused many problems with accidents and
indeed, in some cases, services had to be
suspended or curtailed. The adverse financial effect resulting from this was partially
alleviated by a windfall on Green Line
services arising from the strikes affecting
British Rail on various days in January and
February 1982.
As vice-president ofthe Confederation of
British Road Passenger Transport, reformed as the Bus and Coach Council, Dr.
David Quarmby (managing director of LT
buses) was also actively involved in promoting the role of the bus in transport policy.
The new body sought to establish a better
case for the bus nationally with an extensive
advertising campaign promised for later in
the year.

The London Country 'Polo'

.

Cambridge

Milton Keynes

. Luton

Oxford

Enfield
.

High Wycombe

Uxbridge
. CENTRAL

. Grays

LONDON

Slough

. Croydon

Gravesend

REIGATE

Crawley

Tunbridge Wells

Brighton

London Country's operating area, which forms a ring around Greater London has often
been likened to a Polo mint. Generally the green bus services operate entirely within the
ring, while the Green Line coaches serve to connect towns in the ring either with its core
- Central London - or with important places further afield.
Opposite Page: A plethora of posters, displayed behind the driver on RM372, dealt with three separate
occurrences during the early part of the year-route
alterations, fare increases and probable strike action. Joel
Kosminsky
Above: London Country's background booklet likened their operating area around the metropolis to a
'Polo' mint in what was otherwise a very serious attempt to highlight the balancing act necessary between
overheads, inflation and interest repayments, and income and revenue support, Below: Various BR and LT strikes
during the year gave other operators, as well as London Country, a golden opportunity to capitalise on the lack of
alternative facilities. Former LCBS RP90 carries a reasonable load for its new owner, Smith's of Reading, at Ewell in
July. Guy Brigden

The most vivid effect of the political judgement concerning LT's finances was the mass withdrawal of standard
Routemasters and subsequent cannibalisation by LTand breakers for spares before scrapping. The roof of RM1636
crashes to the ground inside Aldenham (above) whilst a line of potential victims is headed by RM1578 outside.
awaiting a similar fate (below) Jon White

It

At the same time, welcome news was

brought by the GLC that between 40 and 50
new bus priority schemes were scheduled
for introduction by June 1983. Additionally, LT's proposal for 210 new Titans and a
further 150 Metrobuses for 1983 delivery
was also approved by the County Hall
transport committee.
However, many busmen, from north and
east London especially, had again taken
industrial action partly in sympathy with
British Rail and Underground workers on
strike but also in protest against new
schedules for the buses due to come into
effect on 31st July. The 28th June stoppage,
which had paralysed large sections of
central and outer London, was partly
responsible for the bus programme being
delayed until 4th September. The introduction of flat fares the previous year and
consequent speeding up of boarding times
had signalled the ultimate demise of crew
operation in the suburbs at least but the
drastic reductions caused by this scheme,
the biggest overnight transformation ever
experienced, led to the first mass withdrawals of the Routemaster fleet. If the cheap
fares policy had not been declared unlawful, it was quite likely that there would not
have been any RM family withdrawals for
at least five years and possibly longer.

Additionally, over sixty members of the

MD class were similarly delicensed for sale
or scrap. With more than 1,300 individual
vehicle movements caused, altogether 580
buses were withdrawn from service with the
proportion of crew operation reducing to
just over half. The only new type delivered,
apart from the service vehicle fleet, occurred in December with the arrival of two
Dodge twenty-seat minibuses, given stock
letter A.
Two new classes entered London Country's fleet in 1982. Firstly, several of the 30
Leyland Olympian double-deckers (LR
class) were used on new and revised services
introduced in Hertfordshire and Surrey
with the transfer to LCBS of some sections
of LT routes outside the GLC area. Others
displaced the non-standard AF class at
Godstone that had been the first new
London Country double-deck bus back in
1972. In fact, almost all the company's
Fleetlines had been either de licensed or
withdrawn by the end of the year. The
second new class was the TL, an ECWbodied Leyland Tiger coach, of which
forty-two had been ordered. However,
industrial problems at British Leyland and
various technical hitches conspired to cause
deliveries to fall well behind schedule.
LCBS had not received any by the start of

the July rail strike (when they would have

been particularly useful) but the first started
to trickle in later that month. Indeed, the
summer route expansion earlier on had also
put pressure on the existing coach fleet and
some of the 1977 delivery of RSs and RBs
had to be retained for longer than planned.
These vehicles, leased from the Kirkby
Central Organisation, brought additional
expenditure to LCBS since the lease period
had to be extended.
At a time when a suggestion to remove
London Transport from GLC control was
being variously discussed, an all-party
House of Commons Select Committee
proposed the formation of a Metropolitan
Transport Authority, with rate-levying
powers, in a report published in July. To be
formed between the Department of Transport, the GLC, London Boroughs and
County and District Councils, it recommended that a London Transport Operators' Partnership be established between
LT, British Rail and the National Bus
Company and that, on the crucial question
of fares, they 'should be . . . a matter for
political judgement for which the political
authorities concerned should be answerable
to the electorate'. In proposing that the
GLC should be absolved from its responsibilities to the new Authority, decisions over
financial support, fare and service levels
would be allied to road improvement and
parking control policies. The proposed area
for the MT A to have covered corresponded
roughly to the former LPTB area as
designated in 1933. It was not clear as to the
extent that local councils would lose their
role concerning transport coordination but
there was no suggestion that LCBS should
have ceased operations as an NBC subsidiary. British Rail was also relieved to retain
direct operational control of its commuter
services and was encouraged by the report's
recognition that more capital investment
would produce real improvements in the
quality of London's public transport services.
Other more general issues involving
London's transport during the year concerned illegal car parking and fare-dodging,
for which a Home Office probe was
launched in February, and the effects of
illegal car parking on bus services. Fraud
committed by staff also received a degree of
media coverage and the introduction of a
new 20p coin brought variable reaction
apart from more work in adapting machinery and so on. However, press reports that
London could be getting its trams back
proved optimistic. Following various proposals for a lower cost solution to the 500m
dockland extension of the Jubilee Line
from Charing Cross to Beckton and
Thamesmead, a new light railway, similar
to the Tyneside Metro, would operate from
an elevated terminus at Minories, adjacent
to Tower Hill Station, before working
parallel to BR's Fenchurch Street to Stepney East line. It would then use portions of
disused viaduct through the West India and
Millwall Docks to a terminal at North
Greenwich. An additional branch would
connect the line at Poplar via a disused
freight line to Bow Road before running
along the street to the District and Metro-

politan Line Station at Mile End. The exact

nature of the tramway route on the public
highway had yet to be decided but a cost of
65m for the link had been mentioned
together with a 1984 start date for work
expected to take three years,
Way back in March, the GLC had
endorsed LT's refusal to grant a licence for
a competing West End sightseeing tour,
operated by Culture Bus, on a stage
carriage basis. With additional backing
from the London Transport Passengers'
Committee in June, proposals from a bus
company to run commuter services from the
Bexleyheath and Orpington areas were
similarly quashed. The Bexleyheath Transport Company, it was argued, would have
taken traffic from British Rail and increased
congestion. Any misgivings LT may have
had regarding these ventures paled into
insignificance later in the year when Associated Minibus Operators Ltd. announced a
series of proposals for various cross- London services utilising high frequency minibuses. Just what the outcome of the
application would be, which unusually
prompted LT to appoint an independent
inspector to preside at a public hearing, has
to be left to a subsequent account.
However, with seven new bus lanes
announced in November, capital investment worth 162m planned for 1983
together with a resumption of recruitment
and a projected fares cut of around 25% for
the spring, 1982 closed on a less pessimistic
note than the previous year.

Above: Still displaying abortive 'Fares Fair' posters, RM852 braves the elements at Silver Street in the first few
days of 1982 on one of the routes which lost their conductors later in the year. Jim B/ake

~.

Operations
Reputedly the worst winter for some
twenty years struck again in early January
but, notwithstanding the reluctance of certain local councils to adequately grit roads,
the operating staffs of both concerns made
sterling efforts to maintain services at a
time when the national rail network was at
a virtual standstill on seventeen separate
occasions. However, strike action subsequently affected LT buses on at least four
occasions during the year. Following the
introduction of various unpublicised cuts in
services from 22nd February, four days
passed
before
London
Transport
announced the loss of some 500 jobs,
effective immediately, In March, therefore, an all-day stoppage observed by both
buses and tubes was itself followed by a
peak-hour strike on 10th May which, in
some bus operating districts, continued to
disrupt services for the rest of the day.
More general disputes affected Aldenham
earlier in the year, where staff were concerned about rumours suggesting a transfer
of the bus overhauling work to outside
contractors and, in the spring, amongst the
engineering staff over 400 proposed redundancies. Following the April route
changes, the overtime ban imposed prevented the transfer of certain vehicles by
ferry drivers and involved a refusal to fit
new destination blinds. With agreement
that only 364 voluntary redundancies
would be sought instead, the ban was
officially lifted at 1600 hours on 29th May
although the April reductions in Essex had

These two views illustrate the reasons for and effectiveness of the 10th March strike on LT with the entrance to
Kingston garage closed (above) and (below) vehicles at a complete standstill within the bus station. Ramon
Hefford/Geoff Rixon

.,

.L

'-..

:,,

--<1'....

---

ilCJO::LJC

~~j

l.

A multitude of strange workings was prompted by the various rail strikes during January, Febru'aryand July. This
selection of views depicts RP6 on route 741 at Hammersmith (top) Raman Heffard, D17 on the 721 at Victoria
(centre) J. G. S. Smith, Godstone's AN172 on the 777 at Victoria (bottom) Raman Heffard. . .

been finally completed in mid-May. This

preceded another protest by certain bus
garagesin late June whichmeantthat, in
conjunction with simultaneous British Rail
and Underground strike action, some parts
of London were totally without public
transport for the day. Yet another strike
for 5th July, however, failed to materialise,
although buses were withdrawn from central London for about two hours during the
TUC's 'Day of Action' strike on 22nd
September, with the engineering staff preventing operations for extended periods at
a few garages. The granting of a 'no strings
attached' pay award of 6% backdated to
27th March with an additional 1% from
17th July had effectively reduced support
for further industrial action,
This contrasted with a year of industrial
peace enjoyed
by London Country
although certain routes had stopped short
of their inner objectives during the LT
stoppage on 10th March. The strikes on
British Rail on various days in January and
February led to much duplication on
Green Line services, and very heavy loads
were experienced, often necessitating double-deck operation, The further two weeks
of rail strikes in July caused a repeat of this
situation, with the additional holiday traffic at this time of the year threatening to
swamp bus operators, Nevertheless, Green
Line just about coped and, following both
strike periods, some passengers gained
were lost to the railways for good.
Otherwise,
coach
services
were
expanded, theoretically as resources permitted, with more joint operations to new
points with neighbouring operators. The
fast links connecting London with its surrounding airports all came to be marketed
under the 'FIightline' label with a new 767
Victoria - Heathrow non-stop service, joint
with Alder Valley, joining the 757 (Luton)
and 777 (Gatwick) routes on this network.
One venture that failed to appear in 1982,
however, was a proposed 762 service from
Reading to Brighton via Guildford,
Reigate and Gatwick airport; operation
being shared between LCBS, Alder Valley
and Southdown. British Rail objected on
the grounds of unfair competition whilst
London Country, in a press release issued
in advance of the traffic court hearing,
claimed that BR's action was 'not in the
public interest'. In mid-December, the bus
companies won their case and introduction
of the service occurred on 22nd January
1983. Bus services experienced continuous
adjustments, mostly by thinning-out evening and Sunday services, with certain regular excursions making a welcome reappearance.
A complete surprise, however, was the
operation of four London Country MetroCammell ANs on LT's Round London
Sightseeing Tour from 27th March. How
LCBS managed to procure such vehicles
when transferred services from London
Transport were experiencing chronic shortages of double-deckers remains obscure
but the red-repainted Atlanteans, two with
their roofs removed and all carrying 'LT'
garage codes, worked daily with London
Country drivers from Leatherhead garage.
London Transport lost many out-county

--

services to LCBS who were able to offer a

similar service to the County Councils
concerned at a lower cost, although invariably frequencies were reduced at off-peak
times and especially during late evenings.
But perhaps the greatest scheme involving
more general reductions ever to occur took
place on 4th September as a direct result of
the adjudged illegality of cheap fares
though, publically, LT seemed loath to
admit it! Although rest-day and overtime
working had already been cut back, a
4-5% reduction in total duties worked by
the bus staff was envisaged. Ultimately,
LT's originally severe reaction to the Law
Lords' decision mellowed somewhat to
reinstate supplementary schedules on some
routes but nevertheless the route, type and
allocation changes remained colossal. Not
surprisingly, crew operation was a major
casualty, dropping to 52% of the total.
Plans for 1983 and beyond foresaw an
eventual level of 60% one-man operation.
The only real improvements during the
year concerned bus priority measures
although certain roads came to be
described by LT as 'no-go' areas for buses;
the St Mary Cray Station section of the 229
was threatened with withdrawal upon omo
conversion of the route due to the incidence of indiscriminate car parking. Lack
of local police enforcement generally
because of manpower shortages remained
problematic whilst, again relating to the
legal situation, London Transport had
itself to suspend recruitment of British
Transport Police for its area of responsibility.
In the 80,000 GLC study involving
seven road junctions in Hounslow and
eighty LT vehicles fitted with transponders, 'Selective Vehicle Detection' enabled
delays to buses caused by traffic lights to be
reduced by one-third saving an estimated
50,000 during the first year of operation.
Another five junctions in the town were to
have been included in the continuing
scheme whilst the possibility for Londonwide extension was being examined. Progress on the BUSCO scheme, a computerised bus control system also involving
cable loops under the road surface, was
also brought a stage further with virtually
all London
buses having received
emergency radio by the end of the year.
Other
such
measures
successfully
implemented in 1982 included a 200,000
project to repaint forty-three bus lanes
with a red surface to make them more
self-enforcing in deterring errant motorists. Five experimental schemes had demonstrated that coloured road surfaces led to a
significant reduction in the number of bus
lane traffic violations. However, London
Transport became increasingly concerned
about public demonstrations having an
adverse effect on bus mileage with, on
average, about one march or rally disrupting services each week. Other more predictable occasions which similarly affected
services during the year included the London Marathon at the beginning of May and
the Papal visit to Britain later the same
month. London Country's private hire
business was stretched to capacity on 30th
May at least with many Green Line

-~.

. . . AN279 at Victoria on route 797 (top) J. G. S. Smith and at Brent Cross in July working the 732 (centre) John
Barnacle and finally SA's LR17 at Hendon Central on a homebound 717 journey (bottom) John Barnacle

=rLIGHTLINE

757

~LIGHTLINE

777

Express
Express
Express
servicebetween servicebetween servicebetween
Gatwickand
Heathrowand
LutonAirport
London
and LonClon
London
coaches noted operating special excursions. The Lord Mayor's Show and the
State Opening of Parliament again brought
the usual street closures and resultant
termination or diversion of routes although
one event which had little effect on bus
services was the State Visit undertaken in
November by the Queen and Crown Prince
of the Netherlands who, unusually, arrived
at Westminster Pier by barge.
From 12th July, LT inaugurated a three
month long experiment to evaluate certain
performance aspects between Metrobuses
and Titans then being currently delivered.
Operating under identical conditions from
Sidcup garage, initial results of the technical comparison trial revealed that,
despite the superior mechanical specification of the T class, the Ms managed to
retain the edge as far as fuel consumption
was concerned. An additional experiment
also concerned a Croydon-based FIeetline
fitted with a five-speed Maxwell mesh
gearbox designed to reduce wear on brake
linings by activating first and second gear
clutches
simultaneously
with brake
application. Intended to replace Germanbuilt Metrobus gearboxes with British
units, if successful, signs of improved fuel
consumption were apparent by the end of
the year.
Lastly, a dispute between LT and the
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre concerning the anomaly of individual vehicle
chassis emerging with a different registration upon receipt of another body, whilst
undergoing
overhaul,
prevented
the
despatch of buses from Aldenham in January, a situation exacerbated by the misunderstandings referred to above. The
problems were eventually resolved and
enabled work to continue in progressively
transferring over to the Freedom From
Defect annual certificate system. In advance of the abolition of PSV examinations
from 1st January 1983, and adoption of the
Works Annual Service Programme at
Aldenham, RML 2760 very aptly emerged
from overhaul in November as the last
vehicle to be contained on the Works Float,
another victim of these EEC regulations.

10

For all non-orbital airport link services, a 'Flightline' corporate image was effectively employed on literature
produced during the year, which included tear-off pocket timetables below the three route information leaflets
illustrated above. Below centre: AN110, one of a pairof that class converted to open-top configuration by Midland
Red, displays its 'LT' garage code as it carries few passengers on the service which LCSS had incredulously
tendered for. Stephen Madden Bottom: The only garage closure of the year occurred at Crawley, where the
existing shed in the High Street was replaced by new premises at TinsJeyLane adjacent to the Central Repair
Works. Colin Fradd

Premises
London Country's Area Stores at
Reigate, Hertford and Tinsley Lane gained
a useful boost early in the year by the
introduction of a computerised 'unittracking' system, giving information on the
locations of every spare part, in order to
provide spares more efficiently than
before. A similar scheme costing 4.3m
and known as BEMS-Bus Engineering
Management Systems-was announced by
LT in the Spring, for introduction the
following year, to govern the supply and
distribution of spares and reduce the time
vehicles are off the road awaiting repair.
However, despite the GLC having to
examine the validity of such capital investment projects, London Transport's Fulwell
garage received a new staff restaurant in
March as part of a new 1.25m operating
block. A remodelling of the front entrance
in Wellington Road was also completed
during the year whilst work progressed on
new or improved facilities at Enfield,
Norbiton,
Norwood,
Tottenham
and
Uxbridge. Additionally, one thousand bus
stop shelters erected by a registered partnership between LT and Adshel Ltd were
installed at prime sites, whilst a new sales
and travel information desk was established experimentally on the main arrivals
concourse at Heathrow's Terminal One
building.
A sign of the constraints imposed on
London Transport
during the year,
however, was illustrated by the closure of
the recruitment centre at Manor House in
the summer. Following the opening of a
new LCBS enquiry office in June at Eccleston Bridge, Victoria, incorporating both

counter facilities and the inspector's control office, LT similarly provided a new
travel information centre two months later
occupying a site between the boat train
platforms and the bus stands at the BR
station. The existing enquiry desk on the
concourse
of LT's Victoria station
remained open, although all signposting to
it was removed. Credit card facilities,
introduced by LT to encourage payment
for annual bus passes and Underground
seasons, were also made available by London Country for National Coach bookings
and Green Line season tickets at their
Victoria, Gatwick, Heathrow and Reigate
enquiry offices in August.
At Slough, the Berkshire County Council provisionally agreed to provide Y2m
towards development costs for a proposed
new bus garage, on condition that the
balance be met by the two main operators
in the town, London Country and Alder
Valley. The site, in Stoke Road to the
north of the bus station, would replace the
current Maidenhead (A V) and Windsor
(LCBS) garages. However, Berkshire's
financial involvement is conditional upon
both operators
'working together to
achieve maximum efficiency'.
By September, all four of LCBS' area
vehicle testing stations were operational,
London Transport having already established nine such locations, one for each
District plus Aldenham, the previous year.
Reigate, Watford, Hertford and Northfleet
provided
London
Country's
quota,
although part of the cost of establishing
these centres may be able to be recouped
as fees can be charged for testing other
operators' vehicles should there be any
spare capacity.

Examplejourney

A slogan employed the previous year for various fares

reductions in the winter was fortunately not perpetu-.
ated in 1982. In adopting 'February Fare Fighters', LCBS
presumably sought to avoid following suit after the
collapse of Laker Airways.

Harlow-Walthamstow
Harlow-

Romford

Harlow- Watford
Harlow-Milton Keynes

The new bus garage in Wheatstone

Close, Crawley, opened on 21st November. Adjacent to the Tinsley Lane Central
Repair Works, it replaces the old garage
nearer the town centre which had become
inadequate to cope with service expansion
in the New Town.
As part of LT's economy campaign
during the year, three sports grounds,
together with the physical culture centre at
Shepherds Bush, were to have closed. In
the event, both Fulwell sports ground and
the Shepherds Bush facility were axed with
Burnt Oak and Cheam being reprieved for
only twelve months.
Various LT garages, closed the previous
year and declared surplus to requirements,
were sold in 1982. Stone bridge found a
buyer in the London Borough of Brent
who intended to adapt the site for community workshops whilst Abbey Wood was
sold to Garrad and Sons International for
use as a supermarket store and distribution
centre. At the end of the year, Middle Row
was undergoing sale to the Inner London
Education Authority.
A revised 6.75m modernisation scheme
for Ponders End garage, approved by the
GLC late in 1981 and delayed because of
the judgement on LT finances, was given
the go-ahead by the County Hall transport
committee in October. Additionally, work
began that same month on a new 4.5m
bus garage at Edgware to replace the
covered accommodation for only ten buses
at the existing building, constructed in
1939, with undercover parking for eightyfive vehicles. Located at the same site, the
new structure will be sunk almost ten feet
into the ground in order to minimise noise
in a predominantly
residential area.

Normal
Normal February Outback February
Outback
single single
return return
fare
fare
fare
fare

1.50

1.50

1.50
1.50

During February, most Green Line single fares over 1.00 will be cut to 1.00 (SOp for
children), while Outback day etum fares over 150 wiII be cut to 1.50 (75p for
children).* A few examples are shown in the chart.
Appropriately, we're calling this campaign 'February FareFighters: For further details

callHarlow26349/21971
.\pr1il'S

tn all jounwys aftt'f9Uflam

ufSh'\l'na~l').

.\lmlday

10

m:=:JGREEN
LINE

Friday. and all day Saturday and Sunday. Om-s nnt includl' mutl'S 190j291r90.

, "6-:'.

, ":'98 and

"97

(~(Jl'th

HA

11

u:I:

London Transport

100% Increases*
J:

I M

from

Westminster"

Is this faironLondon?

Aa NOW!Sign the petitions,

writeto the press,tellyourM~
0"

~
KEEPFARES
FAIR

"

It'snot too late to act!

London Transport's fares went up on March
21st, signalling the end of a bold piece of
planning intended co make public transport
more accessible to everyone.
Most fares have doubted. And uneconomic
tube stations may have to dose. Some bus
services may disappear. The costs and quality of
working and travellingin London willchange for
the worse, because atl services will be reduced.

Public transport should

be a social service
Most other cities in the modem

world have

decided that public transport is as much a social

service as education and hospitals. The table

that the Transport

(London) Act 1969 requires

London Transport so far as practicableco be run

as a business.covering COStS
out of revenue.
Yet other great cities all over the world
cannot run their transport. systems out of
revenue. Transport expertS agree c., this
simple fact. And legal expertS feel that
legislation is needed to clarify the principles on
which the GLC may grant subsidy to London
Transport.

What will happen to the

amendment bill?
On February 9th. Mr Douglas Jay MP
obtained leave of the House of Commons

to

introduce (under the 10 minute rule) the

Transport (London) Act 1969 (Amendment)
excluding depreciation and renewal costs
for
Bill. This proposes wider powers for the GLC
just four major cities.
to make grants to London Transport (or
NewYork. . ..., . .. . ,.. .72%subsidy passenger transport services and to meet
Milan
71%subsidy London Transport revenue deficitS.
below

shows

the

extent

of the

subsidy

Brussels.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70%subsidy
Paris. . .. . .. " . .."
56%subsidy
Londonasof21.J.82
12%subsidy

Even with the fares Fair policy. London's

subsidy was only 46 %
still way down in the
league cable.

12

In brief. this means that the policy decisions

affecting the economics of London Transport
will be taken away (rom the CourtS and given
to the electorate o( Greater London and their
elected representatives.

Why has this happened?

Does the electorate

support "Fares Fair"?

In essence the finding of the law Lords was

The number of people u~ng London Transport

Finally, in November, another high quality

bus station, similar to that opened at
Harrow in 1981, was both advocated and
approved
for construction
at West
Croydon by 1984.

experienced on Green Line. particularly

on the several rail strike days.
A great deal of political comment and
public outcry against the LT fares increase
was gaining momentum, much of it organised by the GLC as the 'Fare Fight'
campaign. During February and March,
more than a dozen local public meetings
Fares and ticketing
were organised, various petitions signed
The GLC reluctantly consented in prin- and parliamentary lobbying encouraged,
ciple on 8th January to LT's 'recovery'
generally culminating in a rally at County
budget which meant that, in addition to the Hall on 13th March. The leader of the
doubling of fares and service reductions Greater London Council, Ken Livingalready outlined, investment would be cut stone. together with many other councilby 8m, rest-day and overtime working lors. toured south London in an open-top
would be reduced, recruitment would OM. supplied by Obsolete Fleet, complete
become 'restricted' and that certain bus with jazz band which was driven by former
garage and Underground branch and sta- London bus driver Dave Wetzel, chairman
tion closures 'inevitable'. On 26th January,
of the GLC transport committee. Speeches
during a period of severe indecision were later made from the top of the
regarding these far-reaching effects of the vehicle. adorned with 'Keep Fares Fair'
verdict outlawing their cheap fares policy, slogans. at the rally which was attended by
the GLC failed to approve the details of more than 5.000 people. On 15th March, a
the revised fare proposals for introduction
delegation presented itself at the House of
on 21st March. For LT to have acted on Commons where the petitions were delitheir own initiative and increased fares vered. A mass lobby of MPs had already
without County Hall approval would have taken place four days earlier at Central
been breaking the Law just as failing to Hall, Westminster. but it became apparent
comply with the terms of the Law Lords' that, despite a great deal of publicity,
judgement would have been illegal. support from the London Transport PasHowever, the dilemma was eventually sengers' Committee. GLC officers, trades
resolved, at a crucial GLC meeting in unions, busmen and public alike, fares
mid-February, with the budget as a whole would double on Sunday, 21st March.
being approved and providing for pay Although the zonal system was retained,
awards of 5% in 1982 whilst allowing for fares rose from lOp to 20p for the shortgeneral price inflation of 11%.
hop, 20p to 40p for one zone, 30p to 60p
London Country, meanwhile, had been for two and a 40p to SOp maximum. Bus
reducing selective fares. From 4th January, passes were similarly increased by 100%
some fares on route 304 were reduced, with child fares rising to lOp from 5p
giving bargains from many rural stops into although they were withdrawn between
St. Albans or Hitchin. These reduced fares 2100 and 0700 to counter widespread abuse
were held through a general fares increase, of the concession. Likewise, Red Arrow
which coincided with the LT rise, in fares were doubled. despite the fact that
March. During February, a general special they had not been reduced when Fares Fair
offer, known as the 'February Fare had been introduced the previous October.
Fighter', fixed the maximum fare at 1 The Sunday maximum in the GLC area
single or 1.50 return for journeys begun became 40p. however, with the Interstaafter 0900 Mondays to Fridays and all-day tion night bus fare rising from 70p to 1
Saturdays and Sundays. Good loads were and, surprisingly. Airbus fares remaining

at 2. Officially, existing strip tickets for

flat fare routes were no longer honoured
and holders were advised to apply to 55
Broadway for a refund.
London Country bus and coach fares
were increased from the same date by
around 10% with, as usual, Kent and
Berkshire travellers paying more than their
Hertfordshire counterparts. Within the
GLC area, fares were increased on parallel
sections in line with the new LTE fare
scales similarly introduced but otherwise
there was no connection with the LT fares
rise. Children's fares were now made
available up to their 16th rather than their
14th birthday in line with LT and BR.
Outback and season tickets also rose, and
the Golden Rover was increased to 2.75.
The National Wanderbus ticket at 2.97
was, once again, left untouched and now
represented remarkable value against the
Rover ticket with its superior validity.
However, on new services 760 and 773,
introduced in the spring, neither Golden
Rover nor National Wanderbus tickets
could be used, a pity since both provided
useful cross-country links.
The 'St Albans Fare Cutter' experiment
was perpetuated with a modest increase
from only lOp to 12p (inner zone) and 20p
to 25p (outer zone), with another mild
increase in September to 15p and 30p
respectively. From 1st April, holders of
council concessionary permits could buy
Outback or Golden Rover tickets at half
price to allow travel outside their own
council area. After a limited period, the
experiment was extended indefinitely.
Meanwhile, the emphasis of the 'Fare
Fight' campaign focused on parliamentary
action, attempting to legalise the situation
previously believed by most urban operators and their political overlords nationwide to have existed under the various
Transport Acts formulated in the late
1960s. With even the judiciary somewhat
divided, the House of Lords, who had
earlier upheld the Law Lords' verdict,
were presented with a bill introduced by

New Fares

Passengers who pay only part

of the fare for their Intended
jou rney aI')d ()ffer to pay the
.
balance
on
..request at some
.. .
future time commit an offence
,Yi'lder the'PubUc Service Vetlide
,Regu!at!()ns.

I)li r ans port win have

. ()n<:lo
. prosecute
.
.
. . to
tQtake
action

.. L

I.
..

Opposite page: Throughout 1982, the GLC

and the transport unions orchestrated a cam.
paign to mobilise public support for the
retention of 'Fares Fair'. Further campaigns,
intended to promote legislation enabling the
return of cheap fares in London, were subsequently launched which, following another
consultation exercise, reinforced GLCpolicy on
this matter. Right: Widespread publicity explained the effects of the doubling of fares in
March. Alterations to fares outside the GLC
area were similarly notified whilst, in response
to the 'Can't Pay-Won't Pay' campaign, posters gave warning of the consequences
of
adopting such protest.

Increased
fares

for London Transport Buses

in Hertfor'dshire
From 21st March

persons.

".the time being the

.

WftIch allows a passenger to pay

*~.

by givinga name and address.

IS WITHDRAWN.

& --

---

13

Lord Underhill to enable the GLC specifically to more easily make revenue grants to
London Transport. Despite this attempt
being defeated, such were the vagaries of
the political process in the other chamber
that support for the Opposition private
member's Bill, promoted by Douglas Jay,
had been demonstrated, mainly because no.
Government whip had been then applied.
However, upon second reading, on St
George's Day, 23rd April, the Bill was
effectively 'talked-out' in the House of
Commons and any hopes of a speedy
return to a viable transport policy for
London were dashed with ambiguity in
legislation relating elsewhere remaining.
From 1st June, holders of concessionary
permits in LCBS' Crawley area w~re given
special facilities on two routes not normally
open to Rover ticket holders. Off-peak day
return fares of just 75p on the 773 to
Brighton or 1.50 on the 777 to London
were offered. During that month, the
maximum child's fare was fixed at 20p on
Saturdays and Sundays to 'celebrate' the
release of the new 20p coin from 9th June
although this did not apply to certain
Green Line routes.
Children also benefited on London
Transport from 31st July, when the restric-

~ ~.--~..;
t..

'

~A~'

~
"----

,;-

could submit to the Government its plans

for public transport for the following financial year.
The effects of the March fares increase
on Red Arrow services, in particular, had
brought about a 35% drop in usage.
Therefore, fares on routes 500 and 507
were experimentally reduced by lOp to 30p
from 4th September. Additionally, the 30p
flat fare on routes Cl1, HI, SI and S2 was
replaced by standard zonal fares from the
same date as part of a deliberate policy to
commence the replacement of fareboxes
with graduated fares and Almex machines.
Incredulously, from 3rd October, London
Country's 30p flat fare at Hemel Hempstead was increased to an awkward 31p!
London Transport introduced, with the
help of adventurer Sir Ranulph TwistletonWickeham-Fiennes,
a new London
Explorer ticket, from 26th October, which
allowed unlimited travel on buses and
tubes within the Inner, City and West End
zones, together with one journey by
Underground or Airbus only either to or
from Heathrow but not both! In discouraging sales of Go-As-You-Please and Central
London Rover tickets, they were valid
initially for 1, 3, 4 or 7 days at 4.50, 10,
13 and 19 respectively, child fares being
1.30, 3, 4 and 6.
The 4th December reductions on the
Ongar branch of the Central Line, from
daily to Monday to Friday peak period
operation only, enabled rail season ticket
holders to use the replacement 201 bus
service between Epping Station and Chipping Ongar only. Red bus passes and
Rovers were restricted to the former limit
of LT central area operations at the St.
Margaret's Hospital, Epping.
Meanwhile, whilst central Government
was busily discussing a bill to retrospectively ban rate-backed fares policies,
together with some other proposals, the
GLC campaign had produced some 13,000
responses with more than 10,000 supporting a return to the Fares Fair situation. In
view of the above, the Council's final
Transport Policies and Programme for
1983/84 contained a proposal to cut fares
by 25% and remain within the Law, as
advised
by County
Hall's
lawyer.
However, following contradictory advice
from LT's own lawyers, the Executive
intended to seek an independent legal
verdict on their proposals, justified on the

"

44'~"_

,,'

..

tion on child fares not being available after

2100 was relaxed to 2200 so that those
attending organised evening activities were
no longer caused hardship. LCBS similarly
followed suit although children's fares continued to apply at all times on London
Country routes outside the GLC area.
Both operators acceded to pressure from
regular users in permitting payments for
annual bus passes and season tickets to be
made by credit card, LT accepting Access
and Barclaycard from 19th July. However,
a denegration to the National Wanderbus
ticket occurred from 1st August when the
London-Oxford routes ceased to be available to holders after new fare scales for
ordinary passengers were introduced.
At the same time, the GLC launched an
extensive campaign to allow Londoners to
choose between anyone of five options on
the financing of London Transport in the
light of the Law Lords' verdict and confirm
that their own stance on this crucial question was in line with voters' wishes.
Although similar to the consultation which
had taken place in advance of the introduction of Fares Fair the previous year, the
poll was commissioned to gauge passengers' and ratepayers' opinions on the capital's transport system in order that the GLC

Left upper: RCL2260 was further customised

in having
its dual headlights refitted in time for the major rallies
held during the year. The Edmonton 'showbus' is seen
at Purfleet where Ensign's held another bus rally in
mid-July. Ran Harper Left lower: Aylesbury to London
road celebrations involved the use of RF202. seen here
taking the strain as it negotiates
the Moor End
roundabout at Hemel Hempstead with a capacity load
and incorrect blinds. Ran Harper Opposite
page: The
long-awaited local bus timetable booklets promised by
LT finally appeared dated October 1982. The rather
attractive standard cover is shown here by the Croydon
area issue.

14

basis of securing an integrated transport

system for the capital. With a favourable
legal judgement, the scheme was scheduled for implementation in April of the
New Year.

Events and special services

In a year when even the London Transport annual staff gala could not be held,
since almost 200,000 was necessarily cut
from LT's recreational budget, the 20th
anniversary of the last trolleybuses and the
30th anniversary of the last trams passed
virtually unnoticed. No LT garage open
days took place during the year although,
in compensation, one prestigious event did
occur at Covent Garden Museum on 6th
June. Amongst various other preserved
vehicles on display both inside and outside,
RM 1 made a second well-deserved
appearance there following its debut after
restoration, by apprentices at both Chiswick and Aldenham, at another excellent
North Weald rally. This event, held a week
earlier on 30th May in aid of the 'British
Kidney Patients' Association', saw another
rare attendance by the elusive single-deck
RM, 1368, officially on show to the public
for the first time since September 1978.
Once again a free service between Epping
Underground station and the airfield site
was provided.
The year had begun with some concern
over legislation concerning tachographs
being applicable to such ex-PSVs as preserved buses from the first day of January.
Following a decree by Barking Council in
March that rallies pertaining to London's
history were indeed cultural events, all
such vehicles were exempted for the Barking road run and cavalcade and the usual
rallies subsequently took place. Another
occasion to provide a free bus service, at
Cob ham Bus Museum over that same
weekend in April, was followed by a
special opportunity, on 29th August, to
enable enthusiasts to photograph vehicles
not normally on display at a cost of 10,
lunch inclusive. Showbus found itself an
alternative venue at Woburn Abbey on 5th
September where a particularly wellattended event was marred by a thunderstorm towards the end of the afternoon.
Almost exactly a month earlier, the first
Routemaster withdrawals had taken place
and so it was particularly refreshing to have
seen so many of the increasing number of
specially restored RMs making the journey
to Woburn.
Four LCBS garage open days were held
in 1982, at Hemel Hempstead (19th June),
Reigate (3rd July), Dunton Green (7th
August) and St Albans (18th September).
Additionally, the usual special services to
places such as Biggin Hill, for the Air
Displays, and Epsom, for the Races, were
again operated. A series of 'Green Line
Vintage Tours' was advertised, using RMC
4 and RF 202 to various places of interest
for enthusiasts, including trips from London to all four garage open days and to
several bus rallies. Whilst RF 202 also
reappeared on the Ramblers' Bus route
417 on 11th July, both vehicles were used

in passenger sef';ce on Saturday, 13th

November, in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the takeover from Red
Rover of the Aylesbury to London route
on 30th November 1932. Operating
throughout most of the day on route 708,
the RF preferred to recognise the previous
nUlpber for the sef';ce in only displaying
blinds for the ~U6~ The Routemaster,
however, was pressed into public service
on at least three other occasions during the
year having operated on the 714 from
Dorking during the latter rail strike on 9th
July, and making a special appearance on
the 735 in late October to mark the
retirement of Mr. Bill Jarman, a regular
commuter of some thirty years standing,
although blinds for the 715 were displayed.
The retirement of another employee with
similar service at the BBC in Portland
Place prompted a further appearance by
this vehicle on route ~15 between Guildford and London return on 21st December.
Owing to motorway construction work

in Essex, from mid-April to the beginning

of June, the M25 contractors, Laings,
sponsored a circular replacement service
between Epping Town and Ivychimneys
whilst the regular Green Line route was
necessarily diverted. The free Watford
Shopperbus again operated from midNovember onwards for the Christmas
trade, sponsored by Clements store and
Watford Council whilst, a week later, a
similar service, again operated during
shopping hours only but on a park and ride
basis, was started from St Albans City
station to St Peters Street. London Transport also operated a park and ride service,
sponsored by the local Chamber of Commerce, between Bromley Common and the
Market Square from the beginning of
December. Another seasonal service, last
operated some four years ago specially for
the West End lights, was revived as well.
With Regent Street providing the major
attraction this time, the service was renumbered 12L but was again operated by

15

Obsolete Fleet Ltd. Once more, however,

no London bus services, excluding Airbus
Al in daytime only, were provided by
either operator on Christmas Day,

Publicity

HODDESDON
ANDBROXBOURNE

A GUIDETOALL
YOURLOCALBUSES
AUTUMN1982

LONDON COUNTRY""
GREEN LINE
H

Above: London Country also produced further editions of their timetable booklets together with more localised
versions which were distributed free with the London Country Courier newspaper. Below: To minimise the
anticipated loss of passengers following the March fares increases on LT, bold slogans were employed on major
advertising sites, as illustrated by an errant New Cross RML2531 appropriately passing County Hall. Stephen
Madden

rI

~I

With the 'Fare Fight' campaign dominating much of the earlier part of the year, a
great deal of publicity relating to the LTE
emanated from County Hall or the London
Transport Trade Union Defence Committee. Most of these leaflets employed the
use of LT's roundel, many with some
ingenious embellishment,
more often
reminiscent of the former bullseye! A
considerable amount of media coverage
accompanied the campaign, much of it
sympathetic to the plight of LT, who began
to notify travellers of the impending fare
increases from mid-February onwards. In a
major poster promotion, LT reassured
passengers that the zonal system was being
retained and, in the national press, that the
fare revisions were beyond their control.
However, following the 21st March rises, a
new LT advertising campaign aimed to
partially offset the predicted effects of the
doubling of fares by directing regular users
to 'decrease the increase' and purchase
season tickets and bus passes, Television
advertising from mid-May took the form of
a radio 'talking back' to a commuter at
breakfast and exhorting him to buy a
season or a pass,
Despite the fact that flat fares were
discontinued on some routes later in the
year, some errors crept in, since interior
fare posters on Wood Green's Metrobuses
had had to be amended by hand in June to
read 'fare strips cost 3, not 2'. However,
additional impetus in the sales drive had
arrived during the previous month. A
Leyland National, originally with Plymouth Corporation, was taken into stock
for conversion as a 'ProMotion' bus, in
replacement
for SPB 753. Numbered
1234L in the service vehicle fleet, the new
sales and information vehicle made its first
appearance at Lewisham shopping centre
during the early summer before moving on
to some other important suburban centres.
A far more extensive campaign preceded
the September service changes, which
involved over 404 different timetables and
1,900 hours of overtime worked by the
publicity staff in connection with the biggest and most complicated programme
ever undertaken by LT. Advance notification at some 28,000 bus stops was organised with over 50,000 posters and leaflets
being produced. However, the choice of
standard theme common to most items'This is part of the major reorganisation of
London's buses and is designed to give you
a more regular service'-was
perhaps a
little unfortunate
especially where it
applied to those passengers affected by the
twenty route miles which lost their bus
services entirely.
An additional advertising promotion in
October again encouraged the purchase of
more weekly bus passes. During the period
18th October to 8th November, eight days
travel was available for the price of seven.
Surprisingly, no completely revised edi-

16

..

Rail. Underground and Bus

travel in and around London

t-

--

'I

.~;

.'

~~~

...

--.;

~-

Above left: An attempt at promoting an integrated transport network was made with the issue of an
illustrated handout entitled 'The London Connection'. Above right: Bus stop flags identifying selected
locations were introduced in the summer. Interchange symbols were also displayed although these were
rather too small to serve any useful purpose. Co/in Stannard

tion of the standard bus map was produced

in relation to any of the major service
changes during the year but, in February, a
reprint of the fourth edition of the 1981
map, numbered 4A, was issued. To correct
the fares information carried following the
March revision, the only 1982 issue
appeared in April. However, no cartographic amendments were made at all,
except to list all significant routeing alterations, up to and including the 23rd January
scheme, in a 'Stop Press' box at the bottom
right of the map. Some additional details
were included in the routes listing overleaf
where, following a slight rearrangement,
less specific information on bus passes was
given. A 'Stop Press' in the previous
edition relating to the withdrawal of route
639 the previous year was removed

although the route was still listed!

'

The major route scheme in September

did prompt LT to issue a comprehensive

amendment leaflet to accompany another
printing of the 1982 edition, which also
listed the earlier service alterations. The
dearth of actual maps to illustrate routeing
changes during the year was to have been
compensated by the inclusion of local
geographical maps within eight timetable
booklets, similar to various trial productions issued in previous years, which were
distributed free subsequent to the September programme. Many contained a slip of
paper explaining that, due to production
difficulties, it had not been possible to
include the area maps. LT had been
criticised by the London Transport Passengers' Committee over an alleged lack of
consultation regarding its proposals for
the introduction of 26 separate maps within
a similar number of booklets and the
production of only limited future editions

of the full scale map, possibly no longer to

be issued for free. Otherwise, the local
timetable books for Bromley, Croydon,
Enfield, Harrow, Kingston, Romford,
Wembley and Woolwich, featured miniature versions of the public timetables along
with information on other operators',
Underground and British Rail services.
Following the appearance of another
Night Bus booklet in January, although
dated 28th November 1981, an improved
night services production was printed,
unusually dated 29th/30th October 1982,
which for the first time contained details of
last BR trains to suburban stations,
together with an expansion of their night
service tables and the times of the last
daytime buses from selected central London points.
Earlier, in July, the Lord Mayor of
London, Sir Christopher Leaver, had laun-

17

....

ched four new LT guide books specially for

tourists written by Thames TV journalist
Keith Blogg. Entitled 'Family London',
'Young London', 'Free (or nearly Free)
London' and 'Royal and Historic London',
the guides retailed at 99p each to encourage visitors to make more use of the buses
and tubes during their stay in the capital. .
Dated November 1982, 'The London Connection' map was also produced which, in
providing details of rail, tube and bus
travel in and around London, drew rather
heavily on the 'London's Railways' map of
the early 1970s. On the reverse, the
infamous 'Central London Bus Map' of
1981 also reappeared alongside comprehensive information for all three modes
together with a version of BR's Inter-City
diagram.
Following London Country's drive to
capture a greater share in the south-east
travel market and retain many commuters
gained from the railways with its 'February
Fare Fighter' scheme and a pledge to hold
down their fares for a full year after the
March increases, a new Green Line map
appeared dated 'SumiI1er 1982', which
included alterations made in May and
June. The fact that nineteen services
extended to points beyond the edge of the
map showed the extent of recent expansion
in the network; twenty-one would have
been shown had the last minute introduction of the 745 and 766 been included.
When the subsequent 'Winter 1982/83'
edition was issued, the latter route was
Below: London Country publicised
information.

inexplicably omitted from the routes listing

but, nevertheless, all the summer-only
services were still shown. (The timing point
at Kimpton 'The Boot' for the 766 was
inaccurately described in the Central Hertfordshire timetable booklet as 'Hamden'
and, on the panel timetables, as 'The
White Horse'.) In both cases, much additional information was included on the
folder, with details of the 'Flightline' timings and fares, special services and general
fares and frequency information as well as
brief details about many places of interest
that could be reached by Green Line. No
comprehensive
timetable booklet was
issued for these services but they continued
to be publicised by a series of leaflets. A
new standard cover style was adopted
which included red shading for routes
jointly operated with Alder Valley and
Eastern Counties.
The last network map had appeared in
July 1979 and still no new one was published. However, good coverage was maintained on the covers of the area timetable
booklets, to the usual high standard. Hertfordshire County Council issued a public
transport map for the county in April, but
was only available locally. Most area timetable books were reissued during the year
but, yet again, the multiplicity of minor
timing changes caused difficulty in keeping
them current. At the behest of the Surrey
County Council, the larger books were
split into smaller areas and, in August,
three 30p booklets replaced the 40p East

their take-over of LT route 84 with this leaflet. while (opposite)

LT themselves

Surrey edition. Although it had been

intended that the west Surrey area would
be similarly dealt with early in 1983, the
first, for Guildford only, was issued in
mid-November.
In October, following an announcement
in a press release, the London Country
Courier newspaper dropped through front
doors in selected areas. It was a special
four-page paper including articles about
the facilities offered by LCBS and Green
Line and items, which varied according to
the distribution area, about local company
staff. A free booklet was included giving
timetables for all local routes together with
a set of vouchers for reduced-rate travel.
The National Bus Company had decided
much earlier in the year that, where local
routes were concerned, they would revert
to the 12-hour notation in leaflets and
timetables following research that a proportion of passengers did not understand
the continental 24-hour clock. With little
evidence of this policy having affected
London Country during the year, London
Transport affirmed that they would continue with the established system.
LT also agreed to a mutual exchange of
publicity material with a United States
transport operator, JFK express, to help
boost travel on LT's airport services. The
north American coach and subway service
from Kennedy airport to Manhattan, New
York, advertised the benefits of catching
the Underground or Airbus from Heathrow with some 500 LT car cards in return
re-vamped their Night Buses booklet to include more BR

---~----

""

Thistake.overwillresultinmanybenefitsfor you.
4
Thelevelofservicewillbemaintained
throughout
theroute,whilstcloser
co.ordinationwithLondonCountry357
and358willimprovetheservicebetween
St.AlbansandLondonColney.
Therewillbesavingsinfaresfor many
passengers,
withOUTBACK
cheapday
returnsavailable
forall(including
pensioners
withpermits),
andseason
ticketstoo.

'-

i: Therewillbesavings
for ratepayers,
asthe
take-overwillresultina reductioninthelevel
offinancialsupportnecessary
fromthe
CountyCouncil.

v
I

Whilstkeeping
to thesamerouteingas
before,thenew84tirnetablewillbesimplijied
slightly,
to providea regularhalf-holtrlyservice
duringthedayandonSaturdays,
withanhourly
serviceintheevenings
andonSundays.
Thetimetables
for routes357and358will
alsobealteredslightly,
to co-ordinate
more
closelywith84,andprovidebetween
thema
regular15minuteservicebetween
London
ColneyandSt.Albans.

'-

[!0~1.
rn:I?tiJ;

. ,~

Ii

18

.r;,

.. .,

!Jj).

------

From24thApril1982,busroute84 willbe
operatedbyLondonCountry,
usingtheirgreen
doubledeckbuses.

~I

Ii

....-

'"",=,
"\

I. i1 i.
"ili
[; 11' 11

.. .,

-----

Passengers
onroute84 willbeableto take
advantage
ofLondonCountry's
'OUTBACK'
returntickets,a facilitynotformerlyavailable
fromLondon
Transport.
OUTBACKS
canbeboughtonthebusafter

0900Monday-Friday,
andanytimeat
weekends,
andoffersubstantial
savingsoverthe
costoftwosingle
tickets:-St.Albans
- Barnet
1single,1.35OUTBACK
return;SouthMimms
- St.Albans76psingle,1.11return;London
1.25return.
Colney- Barnet90psingle,
Season
ticketswillalsobeavailable
under
theLondonCountryscheme.
Buyamonthly,
three-monthly
orannualticketfor yourspecific
journeyandsaveoverthecostofdailytickets.
Askthedriverforanapplication
form.
SeniorCitizens
canenjoygreaterbargains
too,onallLondonCountryservices.
Hertfordshire
DistrictCouncilpermitscannow
beusedto purchase
half.priceOUTBACK
day
returntickets,aswellashalfpricesinglesand
GoldenRovers.
Anddon'tforgetthatLondonCountry's
child
faresarenowavailable
to childrenupto their
sixteenthbirthday.

..-

....

Ti
,11

--

--

., L.:.
J

-- ,.
for JFK express cards in Piccadilly Line
tubes.
In August, new bus stop flag stickers
appeared at King's Cross, Oxford Circus
and Victoria. With the place name appearing across the bar of a bullseye (as opposed
to a roundel), the name was repeated,
together with the BR emblem and a
stylised Underground symbol as appropriate, on the leading edge of the adjacent bus
shelter canopy. In November, the LT
Museum at Covent Garden benefited with
many exhibits receiving dummy passengers
dressed in period costume, some authentic,
others made by fashion students at the
Mabel Fletcher College, Liverpool.
No LT route alteration pamphlets were

produced during 1982 except for the

February scheme affecting routes 46 and
187 which, in the event, was never
implemented! Additionally, no literature
relating solely to Christmas bus services
was published, despite the tomes produced
in 1981, although passengers continued to
be informed by the usual posters placed on
vehicles.
Finally, three major advertising campaigns affected London Transport towards
the end of the year. Aimed principally at
central Government, two Stockwell RMLs
received advertisements protesting against
university spending cuts. In joining the
fight to reduce unemployment in the
capital, LT initiated an attractive poster

c::::r ~

--

display to resume more normal recruitment of bus drivers and conductors at a

number of Jobcentres
in November.
Lastly, the much publicised Bus and Coach
Council campaign, 'We'd all miss the bus',
was launched later that month to emphasise the value of a viable bus industry
nationally. With every bus operating district having contributed at least one vehicle
for advertising purposes, each had also
been responsible for holding a special
presentation, including a film highlighting
the importance of the bus in society, for
the benefit of local, regional and national
politicians, many of whom had been
responsible for one of the most turbulent
years in London Transport's history.
19

London Transport
Routes
Early in the year, the effect of the need
for economies within London Transport
was demonstrated by the planning of a
major programme of bus cuts, resulting
from a large drop in passenger journeys, a
direct consequence of the doubling of fares
in March. At the start of the year, there
had been considerable staff opposition to
any such programme of cuts. Initially, this
opposition was based on the grounds that
the cheaper fares policy had been legal and
that service cuts to achieve economical
operation of bus services were against the
principles of improved public transport in
London. The loss of passengers arising
from the doubling of fares from 21st
March was such that London Transport
felt justified in making a general reduction
in service levels. During the spring, plans
were announced to reduce operating costs
by reducing services in an attempt to offer

a more reliable service by matching passenger demand with staff availability and more
economical operation.
Signs of staff opposition occurred during
April, when engineering staff at most
garages placed a ban on overtime and rest
day working. This action was in answer to
the announcement of plans to reduce
engineering staffing levels. The most.
noticeable effect of this was the prevention
of vehicle movements between garages,
hence the small programme of out-county
changes from 24th April was badly disrupted. In Hertfordshire the reductions
were accompanied by an exchange of
routes between London Country and London Transport, although in Surrey the
exchange was one-way as LCBS adopted
most London Transport operations beyond
the county boundary south of Belmont.
Epsom remained served by route 293,

although route 164 was truncated at Banstead. Engineering staff abandoned their
action during the middle of May, after
which the resultant type changes were
completed.
Bus operating
staff were equally
opposed to the main programme of cuts,
originally planned for 31st July. During the
early part of the summer, it became
obvious that this date would be impracticable for such a large scale operation and in
July the more realistic date of 4th September was announced. One of the grounds for
staff opposition had been that the new
services would be inadequate for the numbers of passengers wishing to travel. This
arose since the loss of passengers after the
fare increase had not been as large as
London Transport had predicted. After
London Transport had agreed to pay an
across the board 7% pay rise and re-instate

.1~~.i~

'
::~]I

Above left: Reductions in Surrey led to the curtailment of London Transport routes at the GLC boundary. DMS2091 approaches Banstead shortly before the route was
routes. In Hertfordshire,
the 84 was
truncated there. Raman Hefford Above right: Out-county cutbacks in the spring led to the withdrawal of many long-established
transferred to LCBS except for the section east of New Bamet Station. M663 is seen on new LT route 84A in May, introduced
Bamet. John Barnacle

to replace the Greater London portion from

20

approximately 100 buses to alleviate pressure on certain routes, the Trade Union
delegate conference voted to accept the
revised services, and the changes took
place from 4th September.
It is no exaggeration to say that the
programme of reductions was the largest
since the cuts introduced during the
1965-1968 period, when London Transport fell victim to severe shortages of staff
and a drop in the numbers of weekend
passengers. Several of the recently established principles of bus route planning
introduced under Bus Plan '78 (standardised routeings on all days of the week,
regular
'clockface'
timetables
and
improved off peak services) were sacrificed
as the need for economy became the main
objective. 600 buses were removed from
Monday to Friday schedules overnight
(this was after just under 100 buses were
reinstated). A total of eighteen route
numbers disappeared
from London's
streets, with nine routes being withdrawn
on Sundays. On the positive side, however,
nine new routes appeared including use of
the number 60 for the first time since
September 1968.
In all districts most of the changes
involved reductions in frequency and, in
some cases, shortened routeings. Nine
routes became one-man operated throughout the week, two of which, routes BOB
and 281, had previously been so on Sundays only. Route 106 reverted to one-man
operation having been originally thus converted in 1972 and reconverted to crew in
1979. Several of the new or recast crew
operated routes were designed for eventual
one-man operation
as evidenced by
changes during 1983.
For details, readers are asked to refer to
the route change appendix at the end of the
section, but a brief district by district
summary is given here of the more notable
changes. In Selkent, route 94 was replaced
by two new routes 208 and 261, both
basically operating between Lewisham and
Orpington via different routeings. The two
new routes also replaced parts of routes 47
and 229, the latter also being converted to
one-man operation. One other advantage
of the new routes was that they both passed
their operating garage, a feature lacking
from route 94 at both its garages (Bromley
and Catford) and adding to its unreliability. Because of its conversion route 229 was
re-routed to follow route 269 between
Sidcup and Bexleyheath, leaving the former routeing via Murchison Avenue without buses since it precluded the operation
of larger vehicles. Moving around to WandIe district, the major changes were the
one-man conversion of routes 130 and
BOB, coupled with the introduction of
Monday to Friday peak hour express services on both routes between Croydon and
New Addington,
partially
replacing
express routes C3 and C4. The northern
end of route 130 was replaced on Mondays
to Saturdays by new crew route 60 which
continued beyond the former terminus of
the 130 at Streatham Garage to Brixton
Garage. On Sundays ro~te 130 also
reached this new northern terminal. The
long awaited extension of route 95 from

Right: The Sep:W'Oe' orogramme

resulted in SO""e 'CUtes being
converted to one-<"'ar operation.
Route 106 was IY'e SJeh service
which was cor.-e-:ec :0 OMO for
the second ti"1e ::n I()Sruttard

. J

01~~)
.,

.1

..

~M

11

...

~,

' ..
.

...
.

.jl&l

- --

--

Ib:

rY"l

4~

PJ
~

- ---

Above: In the South-Easler" area. new crew-operated route 208 replaced part of route 94. running between
Lewisham and Pens Wooo Station with a weekday projection to Orpington. RM386 passes through Bromley on
the first day. Ramor he"ora Below: In Wand le District. new peak hour only express services on the 130 and
130B replaced the remat'''ng C-suffixed routes. DMS189 was captured in Croydon during August. Colin Fradd

21

~--'
,r~

Above left: From 4th September.

route 290 was extended to Staines replacing the 90 which

Above right: The September changes in the Stratford area re-introduced the 225 number after
soon afterwards. Oavid StuttardBelow: From January. Titans replaced Fleetlines at Loughton.
working of the 20A before contraction of that route in April. passes an example of the type

Tooting Broadway to St. George's Hospital took place after several years of local
agitation, whereas experimental route 254
was withdrawn, following disappointing
loadings.
Cardinal district superintended major
changes to routes 33, 82, 90, 202, 270 and
290. Route 33 was re-routed to Fulwell
Garage replacing routes 27 and 270
through Teddington, and the 270 in turn
re-routed via route 267 between Twickenham and Fulwell Garage, as well as
being given an improved evening and
Saturday service to Nurserylands Estate.
The section of route 33 to Hounslow was
replaced by an improved service on route
281, which was converted on Mondays to
Saturdays to one-man operation. Route 33
was also introduced on Sundays, causing
the withdrawal of route 73 south of Hammersmith. Route 90 was swallowed up by
an extension of route 290 from Richmond
to Staines. The opportunity was taken to
serve the town centre of Ashford by
routeing the 290 away from part of Kingston Road. The 202 was extended from
Hounslow to Heathrow Airport via Hatton
Cross and the Cargo Area, replacing route
82 which was withdrawn. The operation of

22

was withdrawn. BL36 at Butterwick illustrates the old order. Stephen Madden
an absence of over 10 years. RM 1937 heads for the erstwhile terminus of the 86
the full conversion taking nearly three months. Newly-delivered T419. on a short
which later superseded the Titans at that garage. Colin Fradd

route 202 via the southern entrance to the

Airport was interesting since it saw the first
regular operation of London Transport
double-deckers through the Cargo Tunnel.
Buses on route 202 were at first prevenred
from traversing the Southern Perimeter
Road due to possible interference with
radar screens at the airport but subsequent
tests proved that the interference problems
could be overcome and the 202 was rerouted via the former 82 road from 28th
October. The peak hour projections on
route 65 to Ealing (Argyle Road) were
withdrawn, in favour of bifurcated journeys on route E2. Buses operating these
workings displayed yellow destination
blinds for some workings.
Changes to routes in Watling district
were mainly concerned with frequency
reductions, although several sections of
route became unserved during evenings
and all day Sundays. The long established
journeys to Wembley Trading Estate on
route 8 were transferred to route 297,
whose operation was also transferred from
Alperton to Willesden. Neighbouring
Leaside district seized the opportunity to
re-cast many of the routes in Enfield,
resulting in the withdrawal of route 135

and the extension of newly acquired route

313 to Chingford. Forest district, true to its
established pattern, provided the largest
scheme of changes to routes in the
Loughton, Barking and Romford areas,
two effects being the total conversion of
Loughton garage to single-deck operation
and the withdrawal of London Transport's
share on route 347. Thus London Transport's now no longer served the town of
Brentwood. On the borders of Forest and
Tower districts, one of the new routes
introduced was the 225. Combining the
Limehouse end of the 86 with the Becontree Heath section of route 25, the route
was designed for eventual one-man operation. Also in the Stratford area, route S3
was replaced by an extension of route 278
to Stoke Newington, causing its conversion
to single deck operation, as it now passed
under a low bridge in Carpenter's Road.
Moving into Central London, 4th
September saw the disappearance of tram
replacement route 176A, which was
covered by re-routeing the Monday to
Friday peak hour service on route 184 via
Southwark Bridge, instead of Blackfriars
Bridge. Changes in the Waterloo area saw
the truncation of routes 4 and 5 during off
peak times at Farringdon Street and Old
Street Station respectively, although route
5 continued to operate to Waterloo during
the Monday to Friday midday period. In
Abbey district route 46 was extended daily
to Swiss Cottage and on Mondays to
Saturdays to Kensal Rise Station, whilst at
its southern end the service south of Kings
Cross was reduced. The northern extension was largely over route 187, although
between Hampstead Heath and Swiss Cottage the routeing was more akin to the 268
leaving Ordnance Hill unserved. This particular change coupled with withdrawal of
route 187 east of West Kilburn and transfer
of operation of route 31 from Battersea
and Chalk Farm to Westbourne Park had
originally been planned to take effect from
27th February, but had been postponed
due to problems at a very late stage after
publicity had been issued. Route 239,
operating on the joint boundary of Abbey

Above left: Another September casualty was the 239 rOl.ie ~"1Ch had been re-converted to double-deck operation in 1981. DMS348 turns at the Aldwych earlier in the year.
Co/in Fradd Above right: An allocation of LSs was introo.JCeOai Merton. displacing Fleetlines. Route 189. which has experienced severe pruning in recent years. was further
withdrawn between Hook and Raynes Park. Dominic Wesr Below: Metrobuses strayed regularty 01' to the 134 thereby bringing further type variety to the route which was
re-converted to RM operation in the autumn. A SOmew'"\ai oeoald M551. complete with conductor and erroneous dual-purpose flap. awaits custom at its southerly terminus.

Jim B/ake

and Tower districts, was withdrawn, bein!!: wick). The allocation of one extra bus at V,
replaced by the re-routeing of the 4 and however, enabled the restoration of a
extensions to routes 188 and Cll. It had special hourly service between Acton and
been intended that route C11 would serve
Grove Park on Mondays to Saturdays.
the 'Nag's Head' area rather than BreckAt Loughton garage, 1982 will be
nock Road, as shown by the destination
remembered as a year of major change. An
blinds which had 'Holloway' painted out~ allocation of new T buses replaced DMSs
Another effect of the programme was during the spring, being themselves
replaced by further Leyland ~ationals in
the extension of one-man operation to four
more night routes and the return of double
September, giving London Transport its
deckers to two others. The conversion of
first all single deck garage for some years.
Kingston's remaining BL routes to LS Loughton had suffered over the past few
operation required their transfer to :'-Iorbi- years as a result of 'out-county' cutbacks,
yet, at the end of 1982, the allocation was
ton, resulting in the transfer of that garlarger than at the start. :'-Iew route 201
age's allocation on route 65 to Kingston.
added to this trend; introduced Of! 4th
More redundant LSs were deposited at
December, it replaced route 20A-and the
Merton for routes 127, 152 and 189, though
link between Epping and Ongar formerly
DMS operation was unofficially retained
on the 152 for schools traffic. For similar
provided by London Country route 339
and the Central Line. The 201 was a new
reasons, two workings at Uxbridge on
route 98 were converted to M operation.
out-county route for London Transport and
This resulted in LSs making unscheduled
the first to be jointly worked by LT and
London Country. Furthermore, it restored
appearances on routes 222, 223 and 224.
By the end of the year, however. an extra
a Sunday service to roads that had lost
LS was worked on the route at bus\' times
a service on that day in January 1982.
and the double deckers returned tOotheir
London Country's contribution was a
normal haunts.
round trip in the evening peak, and an
The planning for the restoration of the
extra school day journey, yet it was quite a
extra buses and duties to the schedules was
only able to take place during August,
resulting in there being supplementary
services spaced around the ordinary scheduled buses. Over the succeeding five
months, these extra buses were incorporated into the main schedules. this programme being completed on 29th January
1983. On three routes, however. it was felt
that the extra buses could be used to
restore lost facilities. On the 148, the
supplementary service was used to provide
a service between Barking Garage and
Ilford Broadway via South Park Drive,
restoring a service which would have
ceased to exist with the withdrawal of route
199. Extra vehicles on route 19~ were used
to provide a regular service throughout the
day, rather than being 'pushed-in' between
the previous infrequent service. Early
plans for route E3 envisaged the withdrawal of the service to Grove Park (Chis-

breakthrough since the last attempt at joint

working (route BW1) had collapsed at a
late planning
stage in 1979. The
Epping- Ongar branch of the Central Line
had been threatened with closure for some
years, but following the refusal of Ministerial consent to total closure in 1981, the
service was reduced to peak hours only. As
part of the replacement facility, Underground season tickets were accepted on
route 201 between Epping and Ongar.
London Country route 339 as well as being
withdrawn from the Epping Town area,
was extended from Ongar to Romford
replacing route 247B.
A start was made, during 1982, to
replace fare box flat-fare collection with
conventional
one-man operation with
graduated
fares and Almex
ticket
machines. In some instances, routes
involved were incorporated into other service changes.
Most other route changes throughout
the year were concerned with minor
'tidying up' exercises or diversions connected with local authority road improvements. Among these was the introduction
of the Waltham Cross town centre scheme

~-?t-

23

...

in July where two special 'buses only' roads

were introduced, enabling buses to attain
the main stops adjacent to the shopping
centre without lengthy diversions.
Following the pattern of recent years,
there was an increase in the numbers of
strange visitors to routes. More notable of
these included the two day operation on
5th and 6th July of some RMLs on route 65
(loaned from Hanwell to Norbiton), crew
operated Ts on route 69, Westbourne Park
DMs on routes 52 and 52A during the
August Bank Holiday (in connection with
the Notting Hill carnival), one-man M
operation on routes 116, 203 and 257 at
Hounslow, and crew operation of one-man
Ms on routes 134, 279 and 279A.
The future seemed no brighter at the
end of the year, with the prospect of
further, but less severe, service reductions
and more widespread one-man operation.

d
.

~.,...

fi

~t

i!:!

Top: For the duration of the West End Christmas Lights. a special service numbered 12L was operated by Obsolete Fleet using OM vehicles. OM3 waits for custom at Trafalgar
Square a week before Christmas Day. Co/in StannardCentre:
In the Twickenham area. long-established route 90 was withdrawn
after operations on 3rd September. M51
approaches
Richmond
Station
In the spnng.
Stephen Madden Below left: Monday to Friday route 156 was withdrawn In September. T212 passes along Becontree Avenue
before the 287 took over that section of the route. Co/in StannardBefow right: Factory closures contributed to the withdrawal of the 116 extension along the Great West Road
from 24th Apnl. An empty

24

LS27 passes through

Hounslow

during the mornin.g peak! Co/in Stannard

As a result of LS conversion, route 278

displayed an unusual and slightly confusing blind treatment of the southern
terminal at the Victoria and Albert
Docks. LS322 leaves Stoke Newington
on a new section of route served from
September. John Barnacle

- ----

Above left: In Surrey, cuts in revenue support led to the withc'1!'. '3 Q' ""I3I')i sections

of LT routes. 01205

----

. ---

was captured in Banstead during April before the route was curtailed

at Belmont. Guy Brigden Above right: A smart Southall R~'&::3 ei?es Heathrow on the 105 service, which was both sectionalised and converted to almost total crew
Metrobus operation from September. Stephen Madden Below left: ~a<T'OOroughceased to be served by trunk route 47 as part of the September changes. RM1300 at Bromley
South was photographed during the last week of operations be -ore B-omley Common Garage.John BarnacleBelow right: London Country 313 operations within Greater
London were taken over by London Transport who interesu.ng -e;ao'"EOthe route number as demonstrated here by M661 at Enfield Chase. John Barnacle

iI8iI

25
...

Summary of
London Transport
Route Alterations
D
MF
MS
SSU
SU
N
9th January
206
D

Daily
Monday to Friday
Monday to Saturday
Saturday and Sunday only
Sunday only
Nightly

W
Th
F
SA
NxS
SN

Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Nightly except Saturday night/Sunday morning
Saturday night/Sunday morning only.

Re-routed between Whipps Cross and Leytonstone Station via James Lane, Essex Road South, Fairlop Road, Leytonstone Station
and Church Lane, instead of the anti-clockwise loop working via Leyton Way, Fillebrook Road, Fairlop Road, Grove Green Road,
Church Lane and Leytonstone High Road.

18th January
30
D

73
214
N96

D
D
NxS )

19th January
84
D
242
D
298
D

21st January
34
D
97
D
97A
D
123
D
144
D
158
MS
212
D
275
D
276
D

23rd January
8
D

35
72
92

D
D
D

III
128
182

D
D
D

347

MS

502

MF

26th January
20
D
20A
D
167
D

26

Re-routed westbound via Pentonville Road bus lane, instead of temporary diversion via Penton Rise, Swinton Street and Grays Inn
Road.

Completion of progressive conversion to M one man operation (ex DMS).

Completion of progressive conversion to M one man operation (ex DMS).
Completion of progressive conversion of PB allocation to M one man operation (ex DMS).
Note: The above conversions commenced on 19th November 1981.

Completion of progressive conversion of WW allocation to T one man operation. (ex DMS).

Completion of progressive conversion to T one man operation (ex DMS).
Completion of progressive coi1Version to T one man operation (ex DMS).
Completion of progressive conversion to T one man operation (ex DMS).
Completion of progressive conversion of WW allocation to T one man operation (ex DMS).
Completion of progressive conversion to T one man operation (ex DMS).
Completion of progressive conversion to T one man operation (ex DMS).
Completion of progressive conversion to T one man operation (ex DMS).
Completion of progressive conversion to T one man operation (ex DMS).
Note: The above conversions commenced on 15th September 1981.

Journeys to Wembley Trading Estate re-routed at the Arena via Engineers Way, First Way to South Way, instead of Wembley Hill
Road.
Extended on Mondays to Saturdays from Hackney Central Station to Clapton Pond via Lower Clap ton Road.
Re-routed northbound via Alton Road, instead of Kingston Road and Roehampton Lane.
Wembley Trading Estate service revised on Mondays to Fridays to operate all day (except evenings) and re-routed at Wembley
Complex Station via the Arena, Empire Way, Engineers Way and First Way to South Way.
Re-routed in Hampton via The Avenue, Buckingham Road and Acacia Road instead of Broad Lane and Nightingale Road.
Journeys 'double-running' via Sharps Lane, in Ruislip, withdrawn, and re-routed to follow normal routeing along Bury Street.
Journeys to Wembley Trading Estate re-routed at Wembley Complex Station via the Arena, Empire Way, Engineers Way, First
Way to South Way.
Eastern National participation withdrawn on Saturdays, LT Saturday operation revised to provide shopping hour service, instead of
a.m. only.
Re-routed westbound via Old Broad Street, London Wall, Aldersgate Street and New Change to St. Pauls, instead of via Old Broad
Street, Threadneedle Street, Bank, Queen Victoria Street, Friday Street, and Cannon Street.
Commencement of progressive conversion to T
Commencement of progressive conversion to T
Commencement of progressive conversion to T
Note: All the above conversions were officially

one man operation

one man operation
one man operation
completed by 19th

(ex DMS).
(ex DMS).
(ex DMS).
March.

---

--

Above left: From 26th/27th February. certain late ana 3:P" o

eys on route 29 between Trafalgar Square and Enfield were transferred to new route N29. Crew-operated
M626 is seen leaving Trafalgar Square. Co/in Fradd Abaft "9ht..ew
Metrobuses were introduced at Enfield early in the year and by late March a full contingent had arrived.
M737 works a Sunday journey on route 2178. the e'-~o{; Chase Farm Hospital being wthdrawn later in the year. John Barnacle

30th January
244
MS
Al
D

Unofficially converted on s..:,J__:'5 to M one man operation (ex LS). with occasional appearances on Mondays to Fridays.
Re-routed between Knigh's.~~
S,ation and Victoria via Sloane Street. Sloane Square, Lower Sloane Street, Pimlico Road and
Buckingham Palace Road B_.r- ---ards Victoria additionally re-routed via Semley Place and Ebury Street to Grosvenor Gardens.

~th Febru:~?

38
55
172
N84

D
D
D
NxS)

21st February
262
D
26th/27th February
29
D
N29
N
6th March
88
D
100

8th March
202
D
248A
MF
22nd March
107
D
135
D
191
MS
217
D
217B
D
231
D
24th March
191
MS
259
MS

25th March
87
D
174
D
175
D
241
D
RLST
D

Journeys terminating at B '"Vs.~ (Red Lion Square) from the east, extended to terminate in New Oxford Street, via High
Holborn, returning via B 0 m..~.
Way and Vernon Place.

Commencement of progres:.: e;:; ~ersion

to T one man operation (ex DMS). Completed by 4th September.

Certain late night and earl} 1f!'~!1lUlg

journeys between Trafalgar Square and Enfield transferred to new route N29.
New night route between :-r-.s:...:~ Square and Enfield (Little Park Gardens) via route N84 to Cambridge Circus and then route 29.
Running every night, ere..' .: --perated by WN.

Re-routed southbound at ',~dIlk

via John Islip Street and Bessborough Gardens, instead of Bulinga Street and MilIbank.
Between 1st August and h;.h Dc:t>ber. this re-routeing was suspended due to road works in Bessborough Gardens.
Extended from Oxford C!TC'"..Q
;0 Portman Square via route 1. Standard London Transport fare scale introduced, including
availability of bus passes.
Converted to M one man operaUOD (ex BL).
Journeys operating via Hall Lane. Avon Road, Upminster Park Estate loop, Front Lane and SI. Mary's Lane withdrawn.
Commencement of sporadic:- nne man operation instead of LS. (now permitted since route no longer passed under low bridge).
Completion of progressive cooversion to M one man operation (ex DMS).
Completion of progressive coovemon to M one man operation (ex DMS).
Completion of progressive COIl,'ersion of Saturday E allocation to M one man operation (ex DMS).
Completion of progressive COIl"ersion to M one man operation (ex DMS).
Completion of progressive COIlversionto M one man operation (ex DMS).
Completion of progressive COIl,'ersion to M one man operation (ex DMS).
Note: The above conversions commenced on 30th December 1981.

Commencement of progr~e
COIlversionof Monday to Friday EM allocation to M one man operation (ex DMS).
Commencement of progressiYe COIlversionof EM allocation to M one man operation (ex DMS).
Note: The above conversions were completed by 29th April.

Commencement of progressiYe conversion of Sunday NS allocation to T crew operation (ex RM). Completed by 29th October.
Commencement of progr~'e
conversion to T crew operation (ex RM). Completed by 29th October.
Commencement of progressive conversion on Mondays to Saturdays to T crew operation (ex RM). Completed by 29th October.
Commencement of progressiYe conversion to T one man operation (ex DMS). Completed by 29th October.
AN allocation introduced, operated by LCBS from LH.

27

3rd April
238
D
278

MS

A2

4th April
58
D
8th April
141
D

9th April
W8
D

Commencement of progressive conversion of Saturday WH allocation to T one man operation (ex DMS). Conversion superceded by
withdrawal of WH allocation from 4th September.
Commencement of progressive conversion to T one man operation (ex DMS). Conversion not completed because of conversion to LS
operation from 4th September.
Re-routed between Notting Hill Gate and Shepherds Bush via Palace Gardens Terrace, Kensington Mews, Kensington Church Street,
Kensington High Street, Holland Road, Royal Crescent and Holland Park Avenue returning via Royal Crescent, Holland Park
Avenue, Holland Road, Addison Crescent, Addison Road, Kensington High Street, Kensington Church Street and Notting Hill
Gate. On 26th and 27th D~cember only, buses reverted to former routeing.
Commencement of progressive conversion on Sundays to T one man operation (ex DMS). Completed by 4th September.

Commencement
4th September.

of progressive

conversion

to RM operation

(ex DM). WN allocation

completed

by 17th June and NX allocation

by

Commencement of progressive conversion to M one man operation (ex DMS). Completed by 24th June.

11th April (Easter Sunday)

137A
SU
Special one day operation between Sloane Square and Battersea Park, via route 137. One man operated DMS by Band RM operated
by GM.
11th and 12th April (Easter Sunday and Monday)
273
D
Summer Sunday extension from Ruislip Station to Ruislip Lido operated on these days.
17th April
234A
D
18th April
56
MS
277
D
N84
NxS

Commencement of progressive conversion to LS operation (ex BL). Completed by 4th September.

Commencement of progressive conversion to T one man operation (ex DMS).

Commencement of progressive conversion of PR allocation to T one man operation (ex DMS).
Commencement of progressive conversion to T one man operation (ex DMS).
Note: The above conversions were completed by 3rd August.

24th April
Most of the type changes for this date were disrupted by an industrial dispute by engineering staff at garages. Where eventual completion dates are
known, these are given. In any event, the dispute was settled by mid May.

20A

40
80
80A
84
84A

D
D
SU
D
MS

116
164
206

D
D
D

210
235
236

D
D
D

244
252
273
280
280A
293
313

MS
D
D
D
MS
D
D

S2
W9
76

D
D

243
243A
259
N90

SU
MS
N s]

10th May
E3
D
3rd June
67
D
N
N83

28

Withdrawn between Loughton Station and Leytonstone and entirely on Sundays. Service restricted at other times to Mondays to
Fridays (evenings excepted) and Saturday shopping hours. School journeys operated on Mondays to Fridays beyond Loughton Station
to West Hatch School (Chigwell), via Loughton High Road, Palmerston Road, Buckhurst Hill Station, Roding Lane, Chigwell Rise
and Chigwell Road.
Withdrawn between Blackwell Tunnel and North Woolwich.
Withdrawn on Sundays between Belmont Station and Lower Kingswood.
Withdrawn.
Withdrawn.
New Monday to Saturday route between Arnos Grove Station and Barnet Church, via route 84 with Monday to Friday school journeys
to Chesterfield Road via route 26. M one man operated by PB.
Withdrawn between Hounslow Bus Station and Brentford (Great West RoadlEaling Road).
Withdrawn between Banstead and Epsom.
Withdrawn during Monday to Saturday evenings and on Sundays (afternoons excepted) between Leytonstone Station and
Walthamstow Central Station. Daily journeys extended from Grange Farm, Chigwell to Loughton Garage via Chigwell Road,
Chigwell Lane and Rectory Lane. Daily L LS allocation introduced and Leyton Sunday allocation withdrawn. (Journeys to Loughton
Garage and L allocation did not commence until 16th May and as a result, there was no Sunday service until that date.)
HT allocation withdrawn.
Extended from Leytonstone Station to Woodford Wells via Church Lane, Leytonstone High Road and route 20A.
Re-routed between Mildmay Grove and Grosvenor Avenue, via Mildmay Park, Newington Green, Newington Green Road,
Beresford Road and Petherton Road.
Withdrawn.
Re-converted on Mondays to Saturdays to T one man operation (ex LS). Conversion delayed until mid-May, due to dispute.
Summer Sunday extension from Ruislip Station to Ruislip Lido re-introduced.
Withdrawn between Belmont Station and Lower Kingswood on Mondays to Saturdays.
Withdrawn.
Monday to Saturday AL allocation transferred to A.
New daily route between Enfield (Cecil Road) and Potters Bar (Cranborne Road) via and replacing LCBS route 313. M one man
operated by PB.
Withdrawn between Clapton (Kenninghall Road) and Upper Clapton (Metal Box Factory).
Withdrawn after mid-evening and all day Sundays. Extended from Southgate Station to Muswell Hill Broadway via route 244.
Northbound journeys departing Tottenham Garage re-routed via Philip Lane, Town Hall Approach to Tottenham High Road,
instead of direct from Philip Lane into Tottenham High Road.

Re-routed in Acton, towards Turnham Green, via Salisbury Street and Winchester Street, instead of temporary diversion via Acton
Lane which had been in operation.
Commencement of progressive conversion of SF allocation to M one man operation (ex DMS). Completed by 22nd June.
Officially converted to M crew operation (ex crew DMS), although in practice RM operation retained when operated by regular crew.

4th June
5
147
162
172
238

D
D
MS
D
D

~;th June D
27
D
30
D
176
MF )
17th June
67
D
259
MS

Completion of progr~e
ronversion of Sunday U allocation to T one man operation (ex DMS).
Completion of progress.\e .:vo"ersion to T one man operation (ex DMS).
Completion of progressr.e OOII,'ersionto T one man operation (ex DMS).
Commencement of progrCS5i.'e conversion of Monday to Friday Q allocation to RM (ex DM). Completed by 7th June.
Completion of progress.'"'e ,:ollwrsion of U allocation to T one man operation (ex DMS).
Note: The conversion.::::'
~ routes 5,147,162 and 238, commenced on 25th April 1981, although only one DMS was allocated to
U at any time during 1",:

Re-routed westbound at G!e

Portland Street Station via Euston Road, instead of operating around station buildings.

Commencement of progress-e conversion of Sunday AR allocation to M one man operation (ex DMS). Completed by 28th June.
Commencement of pr~e
cooversion of AR allocation to M one man operation (ex DMS). Completed by 28th June.

21st June to 4th July

D
Special daily (except Suod.i.:.:-;.t June) service between Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Club and Southfields or Wimbledon Stations. M
one man operated by ~B aoo D\1S one man operated by AL and A. Due to various forms of industrial action involving both British
Rail and Underground sef\~
:be bus services were operated on 'flexible' arrangements with odd journeys to Putney Bridge Station
to connect with a limited ~
;me service.
12th July
51
D

13th July
242
D
279
MS
279A
SU }

Commencement of experimen~ irials of one man M and T operation. Although the experiment applied to route 51, there were
frequent appearances of tbe De"""dudes on routes 21A and 228 (as well as route 229 after 4th September). The trials were completed
by 1st November, after hJd: d.iie. the new vehicles were mixed operationally with new Ts for progressive conversion.

Re-routed southbound in '" ...:b.om Cross via Sturlas Way and Park Lane to High Street.

19th July
45
D1
263
DJ

Journeys towards Kings Cross re-routed at Holloway, Nag's Head. via Seven Sisters Road, Hertslett Road and Tollington Road,
instead of making direct righi ;urn from Holloway Road into Caledonian Road.

22nd July
10
D

Commencement of progr~e

26th July
42
D
188
D
12th August
22A
D
277
D

ron'ersion

to T one man operation (ex DMS). Completed by 4th September.

Commencement of progressl\e conversion to T one man operation (ex DMS). Completed by 30th September.
Commencement ofprogressi\e .;oo...ersionof Q allocation to T one man operation (ex DMS). From 4th September, a daily NX DMS
allocation was introduced. ~~
Q allocation completed by 30th September.

Commencement of progressr e roo"ersion to T one man operation (ex DMS). Completed by 21st September.
Commencement of progres:s.i'e CO\1"ersionof CT allocation to T one man operation (ex DMS). Completed by 21st September.

~h..
f fi
.. .",'f,
.'"
, ,
+.

-I..

.
.

...,

\4
,.

Route 43 regained Routemasters as a result

of the September alterations. RM1709 passes Old Street Station on the first day. Jim
Blake

29

4th September
2
D
3
D
4
MS
5

8
11
12

D
D
D

12A

13
15
18

D
D
D

18A
20

MF
D

20A
21
21A

MS
D
D

23
25

D
D

27

28

30

31
33

D
MS

34

35
38
39
41
43
44
46

D
D
D
D
MS
D
D

47

48
50
51
52
52A
57

D
D
D
D
D
MS

60

MS

62

63
65
66

D
D
MS

66A

SA

66B
69
70

SU
D
D

71

72
73
74

D
D
D

30

Withdrawn between Baker Street Station and Golders Green Station.

SW allocation withdrawn. Monday to Friday CF RM and Sunday 0 RM allocations introduced.
Withdrawn, apart from Monday to Friday peak hours, between Farringdon Street and Waterloo. Re-routed at Tufnell Park Station via
former route 239 to Archway Station, instead of terminating at Holloway Garage.
Withdrawn during Monday to Friday evenings, on Saturdays and Sundays between Old Street Station and Waterloo. WH allocation
withdrawn on Saturdays. Daily U RML allocation introduced. Converted on Sundays to crew operation with U RML and BK crew T
allocations (ex DMS/omoT mixed).
Withdrawn between WilIesden Garage and Wembley Trading Estate. Daily AC allocation withdrawn.
AG allocation converted to RML operation (ex RM).
S allocation withdrawn. Sunday PM allocation officially converted to RM operation (ex crew MD), in practice, however, MD
operation had not occurred for some while.
Withdrawn in South Croydon between Swan and Sugar Loaf and the Garage during Monday to Saturday evenings and all day Sundays,
apart from one late journey.
Extended on Saturdays from Oxford Circus to Aldwych.
Saturday X allocation withdrawn.
Withdrawn on Saturdays between Kings Cross Station and London Bridge Station. Sunday X allocation withdrawn, Monday to
Saturday ON crew M allocation introduced.
Withdrawn.
Routeing between Loughton Garage and Debden Broadway revised to operate both directions in a loop via former routeing and route
167 (Rectory Lane). Monday to Friday school journeys introduced between Debden Station and Chigwell (West Hatch School) via
Debden Estate, Loughton normal routing to Buckhurst Hill High Road, then Palmerston Road, Buckhurst Hill Station, Roding Lane,
Chigwell Rise and Chigwell Road. Converted to LS operation (ex T).
Converted to LS operation (ex T).
NX allocation withdrawn on Saturdays.
Withdrawn between Sidcup (Police Station) and Eltham (Well Hall Station), re-routed to terminate at Sidcup Station via Station
Road, Hatherley Crescent, Faraday Avenue and Jubilee Way.
Daily WH allocation withdrawn, Saturday and Sunday U RML allocation introduced.
Withdrawn between Ilford Broadway and Becontree HeathlDagenham (Fords). Saturday BW allocation converted to mixed
RMlRML operation (ex RM).
Withdrawn between Richmond and TeddingtonlFulwell Garage. On Sundays FW M and HT RML allocations withdrawn and R RM
allocation introduced. Saturday V allocation scheduled to include one crew operated M, although this working was covered by using a
spare RM until 5th February 1983.
Officially extended from Wandsworth Plain to Mapleton Road. This change occurred earlier during the year on a local basis. Saturday
WD allocation revised to include three crew operated D, since three extra buses scheduled over Monday to Friday allocation.
Re-routed in Hackney via Dalston Lane and Mare Street, returning via Amhurst Road and Dalston Lane, instead of Graham Road.
Withdrawn between Putney Heath (Green Man) and Roehampton. Daily AG RM allocation replaced by CT RM.
Band CF allocations transferred to X.
Re-routed on Mondays to Saturdays at Twickenham to Fulwell Garage via routes 27 and 270, instead of to Hounslow Bus Station.
Introduced on Sundays between Fulwell Garage and Hammersmith (Brook Green Hotel) extended evenings excepted to Kensington
(Oueen's Gate), with operation by RM from M and crew M from FW.
Withdrawn between Whipps Cross and Leytonstone (Green Man), except for Monday to Friday peak hour journeys to Harrow
Green.
Monday to Friday 0 allocation withdrawn.
Officially converted to RML operation (ex mixed RMlRML).
.
Extended during Monday to Saturday evenings from Clapham Junction to Battersea Garage.
Saturday and Sunday AR allocation withdrawn, daily WN RM allocation introduced.
Converted to RM operation (ex DM).
Monday to Friday SW allocation withdrawn.
Extended daily from Hampstead Heath to Swiss Cottage via Pond Street, Rosslyn Hill, Haverstock Hill, Belsize Avenue, Belsize
Park, Buckland Crescent, College Crescent, Avenue Road (returning via Finchley Road). Further extended on Mondays to Saturdays
from Swiss Cottage to Kensal Rise Station via Finchley Road, Wellington Road, Circus Road, Hall Road and then route 187.
Withdrawn during Monday to Friday midday period and on Saturdays (apart from early a.m. journeys) between Kings Cross and
Farringdon Street.
Withdrawn between Bromley Garage and Farnborough. Daily AG allocation withdrawn, TB RM allocation introduced on Saturdays
and Sundays.
Officially converted on Saturdays to RML operation (ex RM), although in practice, operation spasmodic.
Withdrawn on Sundays.
Withdrawn between Orpington and Green Street Green, terminating at Orpington Station.
AC RM allocation introduced on Sundays.
X allocation transferred to GM.
Converted on Saturdays to mixed DMSILS one man operation (ex DMS). The LS operation was confined to the Brixton Garage and
Wimbledon Station short-working section.
New Monday to Saturday route between South Croydon (Swan and Sugar Loaf) and Brixton Garage via route 130 to Streatham
Garage, then route 109. RM operated by TC.
Withdrawn daily between Hainault (The Lowe) and Barkingside, and further withdrawn during Monday to Saturday evenings and all
day Sundays between Marks Gate and Hainault (The Lowe). On Sundays extended from Barking to Gascoigne Estate, but
Creekmouth Power Station journeys withdrawn.
Converted to RM operation (ex crew MD). Some MDs were retained, unofficially, until 9th September.
Withdrawn between Ealing Broadway Station and Ealing Argyle Road. Daily NB allocation withdrawn.
Withdrawn between Gidea Park Station and Harold Wood, and further withdrawn during Monday to Friday evenings and outside
Saturday shopping hours between Romford Station and Gidea Park Station. Introduced on Sundays between Leytonstone (Green
Man) and Romford Station with T one man operation by NS.
New Saturday (late evenings excepted) route between Ilford Station and Romford Station, with shopping hour extension to Gidea
Park Station, operating via route 139 via Rose Lane Estate to Moby Dick, then route 66. T one man operated by NS.
Withdrawn.
Leyton allocation withdrawn on Mondays to Fridays.
Withdrawn between Surrey Docks Station and Lewisham, except for Monday to Friday early a.m. journeys from New Cross Garage to
Monument via Deptford.
Re-routed on Sundays towards Richmond via Wyndham Road instead of Kings Road and Park Road. Sunday K BL allocation
withdrawn and replaced by LS operation by NB.
Withdrawn between Tolworth Broadway and Chessington Zoo.
Withdrawn between Hammersmith Broadway and Twickenham Station. Sunday Mortlake and Riverside allocations withdrawn.
Re-routed on Sundays at Putney Station to Putney Heath (Green Man), via Putney Hill, instead of to Roehampton, via Dover House
Road.

76
78
80
82
83
85
86

D
D
D
D
D
D
D

87

88
90
92
93
94
95

D
D
D
D
D
D

97A
98

D
MS

99
101
102
104

D
D
D
D

105

106
107

D
D

109

111
120
121

D
D
D

122A
124
125
127
130

D
D
D
MS
D

130B

134
135

D
D

137
139
143
144
144A

D
MS
D
D
MS

145
146
148

MS
D
D

152

156
157

D
D

159
160
160A

D
D
SU

161

162
164
167

MS
D
D

168A
169

MF
D

Withdrawn in No~..4Dd
Park between the StaUoil and Industrial Estate.
Converted to T one =
c>pe'ration(ex LS).
Extended on Mond..:.u
Froidays(evenings excepted from Sutton Station to Belmont Station via route 164.
Withdrawn.

Converted on Mood..". .: 5.orurdaysto M crew operanon I ex R.\1).

Sunday AF allocarioc ... :=.1r..wn. daily NB M allocation iniroduced.
Withdrawn between Sir
dBus Station and Limehouse. e1:cept for Monday to Friday peak hour service to Bow Garage. Saturday U
RML allocation withdr."..
Withdrawn between s.r~
Broadway and Rainham. MODd.1y[0 Friday peak hour journeys extended from Barking Broadway to
Creekmouth Power ~
..;.. former route 156, with some journeys bifurcating via Remploy Factory. Sunday BK allocation
withdrawn.
Sunday SW RML a11oc--::.crre-ultroduced.
Withdrawn.
Monday to Saturday C".
anon withdrawn.
Converted to DM operz::.::on c: R.\1).
Withdrawn.
Extended daily from T~
Ikoadway to St George's Hospii& via Garratt Lane and Fountail Road, returning via Blackshaw Road
and Tooting High Street- ":"..~
on Saturdays between Elepbant & Castle and Mansion House Station, and on Sundays between
Elephant & Castle and .~:r
Withdrawn during Moodi.:. :: 5.orurday evenings and all day Sundays.
Monday to Friday peak au...rOim)eYs bifurcated at Hillingdon Station to operate to Ruislip Station via route 273. Two Monday to
Friday workings unoffici&.:. ocu-.ened from LS operation to ~(one man operation, to alleviate overcrowding of school children. This
special working ceased d~
December after the introduction of an additional LS working by local arrangement.
PD MD allocation witbdn'W1l :JIISundays, being replaced by DMS operation from BX.
Converted to T one man~.;;,oo
(ex RM or RML).
Converted to M one maD.~-=xxl
(ex RM). Sunday MH D~( allocation withdrawn.
Monday to Saturday e\"~
~
extended from Holloway ;\"ag's Head to Islington Angel. Converted to DMS one man operation
(ex RM or RML).
Monday to Saturday servi.x ~ ;.: :n run in two overlapping sections: Shepherds Bush and Southall (Havelock Estate) and Greenford
and Heathrow Airport Cen:r.. ~ enninal in Shepherds Bush altered from the Garage to Caxton Road. Officially converted to crew M
operation (ex RM), al~
;:;,cre ere three RMs in regular use until 31st December.
Converted to T one man ~..:;..::c
ex RM).
Re-routed at Ponders End 'C B"1I5CSdown
Station via Green Street replacing former route 135 instead of Enfield Lock, via Ordnance
Road.
Withdrawn on Saturdaysbe<"-oeca 1\ esuninster Bridge and Elephant & Castle via Victoria Embankment. Westminster section, on this
day, re-routed to terminate m ~ ~~
Square, reaching there by way of Whitehall. Daily TH allocation converted to RM operation
(ex DM).
Converted to M one man opa :;,oo ex LS).
Withdrawn during Monda:- ;0 F~
midday and evening periods between Red Lion and Bridge Park in Greenford.
Re-routed at Ponders End :0 ~.d
Lock in place of route 107. instead of Chingford. Extended on Sundays from Enfield Town to
Enfield Lock. Saturday and ~.~
AD allocation withdrawn and daily E one man operated M allocation introduced.
Withdrawn on Sundays. On '"toa.j,a,'S to Saturdays PD MD allocation withdrawn, being replaced by DMS operation from BX.
Withdrawn on Sundays.
Withdrawn between Nonh F~
and Hendon (Bell).
Northbound journeys passing \\ ~~on
Station re-routed to serve Station Forecourt. Converted to LS operation (ex DMS).
Withdrawn on Mondays to Sarurdz:'5 reIWeen Thornton Heath Garage and Streatham Garage, and further withdrawn during Monday
to Friday peak hours between WC$:Croydon and Thornton Heath Garage. Express service introduced during Monday to Friday peak
hours between West Croydon -.: ,,~ Addington (Homestead Way). serving stops previously served by route C3. Extended on
Sundays from Streatham ~
:0 Brixton Garage via route 109. Converted daily to DMS one man operation (ex DM).
Express service introduced <iuriD&\!ooday to Friday peak hours between West Croydon and New Addington (Parkway) serving stops
previously served by route C-'- C~ened
on Mondays to Saturdays to DMS one man operation (ex DM).
Converted to RM operation e-: ::;-,.~
Withdrawn, being replaced b~ ~~
to routes 107, 121 and 191. although the section of route between Brimsdown and Enfield
Lock Stations remained unCO\~.
Saturday and Sunday GM ~
~thdrawn.
Withdrawn during Monday to FriG..<.:e'\"eningsand all day Saturdays.
Withdrawn entirely on Sundays 4Dd d.iring Monday to Saturday evenings between East Finchley and Archway Station.
Withdrawn on Mondays to Sarurd2ys i>etween Turnpike Lane Station and Muswell Hill Broadway. Daily WN allocation withdrawn.
New Monday to Saturday route berteen Lower Edmonton Station and Muswell Hill Broadway via route 149 to Upper Edmonton
(Angel Corner), North Circular Road. Great Cambridge Road, Lordship Lane, Wood Green High Road, Turnpike Lane Station, and
then route 144. One man M opera.:ro by EM.
Withdrawn during evenings.
Withdrawn on Sundays. Convened :D LS operation (ex BL).
Additional Monday to Friday (e\~
excepted) service introduced betWeen Barking Garage and IIford Broadway via former route
199.
Re-routed on Sundays at Hook to CkssingtOn Zoo via route 71, instead of Surbiton Station. Converted daily to LS operation (ex
DMS), although in practice, certaIC scbool journeys retained unofficial DMS operation.
Withdrawn.
Northbound journeys passing W~-roo
Station re-routed to serve Station Forecourt, journeys terminating at Belmont Road
re-routed to terminate in Station Foceroun. Monday to Saturday A DMS allocation introduced.
Q allocation withdrawn on Saturdays. B;\" RM allocation introduced on Sundays.
Withdrawn on Sundays.
New Sunday route between Catford Garage and Welling via route 160 to Rochester Way, continuing along Rochester Way to
Falconwood Station, then via routel:~. DMS operated by TL.
Withdrawn during Monday to Saturd.i:. e'>'eningsand early a.m. on Saturdays between Chislehurst (War Memorial) and Petts Wood
Station.
U allocation transferred to BK.
Withdrawn during Monday to Saturda:. e'>'eningsand all day Sundays betWeen Belmont Station and Banstead.
Re-routed between Buckhurst Hi!: S<alion and Loughton Station via Loughton Way, Valley Hill, Roding Road, Station Road,
Loughton High Road, Rectory Lane. Debden Station, Oakwood Hill and Roding Road, thus terminating at Loughton Station,
instead of Debden Station as previously_ Converted to LS operation (ex T).
Withdrawn.
Sunday extension from Barking to Gascoigne Estate withdrawn. Additional Monday to Saturday (evenings excepted) and all day
Sunday service introduced between Word and Thames View Estate via route 179. Clayhall and Barking service extended during
Monday to Saturday evenings to Thames View Estate.

31

170

MS

171

172

175

176A
177

MF
D

179
180

D
D

182
183
184

D
D
D

185

187

MS

188

189
191

MF
MS

193

MS

195

196

199
200
202

MS
D
MS

206
207
208

D
D
D

211
212
215
216

D
D
MS
D

217
217B

D
D

218
219
220
224

D
D
D
D

225

229

230
234

MS
MF

234A

234B
236

SA
D

237
238
239
240
243
244

D
D
MS
D
MS
D

32

Withdrawn between Aldwych and Euston, and extended during Monday to Friday evenings from Clapham Junction to Aldwych.
Monday to Friday WD allocation transferred to SW.
Monday to Saturday service split into two overlapping sections: Tottenham (Bruce Grove) and Elephant & Castle-RM operated by
AR. Rosebery Avenue (Mondays to Fridays) or Aldwych (Saturdays) and Forest Hill-RM operated by NX.
Withdrawn on Saturdays and Sundays. Re-routed on Mondays to Fridays at Mount Pleasant to Kings Cross via route 63, instead of
Archway Station, HT allocation withdrawn.
Withdrawn between Hillrise Estate and Passingford Bridge, except for one Monday to Saturday evening and one early a.m. Saturday
journey.
Withdrawn.
Withdrawn between Woolwich Arsenal Station and Abbey Wood, except for daily early journeys to Abbey Wood, and garage
journeys to Plumstead Garage. NX allocation withdrawn on Sundays.
Withdrawn entirely on Sundays and between Barking and Thames View Estate on Saturday.
Monday to Saturday TL RM allocation re-introduced. Monday to Saturday service split into two overlapping sections: Abbey Wood
Station and Catford Garage crew MD operated by PD and Lewisham and Lower Sydenham Station RM operated by TL.
Withdrawn between Brent Cross Shopping Centre and Finchley (Manor Cottage Tavern).
Withdrawn during Monday to Saturday evenings and all day Sundays between Pinner and Northwood Station.
Monday to Friday peak hour service via Victoria Embankment re-routed via Queen Victoria Street, Mansion House Station,
Southwark Bridge and former route 176A to Elephant & Castle, instead of BIackfriars Bridge and Blackfriars Road. Early Sunday
morning journeys via Blackfriars remained unchanged.
Withdrawn between Greenwich Church and Blackwell Tunnel (Delta Metal Works). Saturday and Sunday journeys to Blackwell
Tunnel withdrawn beyond Lewisham.
Withdrawn between West Kilburn and Hampstead Heath. Converted to M one man operation (ex RM). X allocation withdrawn and
ON allocation introduced on Saturdays. Although the service to Hampstead Heath was mostly replaced by an extension to route 46,
certain roads near Swiss Cottage were left unserved.
Extended on Mondays to Fridays from Euston Station to Kings Cross Station via former route 239. Daily NX DMS allocation
introduced.
Withdrawn between Raynes Park and Hook. Converted to LS operation (ex DMS).
Withdrawn between Lower Edmonton Station and Chingford Station. Extended from Enfield Town to Carterbatch via route 135.
Monday to Friday EM allocation transferred to E.
Withdrawn between Romford (Market Place) and Barking. Converted to T one man operation (ex RM). AP allocation replaced by
NS on Mondays to Fridays and RD on Saturdays.
Withdrawn on Saturdays between Greenford and Perivale, and further withdrawn during Monday to Saturday evenings between
Southall Town Hall and Perivale.
Re-routed in Norwood Junction to terminate in Clifford Road, instead of Station Road, operating via High Street (South Norwood),
Sunnybank Manor Road and Portland Road. Converted to T one man operation (ex RM) and SW allocation transferred to Q.
Withdrawn.
Withdrawn on Sundays between Merton Garage and Wallington (Shotfield).
Withdrawn between the 'Bell' and the Civic Centre in Hounslow, but projected to Heathrow Airport Central via route 203 to Hatton
Cross Station then via Great South West Road, Stanwell Road, Beacon Road, Southern Perimeter Road and then route 82.
Introduced on Sundays between Hounslow Bus Station and Heathrow Airport Central. FW allocation withdrawn, daily A V allocation
introduced.
Leyton garage allocation withdrawn.
HL allocation converted to RML operation (ex mixed RMIRML).
New daily route running on Mondays to Fridays and Saturdays (outside shopping hours) between Lewisham and Orpington (Perry
Hall Road), Saturday shopping hours between Surrey Docks Station and Orpington (Perry Hall Road), and Sundays between
Lewisham and Petts Wood Station. Routeing via route 47 from Surrey Docks to Bromley South, then former route 94. RM operated
byTL.
Withdrawn on Sundays.
Extended daily from Walthamstow Garage to Chingford (Yardley Lane Estate) via former route 276.
Converted to LS operation (ex BL). K allocation transferred to NB.
Withdrawn in Staines between Bus Station and Wraysbury Road. Converted to LS operation (ex BL) and K allocation transferred to
NB.
Withdrawn between Waltham Cross and Upshire.
Withdrawn between Waltham Cross and Upshire on Sundays, except for one evening journey. Also withdrawn on Sundays between
Chase Farm Hospital and Enfield. Daily terminal in Enfield altered from Cecil Road to Little Park Gardens.
Withdrawn between Kingston and Ham.
Withdrawn between Kingston and Ham.
Withdrawn between Harlesden and Park Royal Trading Estate.
Withdrawn during evenings daily. Officially converted on Saturdays to mixed LSIM operation (ex M), although LS operation was
common throughout the week (see route 98).
New daily route between Limehouse and Becontree Heath, via route 86 to Stratford, then route 25. Certain early a.m. journeys
projected on Mondays to Fridays from Becontree Heath to Dagenham (Ford Works). No Monday to Friday evening service between
Ilford High Road (Green Lane) and Becontree Heath, nor on Saturday evenings between Ilford Broadway and Becontree Heath. RM
operated by AP on Mondays to Fridays and by WH on Saturdays and Sundays.
Re-routed at Green Street Green to terminate at Rose & Crown, instead of operating to Farnborough. Re-routed between Sidcup and
Bexleyheath via Hurst Road and Parkhill Road instead of Murchison Avenue and Elmwood Drive. Withdrawn between Sidcup
Station and Bexleyheath Garage during Monday to Friday evenings, outside Saturday shopping hours and all day Sundays.
Converted to DMS one man operation (ex RM).
Extended from Whipps Cross to Leytonstone (Green Man) via route 262, but withdrawn entirely during evenings.
Withdrawn outside Monday to Friday peak hours between Purley and Hackbridge. Introduced on Saturdays between Selsdon and
Purley with DMS operation by TC. Northbound journeys passing Wallington Station re-routed to serve Station Forecourt, with
journeys terminating at Belmont Road re-routed to terminate in Station Forecourt.
Northbound journeys passing Wallington Station re-routed to serve Station Forecourt, with journeys terminating at Belmont Road
re-routed to terminate in Station Forecourt.
Withdrawn.
Withdrawn between Finsbury Park Station and Stroud Green. Journeys operating via Eastway and Lee Conservancy Road in
Hackney Wick withdrawn. AG allocation withdrawn.
V RM allocation introduced on Mondays to Fridays.
U and WH allocations transferred to BK.
Withdrawn.
W allocation withdrawn on Mondays to Fridays.
Saturday SF allocation withdrawn.
New daily route between Romford Market Place and Upminster Park Estate via route 248 to Upminster Station, then Station Road, St
Mary's Lane and Front Lane. LS operated by RD.

\,

246
247A
247B

MS
D
WFSA

248

248A
249
250

MF
D
D

250A
251

D
D

252
253
254
255
259

D
D
MF
MS
MS

261

264
266
267
269
270

MS
D
D
D
MS

273
276
277

D
D
D

278

MS

281
285
287

D
D
D

290

294
296

MS
MS

297

MS

298
313
347
500
513
Bl
C3
C4
Cll

D
D
MS
MS
MF
MS
D
MS
MS

E2

E3

HI

N68
N85
N86
N88
N89

N
NxS
NxS
NxS
NxS

N95
N98
N99
P4
SI
S2
S3
W2

NxS
N
N
MS
D
D
MS
D

Sunday afternoon sern

maOOuced between Harold Wood Station and Upminster Park Estate, LS operated by RD.
Renumbered 247.
Regular Monday to Saruro.:, service (evenings excepted) introduced between Romford Station and Stapleford Abbotts, with Monday
to Friday a.m. peak hour .and Sdrurday lunch time journeys to Passingford Bridge. Regular service provided by one man operated T
allocation from NS. Ong;t.r ~ice
remained unchanged.
Sunday extension from ~
10Upminster Station via St Mary's Lane withdrawn. Converted on Sundays to T one man operation
(ex LS).
Officially converted to T oe ~
operation (ex T). (See 8th March.)
Sunday AL allocation ~J;.jr.'OfL
Re-routed between Lou~~
S;.ouon and Buckhurst Hill Station via Loughton High Road and Palmerston Road, instead of Roding
Road, Valley Hill and Lo~'':"G Way. Withdrawn on Sundays between Loughton Station and Buckhurst Hill Station.
New daily (except Mond..:'
Sdrurday evenings) route between Waltham Cross and Upshire via route 217, LS operated by L.
Withdrawn during Mood... ':: Friday evenings and outside Saturday shopping hours between Edgware and Stanmore Station.
Withdrawn entirely on Sund.. '
Withdrawn between Collier F~ .sod Havering Park, except for Monday to Friday peak hours journeys to Turpin Avenue.
Daily CT allocation witbdra'"lI .>DdAG RM allocation introduced on Mondays to Fridays.
Withdrawn.
Withdrawn.
Occasional projections ~'ODC "..er Edmonton Station to Tramway Avenue withdrawn apart from two early morning journeys on
Mondays to Saturdays. EM ~
withdrawn.
New daily route between ~DIl
Goodmead Road) and Lewisham with a Saturday shopping hours extension to Brockley Rise.
Routeing via route 229 10 FOil11iJo:,wiigh.
route 47 to Bromley South and then route 94. RM operated by TB.
Introduced on Sundays be[1feal ~..;ney Bridge Station and Roehampton (Danebury Avenue), with DMS operation by AF.
Saturday R and Sunday AC ~
withdrawn. (See 26th and 27th December.)
V allocation withdrawn on }.~!S
to Saturdays.
Extended on Sundays from "DC..."ich 10 Woolwich Common (Queen Elizabeth Hospital) via route 122A.

Re-routed in Nurserylands~

',;",

Broad Lane, Oak Avenue and Fernley Crescent, instead of previous loop working via The

Avenue, Buckingham Road aA1.~

Road. Also re-routed between Twickenham and Fulwell Garage via route 267, instead of
Teddington. Extended during '.Iooda! 10 Friday evenings from Fulwell Garage to Nurserylands Estate, and introduced outside
Saturday shopping hours be1""ecn R.cb.mond Station and Nurserylands Estate.
Withdrawn between Ruislip s...ooa aDd Hayes Station.
Withdrawn.
Withdrawn during Monday to Fnda. e'"enings between Islington Angel and Smithfield, but extended on Sundays from Mildmay Park
to Islington Angel.
Monday to Friday peak hour sel'o.:e:o Walthamstow Central Station withdrawn. Extended (evenings excepted) from Stratford Bus
Station to Stoke Newington via ro..:e S3 ~orthbound routeing in Trowbridge Estate via Chap man Road and Felstead Street, instead
of Wallis Road and Berkshire Road .6 followed by route S3. Converted to LS operation (ex mixed DMSrr).
Converted on Mondays to Sarurd.ay> ~o ~f one man operation (ex crew M).
Sunday NB allocation transferred :D'fV. .
New daily route between Rainboam ~y
Wood Lane) and Barking Garage, with Monday to Friday (evenings excepted) extension
to Becontree (Chitty's Lane I. OD.: Monday to Friday a.m. peak hour journey to Dagenham (Ford Works). Routeing via route 87
between Rainham and Barking. ;l)aJ :ormer route 156 to Becontree. T one man operated by BK.
Extended from Richmond to Srames ~g
most of route 90. Hammersmith terminal altered from Riverside Garage to The Grove.
Routeing in Ashford area via ~
ROdd. Convent Road, Town Tree Road (returning direct), Church Road and Fordbridge Road,
instead of Kingston Road rout~
0; route 90. Terminal in Staines in Wraysbury Road (not Bus Station as 90). Converted to M one
man operation (ex BL) and R alloc:auon transferred to FW.
Introduced on Sundays betWeen I-Wering Park and Hornchurch (St George's Hospital) with T one man operation by NS.
New Monday to Saturday (late e'\'~
excepted) route between Romford (Parkside Hotel) and Harold Wood Station via route 66
with T one man operation by ~S
Monday to Friday peak hour sel'ice :nuoouced between Willesden Garage and Wembley Trading Estate replacing route 8 journeys.
ON allocation transferred to AC
Monday to Saturday PB and SUDda:.,,~ allocations withdrawn.
Extended on Mondays to Sarurday'S from Enfield Town to Chingford Station in place of route 121.
London Transport participation ,,;iMTawn.
Withdrawn between Oxford Circu> ioDdVictoria (Vauxhall Bridge Road) via Trafalgar Square.
Withdrawn during evenings.
Withdrawn during Saturday evetUngs
Withdrawn.
Withdrawn.
Withdrawn between West Hampstead '\est End Green) and WilIesden Green Station. Extended (evenings excepted) from Archway
Station to Kings Cross Station via JUDCtiooRoad to Tufnell Park Station, then by way of former route 239. Converted to conventional

fare stage system BL operation I ex flat fare, farebox BL).

Certain Monday to Friday school ;ourneys re-routed (northbound a.m. peak and southbound p.m. peak) via Montpelier Avenue,
Castlebar Road, Castle bar Hill. Qe-,-eiand Road, to Argyle Road, instead of Eaton Rise, Woodfield Road, Pitshanger Lane and
Scotch Common.
Through Monday to Saturday service betWeen Greenford and Grove Park replaced by localised service between Acton High Street
and Grove Park.
Withdrawn on Sundays betWeen Ra~'Ders Lane Station and South Harrow Station. Converted to conventional fare stage system (ex
flat fare).
WD allocation. Unofficially con'ened to crew DMS operation (ex RM).
Converted to T one man operation ~ex LS).
Converted to T one man operation lex LS).
Unofficially converted to crew D~{s operation (ex RM).
Introduced on Saturday nighlSiSunday' mornings between Southall (Brent Road) and London Bridge Station. Converted to M one
man operation (ex RM) and R a1Iocaoon transferred to HL.
Converted to T one man operation ex crew T).
Converted to T one man operarioo ex crew T).
Converted to T one man operation ex RML).
Withdrawn during evenings.
Converted to conventional fare Stage system T one man operation (ex flat fare farebox DMS).
Converted to conventional fare stage system (ex flat fare).
Withdrawn.
Extended during Monday to Friday midday period from Turnpike Lane Station to Wood Green Garage.

33

..o

----

-~

--- .....

New daily route 201 was introduced on 4th December

Sunday Buckhurst Hill terminus. Oavid Stuttard

16th September
184
D
185
D

.,

to replace the off-peak Epping to Ongar Central Line service. LS129, minus passengers,

/'
leaves the

Commencement of progressive conversion of WL allocation to T one man operation (ex DMS). Completed by 18th October.
Commencement of progressive conversion of WL allocation to T one man operation (ex DMS). Completed by 18th October.

~~~h sePte~ber

140
183
258

D
D
MS }

136

MS

182
186
286

Buses from South Harrow re-routed into Harrow Bus Station via Greenhill Way, instead of Clarendon Road. On leaving the Bus
Station (towards St Ann's Road), buses re-routed via Clarendon Road, instead of College Road and Headstone Road.
Buses towards South Harrow re-routed into Harrow Bus Station via Greenhill Way, instead of Clarendon Road. On leaving the Bus
Station (towards St Ann's Road), buses re-routed via Clarendon Road, instead of College Road and Headstone Road.
Buses departing Harrow Bus Station re-routed via Clarendon Road to St Ann's Road, instead of College Road and Headstone Road.

26th September
273
D

Summer Sunday extension from Ruislip Station to Ruislip Lido withdrawn.

8th October

198
198A

MF
SA

272

28th October
202
D

29th/30th
N95

October
NxS

1st November
21A
D
51
D
206

34

Re-routed in Thamesmead via new dual carriageway road (believed to be called Central Way), roundabout at northern end of
Bentham Road and Bentham Road instead of via Tawney Road and Saunders Way. Journeys towards Thamesmead East revised to
serve Central Thamesmead loop in a clockwise direction. Previously buses in both directions had served the loop in an anti-clockwise
direction.
Thamesmead terminal altered from Saunders Way to Bentham Road.
Note: These alterations resulted in the special lay-by in Saunders Way becoming unserved.
Re-routed between Hatton Cross Station and Cargo Area via Southern Perimeter Road, instead of Great South West Road, Stanwell
Road and Beacon Road. This re-routeing took place following completion of radar tests to prevent Metrobuses appearing on
Heathrow Air Traffic Control radar screens.
One journey extended from Barking Garage to Becontree Heath via route 5.

Commencement of progressive conversion to T one man operation (ex DMS).

Completion of comparison trials involving M and T one man operation. Commencement of progressive conversion to T one man
operation (ex mixed DMSIM/T).
One journey in each Monday to Friday peak hour re-routed between Debden Station and Loughton Garage via Debden Estate and
extended from Loughton Garage to Loughton Station.

228
229

D
D

Commencement of progressive conversioc 0 ~ one man operation (ex DMS).

Commencement of progressive conversioo D ~ ODeman operation (ex DMS).
Note: The above conversions were offici~.'U'pJeted by 23rd December. M buses from the comparison trials remained at SP
beyond the end of 1982 and were used ~ ~~.:.:: operated routes as available.

6th November
28
D
RLST
D
15th November
117
D

Crew D operation at WD on Saturdays offici-"

SW allocation transferred to GM.

-:ihdrawn,

following a schedule revision.

Temporarily re-routed between Lower Feltha= and .-\shford via Chertsey Road, Feltham Hill Road and Convent Road, instead of
Ashford Road and Feltham Road.

18th November
12L
ThFSA

New route for duration of West End Christm4S ~=tions,

operating between Marble Arch and Trafalgar Square via route 12
during the evenings on Thursdays, Fridays and S4.'1.Irda~s:-<0service on 24th and 25th December, the last day of operation being 1st
January 1983. OM operated by Obsolete Flee,

22nd November

58
99
177
178
198
198A
272
291

D
D
D
D
MF
SA
D
D

29th November
287
D

Converted on Mondays to Saturdays to crew T oper..rion lex RM).

Commencement of progressive conversion of McOO.o.::0 Saturday PD allocation to T one man operation (ex omo MD).
Commencement of progressive conversion of PD .uoc..oon to T one man operation (ex omo MD).
Commencement of progressive conversion to T ODeman operation (ex omo MD).
Commencement of progressive conversion to T one man operation (ex omo MD).
Commencement of progressive conversion to T one man operation (ex omo MD).
Commencement of progressive conversion to T one man operation (ex omo MD).
Commencement of progressive conversion to T one man operation (ex omo MD).
Note: The above conversions involving routes C},. . - :-'. 198, 198A, 272 and 291 were officially completed during 1983. The
conversion of crew route 122 and the PD allocations on ""uies 161and 180 to T operation were scheduled to commence on this date,
but in fact started during January 1983.
Re-routed in Barking via Ripple Road, instead of Mover; Lane and Barking By Pass. This followed the completion of a new railway
bridge, thus causing the withdrawal of a special service pro-1ded by Lacey's Coaches between Barking Town Centre and Ripple Road
via Upney Lane, which had started in January 1981

1st December to 22nd December

MF

Special free service introduced on Mondays to Fridays ber-een Bromley Market Square and Norman Park, LS operated by TB and
paid for by Bromley Chamber of Commerce.

4th December
20A
MS
120
D
175
D
201
D

247B

Withdrawn.
Withdrawn between Greenford Station and Bridge Park
Journeys to Passingford Bridge curtailed at HillriseEstate
New daily route between Ongar (Two Brewers) and Epping Station. with an evenings excepted extension to Loughton Station and
further extended on Sundays (evenings excepted) to Buckhurst Hill Station. Routeing via LCBS route 339 to Epping Station (as well as
via St Margaret's Hospital), Station Road, Central Drive. h-ychimneys Road, Theydon Road, route 20A and then High Road and
Palmerston Road. LS operated by L, with one afternoon journey provided by LCBS from HA.
Withdrawn.

MS

20th December
122A
MS

269

Journeys towards Queen Elizabeth Hospital re-routed via Ha Ha Road, instead of Circular Way.

26th and 27th December (Special Boxing Day operation)

266
D
AC RM allocation introduced on these two days only (supplementing

normal

W RM allocation).

From 4th September, route 33 was diverted at

Twickenham to serve Teddington and Fullwell
Garage as a daily operation, rather than Whitton and
Hounslow, in connection with alterations to the 270
and 281. RM1752. itself withdrawn at that time, is
seen in front of M258at the Queen's Gate stand. on
a now defunct working. Ramon Hefford

35

London Transport
Vehicles

Above: The September service reductions affected crew operations especially and led to mass withdrawals of the
Routemaster family. Standard RMs in profusion at Ensign's. Purfleet. later that month, illustrate the effects of the
policy to withdraw the Simms-equipped and LeyJand-engined examples in particular. Ramon Hefford Below: In
contrast, RM1 was restored as a display vehicle in the spring. Fresh from overhaul, it is seen at Hurst Park on the day
following its North Weald debut. Geoff Rixon

36

London Transport's fleet of vehicles

required for passenger service altered
substantially during the year, demand for
which was closely linked to the pattern of
fares being charged at a particular time.
Inevitably, the doubling of fares in March,
with the ensuing fall in demand, was to have
a profound effect on LT's vehicle requirements, and the September service changes
dominated all other events during the year.
No new vehicle types were delivered
except the two Dodge minibuses (classified
'A') which arrived in December. These
were not officially taken into stock until
early in 1983, and were due to replace the
FSs on route PBl. Otherwise it was
principally a story of new Metrobuses and
Titans displacing Fleetlines and Metropolitans (either directly or indirectly), many of
which were consigned to the scrapheap.
The greatest shock, however, was the first
wholesale withdrawal of Routemasters
which, in line with agreed GLC policy, were
to have been retained until at least 1985
whilst efforts were concentrated on replacement of Fleetlines and Metropolitans. The
advent of the service cuts changed that,
however, and well over 200 RMs had been
withdrawn or sold by the end of 1982.
Indeed, LT was forced to rethink its
whole bus purchasing policy, and the
Executive submitted a paper to the Greater
London Council in May setting out revised
proposals. For the reduced schedule which
would be operating after September 1982,
and assuming that 60% of bus mileage
would be one-man operated by the end of
1984, London Transport estimated that it
would need to buy between 625 and 770 new
buses over the following two years. It was
considered prudent, however, only to enter
into a commitment for one year pending a
review of subsequent service changes and
the feasibility of even higher proportions of
one-man operation, and a decision was
taken to order 360 new vehicles for delivery
during 1983 at a cost of 26.4 million at
November 1981 prices.
The decision to limit 1982 deliveries to a
single vehicle type, the Titan, was based on
expediency as much as considerations of

technical performance. London Transport

was virtually the sole operator of Titans.
and failure to order a sufficient number
would almost certainly have sealed the fate
of the Workington plant once and for all.
For 1983, the split was to be 210 Titans and
150 Metrobuses and, for both years, taking
into account MCW's order book for the
Metrobus with other operators, the mix was
adjudged to be that most likely to ensure
the survival of the two vehicles in the longer
term. This would enable London Transport
to maintain a competitive position between
the manufacturers for the supply of vehicles
to meet its requirements later in the
decade.
Both suppliers had offered alternativesLeyland the Olympian, and MCW a Metrobus with a cheaper form of body construction. LT rejected these, however, on the
grounds that a proliferation of vehicle types
would carry penalties in' the shape of
increased maintenance costs and stores
holdings. The Titan and the Metrobus were
popular with passengers and staff alike.
Fuel and maintenance costs were roundly
25% lower than for Fleetlines (although still
5 to 10% more than for RMs), whilst better
availability and shorter down-times meant
that spare vehicle margins for maintenance
purposes could be reduced from 15 to 11%.
The M and the T were therefore to remain
the standard double-deck vehicles for the
foreseeable future, despite the serious
technical problems that had been encountered with the earlier examples, but now
hopefully overcome.
Most of the drama on the vehicle front
occurred during the second half of 1982, the
year beginning peacefully enough apart
from the effects of the unusually cold
weather. The last 75 vehicles of the 1981
Metrobus order arrived between January
and March taking the total to 805, and the
275 Titans due to be delivered in 1982
arrived fairly well to schedule. 1983's
vehicle orders were announced publicly in
July and the first of these, T 676, arrived for
inspection at Chiswick in November. The
last DMSs were ousted from garages in
Leaside, Forest and Tower districts during
the year and Titans began to appear in
Selkent on a wide scale from November.
This left Wandle and Abbey as the only
districts without Ms or Ts in their fleet.
The maintenance and overhaul programme (GASPs and WASPs) gathered momentum in readiness for the new vehicle
regulations due to come into force on 1st
January 1983. Started in 1981, the aim was
to achieve a 'birthday' for each bus so that
they could be prepared on a rolling basis for
their annual Freedom from Defect tests.
Inspections were carried out at garages, and
this resulted in individual enterprise at
places like Clapham, whose staff became
noted for painting the radiator grilles on its
RMs and RMLs silver. The new regulations
also resulted in the abandonment of the
works float system for Routemaster overhauls during the year whilst DM/DMS
overhauls were halted to make room at
Aldenham for Metrobuses and Titans te
pass through. Following a decision the
previous year, only a handful of vehicles
received inter-overhaul repaints in 1982.

~tetrobuses were steadily put into service

at Leaside garages during the early part of
the year. Conversion of Potters Bar's OMO
romes "as completed in January although
the odd D continued to appear after that
d.i~e ~!S. on the other hand, made frequent
appearances on the 134. Efforts were then
concentrated on Enfield where Metrobuses
had made their debut on 30th December
19S1 It was here that the first Ms with red
mesh gnlles (instead of bars) were allocated, jjese being numbered M 706 onwards Displaced DMSs went either to
.~denhal!! for overhaul or into store at
Edrr.omon. but one did survive until 22nd
Apn. ~te(robuses then took up service at
Edmonam. with conversion of the 191 and
25'1 bei:1g completed by the end of April.
~ts -. 1- -g were earmarked as fare box
buses ior the W8, but an engineering
dispu~e meant that only M 771 entered

service as planned, the remainder of the

changeover being delayed by nearly two
months. The same dispute hit the conversion of Stamford Hill's and Tottenham's
DMS routes badly too, these taking place in
June.
Fulwell received extra Ms to displace BLs
from the 202 with effect from 8th March,
somewhat earlier than had been anticipated. In the meantime, at Muswell Hill,
fare box-equipped Metrobuses were fitted
with baseplates so that they could cover LSs
on the 244, as necessary, and this they did
regularly right up until the route's demise
on 23rd April.
The class made an interesting voyage into
Selkent from summer onwards. The last six
ofthe batch, Ms 800-805, were despatched
to Sidcup to operate alongside six Titans
(426,474,486-489) and standard DMSs for
comparative fuel tests and passenger eva1",.

-"

....

Ccr: ~: ;':Je'''1ents
Oc."XI5C!S

;roe.s:.

in 1982 involved the allocation of six Titans and six Metrobuses to Sidcup for evaluation
~- -ev., vehicles religiouslyworked on route 51 with appearanceson other routes being rareuntil later in

--'-38 3: Noolwich

illustrates the initial operation (above) whilst M800 at the Swanley terminus has drifted

er .: '-e: - "a"1OnHefford

- "111II
ml.1

""1iiI1
.--=

37

--

Above: More Fleetlines were displaced in July when Titans were allocated to Bow. ResplendentT521. devoid of
external advertising. approaches London Bridge shortly after delivery. John Barnacle Below: Introduction of new
vehicles. at Enfield particularly. meant that Wandle District became home for several of the B20 class. D2570
ascends Coombe Hill on route 57. Stephen Madden

:gs;t

Below: A Bus and Coach Council advertisement was applied to New Cross display vehicle D1 063. It is seen without
part of its fleet number at Brockley late in the year. Stephen Madden

38

luation on route 51. The vehicles entered

service on 12th July, and whilst they were
kept fairly strictly on the 51 at first, there
were a number of reported sightings on
other routes. As the DMSs began to be
replaced by new Ts later in the year, the
rigid adherence to fixed duties was relaxed,
and by the end of 1982, Metrobuses were
operating alongside Titans on all Sidcup's
OMO routes.
M 447 was converted to an Airbus in
March whilst Ms 212, 264 and 380 received
logos to help out for the summer season
(finishing in September). Ms 401 and 478
also received Airbus regalia and continued
to operate Airbus services well into the
winter 1982/83 season. M 376 spent a short
time in August on skid bus duty at
Chiswick. Southall's M 125 was the first of
many to receive a red grille (January) whilst
Fulwell's M 35 followed suit in June, the
latter being the only 'white top' Metrobus to
have been so treated.
Titans were still being put into Walthamstow at the beginning of the year, conversion being completed on 21st January.
DMSs were given a short reprieve as two
vehicles were relicensed during February as
additional spares, but they were delicensed
again on 30th March. Loughton was the
next garage to receive Titans, but the
allocation proved to be short-lived as the
September service changes resulted in that
garage's double-deck routes being converted to LS operation.
Unusually, Titans were then allocated in
a rather less orderly fashion to West Ham,
North Street and Poplar garages. At North
Street, they were to displace Routemasters
on the 174 and 175 (both crew operated)
which would in turn be used to convert the
141 and 172 from DM back to RM
operation, but it was some seven months
before the last of the type finally departed.
DMSs were retained at West Ham for the
SI until 4th September when the route was
converted to T overnight, coincident with
the changeover from farebox to conventional OMO. DMS to T conversions at
Bow, Camberwell and Clapton ran. very
much in parallel, and FIeetlines were finally
ousted from Tower District garages when
Titans replaced them at Walworth. Selkent
then started to receive Ts in earnest when
Sidcup's and Plumstead's conversions began in November. This was punctuated only
by an overnight type change on 22nd
November of West Ham's route 58 from
RM to T, which had been planned to take
place earlier, but held up pending completion of driver training. By the year's end,
Sidcup's conversion was complete, and
Plumstead's had reached roughly the halfway mark with no reported sightings of Ts
working on its crew-operated routes in
1982.
No fundamental livery changes were
applied to Titans during the year, all new
vehicles carrying the black frontal relief
which seemed to have lost favour on
Metrobuses. Leyland scroll badges replaced the plain 'LEYLAND TITAN'
nameplates, however, on T 426 onwards.
Barking fire victims T 150 and T 206 were
officially withdrawn in January but the third
vehicle, T 190, was rebuilt at Aldenham. It

I
}

had not, however, reappeared by the end of

1982.
In connection with the forthcoming LT
Golden Jubilee celebrations, T 102 spent a
day on film work in the Harrow and Canons
Park areas on 14th September, where it ran
round fully blinded for route 186. The
vehicle did not operate in passenger service.
It also had the honour in December of being
the first T to be outshopped from overhaul
at Aldenham.
As previously mentioned, new Ms and Ts
were deployed principally to replace Fleetlines during the year, but the demise of the
class was hastened by the substantial
reduction in fleet requirements following
the 4th September servi~e changes. In line
with earlier policy decisions, the majority of
withdrawals were among the Gardner
engined examples and the standard D/DM
vehicles. Displaced B20s were moved to
other garages as they became available,
initially to Catford, but when it was decided
that Selkent would receive Ts, the B20s
were diverted to Wandle. May saw the last
two standard DMSs emerge from overhaul
at Aldenyam (1857 and 1859), and only
B20s were taken in until August when the
DMS intake ceased altogether to make way
for Metrobuses and Titans to go through
works. The only standard DM to be
overhauled during the year was 1787, which
left Aldenham in February having entered
late in 1981. It was converted for dualpurpose use, reclassified D and sent to New
Cross.
The chassis of Catford's fire-damaged
DMS 2172 was shortened at Clapham
garage, allegedly so that it could enter
Paddington College for training purposes to
replace an RT chassis, but some doubt
existed as to the authenticity of this report.
Fire and accident damaged B20 DMSs
2373, 2381, 2387, 2403 and 2433 were
officially withdrawn in the autumn,
although heavily accident damaged DMS
2415 remained in stock. In total the fleet of
serviceable Fleetlines fell by roundly 800
during the year, most of the surplus vehicles
passing to Ensign's at Purfleet. Two notable
survivors were DMS 1 which was in store at
Turnham Green, and DMS 854 (the prototype B20) which was still operating at
Catford at the year end.
The front end of DM 963 was installed at
Covent Garden museum during February
for visitors to be able to sit in the driver's
position and operate the controls. DM 948
entered Aldenham in October for restoration but it appeared at the end of the year
that another vehicle might be substituted.
The Round London Sightseeing Tour was
reallocated from Stockwell to Victoria
Garage from 6th November, and so 10 DMs
were transferred accordingly. FRM 1 followed later in the month. This left four
Sightseeing Tour DMs at Stockwell which
were not required for the winter, and these
operated on other routes as necessary. Ds
1062 and 1063 received white painted
waistlines after repainting, the former
becoming a showbus at New Cross. D 1063
lost its waistband later in the year when it
was painted with slogans for the Bus and
Coach Council.
The last of Peckham's Metropolitans

Above: An interesting
loan in 1982 was that of RMLs to Norbiton on 5th and 6th July, vehicles of that type making
their first ever appearance
on route 65. A good load makes full use of the extra seating on RML2323 at Ham. Raman

Hefford

Above:

Metropolitans

at Plumstead.

were

ousted

from Central

London

crew operations

in September

and further

concentrated

MD79 rounds the Elephant & Castle one week beforehand.

illustrates the revised front end treatment

RCL. John Barnacle

Stephen Madden. Below: M769

whilst unusually working route 149 at Lower Edmonton in place of an

--

...
39

....

were scheduled to run on 3rd September,

although several examples did survive until
a few days afterwards. This left Plumstead
as the sole operator of the type, but then its
MDs, in turn, started to be replaced by new
Titans in November. The MD was therefore
a rapidly dying breed at the end of 1982,
with only 46 licensed for service on 31st
December. Most of the displaced vehicles
were passed to the LT Sales Departmept
fairly quickly after being withdrawn from
service, Reading Transport purchasing 21,
and Whippet Coaches of Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire 10. MD 136 ('Selkent Ambassador') was withdrawn in December.
As previously noted, 1982 saw the first
normal withdrawals of RMs from service,
commencing officially on 12th August.
Some 60 vehicles had been eliminated from
the total fleet strength by the end of the
year. Most were sent for scrap, but four of
the first buses withdrawn were exported for
further use in Japan. The longer RMLs
were retained, surplus examples being
transferred to Ash Grove to convert that
garage's allocation on the 11, to Leyton for
the remainder of route 38, and to Hanwell
for the 207. The main casualties were
amongst the Leyland engined RMs, including many at Mortlake which were replaced
by less cherished vehicles from other
garages.
Having issued each of seven contractors
with an RM for the purpose of drawing up
tenders, LT awarded the job of breaking up
50 Routemasters to W. North Ltd., a
Yorkshire dealer. The buses were dismantled at North's premises in Sherburn-inElmet, with reusable parts being returned
to LT for further use. A separate contract
was awarded to Vic Berry of Leicester to
break up 100 RMs on site at Aldenham, and
work had been completed on about a third
of these by the end of December.
On a happier note, showbuses continued
to abound during the year. Elmers End's
RM 64, carrying its original body B64,
appeared in pristine condition during
March whilst Riverside turned out RM 81.
Other examples included RM 89 (Victoria),
RM 719 (Streatham), and RM 2116 (Seven
Kings). Sidcup's showbus RM 704 had
entered Aldenham for overhaul in December 1981 carrying body B608; this was
transferred to RM 770 and returned to
Sidcup in show bus condition during March.
RM 770 was unique, however, in becoming
the only RM (as opposed to RML) to be
trimmed with RT seat moquette. Norbiton's RM 254 and Harrow Weald's RM 855
entered Aldenham during June and July,
being returned to their respective garages in
August carrying the same bodies and the
same liveries as they had gone in with. RML
2760 was taken into Aldenham in January,
and held there until it could be reunited
with its original body, B2760, and units.
After overhaul, it was ceremonially outshopped on 5th November as the very last
Routemaster to be overhauled under the
works float system. Not quite so appropriately,. it carried both a gold underlined
fleetname and cream waistband-non standard at the time of the manufacture of the
main batch of RMLs. The most welcome
return of all, however, was that of RM 1.

Above: The introduction of Titans at Plumstead in November. initially on OMO routes only. allowed the gradual
withdrawal of Metropolitans to commence. T571 illustrates the new order on the 291 in late December. J. G. S.
Smith Below: Stockwell"s RML2389 was one of a pair to receive advertisements protesting against university
cutbacks for operation through Whitehall on route 88. Stephen Madden

This vehicle was repurchased from the

Lockheed company in 1980, and taken on to
the fleet strength in July 1981. After going
into Aldenham for overhaul and restoration, it made its debut at the North We aId
rally on 30th May 1982, although not quite
in its original 1954 condition as had been
hoped. It was to be retained alongside RM2
as a display vehicle.
The works float system of Routemaster
overhauls was officially abandoned in July,
the last standard RMs to leave being 2011
and 2117 in October. The trend towards
outshopping vehicles with the same bodies
as they had gone in with continued throughout the year, but a particularly notable
exception was RM 1528 which had been
fitted with illuminated advertisement body
B1991.
Perhaps surprisingly, the non-standard
RCL class survived the September cuts
unscathed. At the year end, they were still
running at Edmonton and Stamford Hill.
RCL 2260 was fitted with twin headlamps in
June and seems a sure candidate for

preservation when it is eventually withdrawn.

Compared to the September changes,
most other happenings for the Routemaster
fleet paled into insignificance. Worthy of
note, however, was the loan of three RMLs
(2322, 2323, and 2711) from Hanwell to
Norbiton to cover a temporary RM shortage there; these worked a number of duties
on route 65 on 5th and 6th July before being
quickly returned home for lack of drivers
trained to handle the longer vehicles. The
only special liveried Routemaster to appear
during the year was RM 319 at Victoria
(Bus and Coach Council). Two of Stockwell's RMLs (2261 and 2389) were decked
out with exclusive advertising protesting
against cuts in university spending. These
were sponsored by university students, and
ran on route 88 from August onwards. A
contract for exclusive advertising was also
signed with Yellow Pages, and the appropriately coloured posters were carried in all
the normal positions on a large number of
Routemasters.

40

FRM 1 was to have been withdrawn from

passenger service in September, but it was
still to be seen operating on the Round
London Sightseeing Tour at the end of the
year.
Apart from re-allocation to meet service
requirements during the year, 1982 was
fairly uneventful for this class. Leyland
National 2s made surplus by the September
cuts on Red Arrow routes should have
displaced BLs from the P4, but this
conversion was deferred pending resolution
of physical problems at the Brockley
terminus. The vehicles were put into store
at Turnham Green until December when
they moved to Aldenham for conversion to
conventional seating layout and fare collection in readiness for use on the P4 from 29th
January 1983.
The LS overhaul programme gathered
momentum with vehicles of all vintages
(except the Mark 2 models) going through
works.

passenger waiting at a request stop with the

bus approach at speed!
Harrow Weald's LS 382 became a showbus during the year, but LS l's roof pod was
repainted from grey into standard red.
One Leyland National was taken into
ownership in May, although not for passenger service purposes. SCO 422L was purchased from Plymouth City Transport and
converted to a sales bus to replace SPB 753,
entering service in July. It is painted in red,
white and blue livery, carries the fleet
number 1234 L, and the title 'Pro Motion'.
1982 was a year of steady contraction for
LT's Bristol fleet. The last BSs, none of
which had seen service during the year,
were sold, and the allocations of the longer
Bristols were withdrawn from Fulwell
(202), Croydon (234A), Kingston (215/6),
Riverside (290) and Bromley (146). Some
19 BLs were sold during the year whilst a
further ten were overhauled.
BL 76 was repainted in the same livery
as BL 4 (with white waistband) during
March. BL 1, a Croydon showbus, was
subjected to further repaint and 'customisation' upon its transfer to Edgware in
May, and now carries a gold underlined
fleetname below the cream waistband. BL
2 was licensed for service for the first time
in its life on 14th October, entering service
at Edgware after overhaul; it had been
used for training purposes at Fulwell since
being delivered in February 1976. Fate
decreed, however, that this should not last
since the vehicle was badly damaged in an
accident on 20th December. BL 93 was
outshopped in November in the same style
as had been BL 94 in 1981 for use on the
Hillingdon route 128, whilst BL 95 went to
Chiswick for conversion and thence
Aldenham for overhaul.
Roundly 900 vehicles were overhauled at
Aldenham during the year, comprising
some 577 RM/RMLs, 227 DMSs (including
D1787), 94 LSs, 10 BLs and the first T,
102. The works float system ended, as
Above: Following displacement from Croydon's 234A service. BL 1 was adopted as Edgware garage's showbus. It
already
detailed; Fleetline overhauls at
is seen on route 251 in July, shortly after receiving a customised livery incorporating a full-size underlined gold
Aldenham ceased, the last vehicle (DMS
fleetname. J. G. S. Smith Below: LS268 illustrates the first phase of its three-part dot matrix display as it leaves
Kingston Bus Station on 29th May, the first day the display was used in service. Ramon Hefford
2317) appearing on 3rd December; and the
first Metrobus had yet to emerge. There
was a handful of inter-overhaul repaints
~
comprising two Metropolitans in January,
three RMCs and six B20 Fleetlines. A
number of vehicles of various types came
out of overhaul during October and
''''1/';#1/111
November repainted with Williams Trans;""'WI{
peed paint, a lighter shade of red than
normal, on an experimental basis. The
:::
buses concerned were RMs 645, 830, 941,
1097,1660, and 2104; RMLs 886 and 2443;
,I~J LSs 23,33,229 and 411; and BL 73.
.,,~ Unlike the previous year when a number
of early body RMs with plain front upper~ deck windows found their way out of
J...
Aldenham carrying high bonnet numbers,
those examples turned out in 1982 were
restricted in the main to vehicles in the
8XX series or below, plus RMs 956 and
990. RM 1091 was the only vehicle with a
four-digit bonnet number to appear from
overhaul with an early body (December).
RM 1691, the rogue 'plain windows' vehicle which was outshopped with an early
body in 1977, lost this in favour of a
standard one during 1982.
The more notable changes which occurred during the year were the introduction of
LS allocations at Croydon for the 234A, the
displacement of Ts by LSs at Loughton and
vice versa at Peckham, and the conversion
of the 278 from T to LS upon its extension
over the withdrawn S3. Nationals displaced
BLs at Bromley (route 146) and Kingston
(routes 215 and 216), and DMSs at Merton
(routes 127, 152, 189, and part of the 57 on
Saturdays), whilst Hounslow gained Metrobuses in place of LSs on the 111.
During May, Norbiton's LS 268 was
fitted with an experimental dot matrix
destination box in place of the normal
4-piece blind system. This comprised a
single line display showing, in turn, route
number and destination, 'via -',
'and
-',
the complete cycle running over
about ten seconds. One of the consequences of this arrangement is that the
route number is not displayed for several
seconds at a time-hardly satisfactory for a

41

1234L was captured at' Purfleet in July following its

conversion to a mobile sales and information vehicle in
replacement for SPB (ex-SMS)753. Oavid Stuttard

The cuts and service revisions associated

with the 4th September changes gave rise to
what is probably the most complex set of
vehicle movements ever to occur on London Transport. Well over 1,000 buses were
involved although transfers were spread
over the month. Routemasters, for instance, could be seen working alongside
DMs from Muswell Hill on the 43 and 134
for several days before the route was
officially converted. Conversely, margins
seemed to have been trimmed too heavily at
some garages and reinstatements had
quickly to be made to plug the gaps. In
consequence, several RMs remained at
North Street until the end of October.
Stranger still, three RMs were drafted into
Southall after only a few days' absence to
cover M shortages on the 105, and RM 1435
went to Finchley to help out alongside
RMLs on the 13. A few standard RMs
moved back into Upton Park, and most
remained there until 31st December.
The effect of the cuts was to reduce the
scheduled vehicle requirement by six hundred, made up as follows:

RM
RML
RCL
DM
DMS
MD
M
T
BL
LS

-220
- 19
- 5
-102
-105
- 47
- 18
- 32
- 23
- 29

Total

-600

Including spares, the total fleet reduction

was nearer 700, or about eighth of the total.
There were, however, wide variations
around the average between garages, the
opportunity being taken to concentrate the
reductions at those locations where staffing
problems were most acute. The number of
vehicles required for service at Hanwell,
Holloway and Wandsworth, for instance,

went down by 15 to 20%, whereas the

requirement at Loughton actually went up.
Full details of individual route and type
changes are set out in the preceding chapter
on services. In short, the implications on
vehicles were as follows: Routemaster
allocations were restored at Muswell Hill,
Potters Bar and Thornton Heath, but lost
from Sutton, Southall, Alperton and Norbiton; Kingston and Riverside became allRM garages; Southall and Alperton became' all-M whilst Sutton went 100%
D/DM/DMS; DM allocations were lost at
Muswell Hill, New Cross, Potters Bar,
Croydon and Thornton Heath; Peckham
lost its remaining MDs; Loughton became
all-LS and the type was introduced at
Merton. Norbiton became all-OMO with
nearby Kingston-so
recently an OMO
stronghold-becoming
100% crew-operated. Ms were introduced at Hounslow.
The DM to RM conversions left the 18 as
the last central London daytime route
scheduled for regular operation by doored
buses, whilst standardisation at garages
reduced the scope for unusual workings.
About 600 vehicles, mostly Fleetlines,
were sold during the year. Most of the
remaining Swifts and Merlins, which had
been lying in a withdrawn state for some
considerable time, were cleared out
together with the last BSs. Ensign's at
Purfleet and the old AEC works at Southall
were the most popular storage sites for
surplus vehicles, but the former Abbey
Wood, Hackney and Turnham Green
garages were also used.
Many of the Fleetlines were sold for
scrap, but some found service with other
operators. Maidstone and District purchased 20, for example, and further DMSs
were sold to the China Motor Bus Company
in Hong Kong.
To accord with new regulations, tachographs were fitted to a number of vehicles to
enable them to be used on private hire
worK.
Two engineering disputes affected LT
vehicle movements during the first half of
the year. At Aldenham, many vehicles
coming out of overhaul had to be stockpiled

awaiting clearance as staff protested about

the possibility of putting vehicle testing out
to the private sector, whilst a separate
dispute in the spring led to an embargo on
vehicle movements, blind changes, etc. The
latter resulted in entry into service of new
vehicles being substantially delayed. This
was partly resolved in May when the
embargo became an overtime ban, but too
late to avoid serious dislocation to services
involved in the 24th April changes. The 206
and 234A services, for instance, were
severely reduced because the scheduled
LSs could not be made available by the
planned conversion date, and the full
reversion of the 252 to T was put back by
several weeks.
Clapham garage became an inspection
centre for Fleetlines as well as having
responsibility for D to DM and QM to D
conversions. Vehicles were examined and
then, depending upon the condition of
each, either given attention and reallocated
or sent to the sales department. Most
pursued the latter course. The D-DM
conversions were almost entirely restricted
to removal of kits from standard Ds which
had been withdrawn, and transferring these
to B20 DMs so that they could run in either
one- or two-man configuration.
D 1063 (New Cross), T 569 (Plumstead),
M 423 (Cricklewood) and RM 319 (Victoria) received special advertising slogans for
the Bus and Coach Council.
Poplar garage was established as a
reception centre for Titans whilst they were
going into service at Tower garages in the
same way as Finchley had been for Metrobuses in Leaside the previous year. Sidcup
and Plumstead, however, carried out their
own examinations.
The training fleet contracted somewhat,
the standard RMs being either returned to
passenger service or withdrawn. Otherwise,
the composition of the fleet remained
largely unchanged.
1982 closed with the prospect for 1983 of
a continuing rapid rundown of the DM/
DMS fleet and further OMO conversions,
the latter implying that more Routemasters
would be withdrawn during the year.

42

..

Summary of
London Transport
Vehicles
New Vehicles
Total: 280
Total: 77
Total:
2
Total new vehicles: 359

Leyland Titan TNLXB2RRSp/Leyland H44/24D+18: T397-676 (KYV 397-549X, NUW 550-675Y, OHV 676Y)
MCW Metrobus DRlOl/14 MCW H43/28D+ 19: M729-805 (KYV 729-805Y)
t Dodge Minibus: AI, 2 (NYN 1, 2Y)

t Note: although the Dodge minibuses were delivered in 1982, they were not officially taken into stock until January 1983. They
arrived with the registration numbers reversed, i.e. Al was NYN 2Y and A2 was NYN 1Y, but this was later rectified.
Second-hand

acquisition

From Plymouth

Corporation,

Leyland

National

Total second-hand acquisition:

SCO 422L

Vehicles Reclassified
D to DM 923,927,939,945,946,950,957-959,975,979,980,985,
988, 989, 991, 997,1007,1011,1013,1015,1020-1023,
1027,1032-1034,1046-1050,1055,1064,1066,1069,
1071, 1076, 1114-1119, 1125, 1129, 1131-1133, 1135, 1137,
1147-1150, 1152, 1154, 1155, 1161, 1162, 1164, 1167, 1170-1173, 1175, 1177, 1178, 1182, 1184, 1190-1192,
1196-1198,1200,1203-1207,1209,1210,1213-1215,
1218-1221, 1224, 1227, 1228, 1230-1234, 1237-1243, 1247,
1706, 1725, 1726, 1730, 1734, 1753, 1770, 1775, 1781, 1783, 1786, 1808, 1811, 1814, 1815, 1820, 1821, 1823, 1825,
1826, 1829
DM to D 979,1062-1064,1115,1237,1787,2527-2533,2535-2537,
2539, 2547, 2567-2571, 2573-2575, 2590-2592, 2594,
2599-2610, 2614-2617, 2619, 2620, 2622-2624, 2629, 2631, 2646
Vehicle Disposals
BL
5,8,12*,13,20,23,29,39*,44,45*,46*,51,55*,58,59,
60*, 64*, 76*, 77
BS
4, 8, 11, 14
DM/DMS 3-16,18-21,24-29,31-33,35-40,42,45-47,50-55,
57-59, 61-64, 66-68, 70, 71, 73, 75, 77, 81-88, 90, 91,
94,96-99,102-108,110-113,115,117-131,133,137-142,145,
147-159, 161, 163-166, 171, 172, 175-189, 192,
194,198,200,202-211,214,217,221-224,226-228,
232-238, 242, 245-250, 252-255, 257, 260, 261, 263-266,
268,270,271,273,274,276-280,283,287-290,292,294,
299, 300-308, 310-313, 315, 317, 321, 322, 325-327,
329,332,334-338,340,342,343,347-355,357,358,
363-365, 372, 373, 377-380, 382-385, 387, 389, 390, 392,
393,396,397,400,402,406,408-410,434,448,461,557,565,569*,592,593,629,648*,688*,690,856,861*,865*,
869*,891*,892*,921*,922*,925*,927,930*,943,945*,946,947*,960*,969*,970*,972*,973*,975*,977*,978*,
981*,983,991*,995*,997*,998*,1003*,1005*,1006*,
1010*, 1013*, 1017*, 1019*, 1024*, 1028*, 1038*, 1049*,
1058*, 1060*, 1067*, 1092*, 1099*, 1101*, 1103*, 1107*, 1108*, 1109*, 1113*, 1115*, 1134*, 1140*, 1141*, 1151*,
1168*,1176*,1180*,1185*,1191*,1218*,1221,1223,
1224, 1226, 1227*, 1229, 1235, 1236, 1239, 1241, 1244, 1424,
1440*,1441*,1444*,1449,1469,1480,1498,1506,1543,
1603, 1672, 1675, 1685, 1688, 1697, 1702, 1712*, 1714,
1715*,1717*,1719*,1722,1724,1725*,1726*,1747,1751,1756*,
1769, 1780, 1781, 1800, 1809, 1816, 1818, 1821,
1825, 1826, 1863, 1866, 1938, 1940, 1945, 1947, 1951, 1982,2007,2014,2018,2033*,2039,2042*,2043*,2044*,
2045,2051*,2053,2055,2057,2060,2061,2066,2069,2070*,2072,2075,2087,2088,2090,2098*,2106,2114,2115,
2119*, 2128, 2129, 2133, 2135-2138, 2140, 2141, 2144, 2147, 2150-2153, 2155, 2160, 2163, 2164, 2169, 2174*,
2175*,2176*,2178-2180,2183-2185,2190*,2191,2192,
2197, 2206*, 2217*, 2218, 2225*, 2226*, 2230*, 2231*,
2381*
DMO
1,7
MBA
444,449,492,511,517,529*,531,533,534,536-545,547*,560,566,568,573*,574,575,577,579*,580,581,582*,
583,584,587,590-593,595-600,606,609*,611,615
MD
91*, 95, 97*, 102, 106*, 113, 124*, 136*, 151*
RM
175,186,326,358,420,496,733,864,865,1028,1140,
1169, 1173, 1175*, 1184, 1199, 1203, 1223, 1230, 1248, 1253,
1264,1276,1285,1297,1298,1302*,1309,1337*,1338,
1345, 1369, 1390*, 1395, 1402, 1405, 1410, 1412, 1426, 1429,
1442*,1443*,1444,1445,1450,1532,1538,1541,1551,
1554, 1570, 1629, 1658, 1675, 1693, 1696, 1706, 1730, 1760,
1771, 1781
RMA
28, 35, 56*
RMC
1455, 1479, 1487, 1493
SMS
256, 281, 295, 310, 316, 318, 326, 327, 335, 336, 343, 364, 382, 544, 622, 638, 686*, 700, 714, 715, 720, 759

Total: 131
Total:

55

Total:
Total:

19
4

Total: 479
Total:
2
Total:
Total:

48
9

Total: 61
Total:
3
Total:
4
Total: 22
Total disposals: 651

* N.B. An asterisk indicates a disposal which had been observed during 1982, but not formally recorded by London Transport until 1983. The six
Routemasters are those issued to contractors for breaking prior to the main contract to W. North being let.

Routemasters wholly or partly broken up at Aldenham by 31.12.82

RM

82,278,514,579,622,628,633,777,849,971,
1200, 1201, 1206, 1207, 1208, 1211,
1279, 1284, 1286,1332,
1347, 1360,
1427, 1430, 1452, 1525, 1534, 1537,
1639, 1657, 1661, 1663, 1665, 1671,

1222,
1362,
1550,
1674,

1227,
1370,
1564,
1686,

1034,
1231,
1373,
1569,
1687,

1052,
1233,
1374,
1572,
1689,

1060,
1234,
1375,
1574,
1695,

1071,
1239,
1379,
1578,
1702,

1100,
124f,
1388,
1584,
1718,

1106,
1246,
1389,
1588,
1739,

1127,
1252,
1399,
1589,
1743,

1179,
1258,
1408,
1594,
1751,

1189,
1265,
1416,
1622,
1762,

1190, 1194,
1272, 1275,
1418, 1419,
1635, 1636,
and 2134

Total:

96

RM's 1182,1191,1436 and 1552 had been earmarked for breaking at Aldenham as part of the contract with Vic Berry but, as at 31st December, were
being stored pending possible re-use.

43

--.

London Country
Routes
Alterations to the bus network in 1982 were
mainly in the form of a gradual pruning of
evening and Sunday services but there were
two major programmes, both in the first
part of the year. Right at the beginning of
January the whole network around East
Grinstead was revised, associated with the
closure of the local garage at the end of
1981. The buses and routes from EG were
distributed to neighbouring garages, in
some cases causing subsequent re-allocations elsewhere. Then in April some
services were taken over from London
Transport and red buses no longer ran to St.
Albans or south of Banstead. As usual,
service adjustments were in conjunction
with County and District Councils, but the
tightness of finance meant that in Surrey
and even Hertfordshire some small cutbacks were made, mostly late in the
summer. In contrast to the bus reductions,
Green Line coach services continued their
expansion. Northampton and Godalming
were among new destinations reached,
while Brighton, Cambridge and Milton
Keynes gained more routes and extra
journeys. More 'commuter-coach' type of
routes were introduced, in several cases
gaining a boost because of the various
strikes on British Rail during the year. The
service requirement at the start of 1982 of
829 vehicles had increased to 839 by the end
of the year, the increase being accounted
for by the continued expansion of coach
facilities more than covering for the reduction in bus services.

No buses ran on normal services on New

Year's Day so the East Grinstead area
changes took effect from 2nd January.
Notable was the removal of the last London
Country buses from Edenbridge and the
transformation of the 438 into a major trunk
service-it had been the peak-hour only
remnant of the services taken over by
London Transport from Sargeant's on 30th

April 1951. The 438 and the 426, by virtue

of interworking, were double-deck operated as was the Saturday-only 709 from
Croydon to Brighton. Indeed it became
common in 1982 for the coastal routes to
require double-deckers and routes 774, 775,
778, 779 saw many appearances during the
summer. A new style of attractive publicity
leaflet was produced and detailed most

.
Above:The first

major route programme of the year

took place in January. affecting services in the Crawley
and East Grinstead areas. The leaflet produced to
summarise the changes is shown opposite. Route 426
gained double-deckers and was withdrawn east of
Crawley Down save for schoolday projections to
Felbridge on one of which AN283 is seen passing
through Horley. Calin Fradd Below: A new service.
linking Heathrow with Northampton. was launched in
March. operated jointly with United Counties. RS120
passes through Hemel Hempstead on the first day. Ran

Harper

l
44

..
Why changethe bus services?
Bus services in the Crawley, East Grinstead and
Lingfield areas have been costing more to operate than
they have been earning from bus fares. Although West
Sussex and Surrey County Councils are helping by
meeting pap of this shortfall with a subsidy, there
remains a substantial deficit, which these service
changes and the closure of East Grinstead bus garage
will greatly reduce. Inconvenience to passengers will
be kept to a mimmum, and the reorganised services
include improvements for many passengers.

\.0

~~

changes

& Il. $'ts

1'1 cJ0~
l~ 405

ovi.

b-

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426

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,f

c.

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a<f
I

This service will now run only between

Crawley. Charlwood, Horley and Crawl;;y
Down, with a revised timetable. Some
School journeys will continue to Sp.lve
Imberhorne School

429

.?

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~fb

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This new service will replace route 475.

providing a 2.hourly daytime service
between East Grinstead and Lingfield via
Baldwins Hill and Fe1coun. Some peak
hour buses will continue on from Lingfield
to Dormansland.
433

438

~q, $
~
cJ

.s:

fl
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434, 473
474

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475

&~tti<5ac5~
485

~~
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III

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III
t $ ~~.j
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00
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aft: ".lillJt' Gft:~
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1

This service will beincreased to provide a

regular all day service between Horsham,
Crawley, Crawley Down and East
Grinstead. Basically, an hourly sexvice will
be provided between Horsham and
Crawley Down, with alternate buses
continuing on from Crawley Down to East
Grinstead, Lewes Road, Worsteds Farm
Estate, Estcots Oak Estate, Queen Victoria
Hospital and Stone Quarry Estate.

Although the basic frequency on this route

wiH remam unaltered. certain buseswill
run on from Roffey Corner to Colgate and
Crawley to replace part of route 474. A
shopping facility will be provided between
Lambs Farm and Crawley.

~o!

-,

l i~
~

The timetable of routes 409 and 409

Express wm be completely revised. The
hourly Express service between Croydon
and East Grinstead will be maintained,
but alternate buses will run via
Dormansland and Holtye Road (Queen
Victoria Hospital) instead of Felbridge.
Those buses serving Dormansland will be
numbered 419 Express, while those
running via Felbridge will continue to be
numbered 409 Express. An hourly service
will be provided between East Grinstead,
Queen Victoria Hospital and Dormansland.
jointly between new routes 419 and 419
Express. Some buseson routes 419 and
419 Express will also run on from East
Grinstead town centre to provide a
shopping service to residents of Garden
Wood and Imberhorne Estates.

It

aC{)

~tf#

~.J:

J'~'7: :tt~l:::!

Bus 434 will run 2-hourly between East

Grinstead, Turners Hill, Crawley Down
and Crawley only. The Horsham service
will now be provided by route 438 on
weekdays, although bus 434 Will continue
to run through to Horsham on Sundays.
Bus 474 will also run approximately every
2 hours between East Grinstead and
Crawley, serving West Hoathly,
Sharpthorne, Turners Hill and Crawley
Down. However, in Crawley Down buses
on route 474 will run via the War Memorial
and Vicarage Road. In East Grinstead, bus
474 will now also serve Hurst Farm Road.
Bus 473 will generally only run during the
peak periods, via Rowfant. but some offpeak journeys on route 474 will also run
via Rowfant, to provide a direct service in
to Crawley for passengers
from Turners
Hill. West Hoathly and Sharpthorne.
Certain peakhour buses on route 434 will
run on from EastGrinstead to
Dormansland, and from Crawley to the
Crawley Industrial area.
0
S
~~~ 4.~ t>

'"

$~ ?~##
.! ,'li.~~",

409 Exp
41QExp

i - t.ff

424

This service will be withdrawn, but an

alternative service between East
Grinstead. Felcourt and Lingfield will be
provided on route 429.
This sexvice will be withdrawn.
Alternative services between East
Grinstead and Dormansland will be
provided on routes 419 and 419 Express,
and Maidstone and District services 235
and 236 will continue to offer a limited
alternative link between East Grinstead

Buses on this route will be diverted m

East Grinstead to serve LewesRoad,
Worsteds Farm and Estcots Oak Estates
in addition to the Queen Victoria Hospital
and Stone Quany Estate. A number of
poorly-used buses will be withdrawn,
particularly those in the evenings, and the
service through Snow Hill will be
discontinued. However, coaches on
Maidstone and District service 900 will
now stopadditionally at Felbridge, Mill
Lane and Snow HHJat New Domewood.
mamtaining a link with Horley (and
Gatwick Airport) md East Grinstead.

These services will no longer run on from

Crawley, Southgate Avenue to Handcross
However, an additional evening peakbus
will be operated on Southdown route 161
between Crawley and Handcross. Bus 415
will be withdrawn, but a 2-hourly service
along Balcombe Road, Horley. will be
provided on Maidstone and District route
900 which will stop additionally at the
'Coppingham Arms'. Cenain poorly-used
peak buseswill be withdrawn between
Crawley and Redhill.

V~9-~0~i-9-"''''
:f..0#"~9-~

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rS

t!~ t

Q..:J
<J

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'Q~~"",0~:c.0

l~r:- {!~t
~

o'ti~:f

419,419 Exp

in detail:

cIJ'.t

~
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S;J' .,~
# !'..: l'.f
# (jt rj-0
" c... r:J

409 EXj

.s-

405,415
455

-l ~q; l'
&0
.'f

4~~

The good news ...

* Regular. all day direct service from East Grinstead
and Felbridge to Crawley and Horsham.
* New service for Worsteds Farm Estate, Estcots Oak
and Lewes Road areas of East Grinstead to Crawley
and Horsham.
* New direct link for Holtye Road area of East
Grinstead and Dormansland to Croydon.
* Improved frequency between Crawley Down and
Crawley
* New link from Lambs Farm Estate, Horsham to
Crawley
* The same fare between East Grinstead and Lingfield
regardless of service taken
The

409,409 Exp
419,419 Exp

and Edenbridge. A new M & D service,

number 238, will run between
Dormansland, Edenbridge and Westerham
on Wednesdays and Fridays from 8
January.
709

aO

~ ~
to ,tP
~ rf~
l'
f~~,Iff
...Ii'/
cf J .:;<?5l.(1lI
fCrr;.f~cf 4.~ ~Oj

(~--'_~"'---I

This Saturday coach from Croydon,

Cater ham and East Grinstead to Brighton
will be re-routed to serve Felcourt. The
timetable will be slightly revised.
For full details of the revised services see the new
C!awley and East Grinstead area timetable book
available, price 40p, from Crawley bus station and from
many newsagents.
East Grinstead bus garage will close with effect from 2
January, but service information will continue to be
available from our Head Office (telephone: Reigate
42411.0900-1700 Mondays to Fridays) or as follows:
SeIVices 405. 426, 433. 434. 438. 455, 473 and 474:
Crawley 25173 or 24287
Services 409, 409 Express. 419. 419 Express. 429. 709.
778 and 779: Godstone 642234
Service 424: Reigate 47022.
Services operated by Maidstone and District: Tunbridge
Wells 20221 or 26900.

Coming this Spring

no

Two new Green Line seIVlces from East Grinstead:

778 - Cater ham, Godstone. Lingfield. East Grinstead,
Hastings, every Thursday.
779 - Cater ham, Godstone, Lingfield, East Grinstead.
Eastbourne, every Tuesday.
These services will commence
for local announcements.

during
May. Look out

LONDON COUNTRY
Pu.oong.:8...

ca.-1'I8d ltubf8C\

to the

cond.luo.r..

and

r8fIJ\Ilu~

of Ilw company

45

.,

-'--~f;
Jl

-.

1..,
- ,.-. CRoYOON

~.
.::::- --

Left: The Saturday-onlyCroydonto Brighton service was officially converted to

double-deckoperation as frequent appearances had been made by such vehicles
since the route's inception. AN180 prepares to depart from Pool Valley. Brighton.
J. G. S. Smith Reductions in bus revenue
support in Surrey led to London Country
providing new services in the Sulton and
Banstead area. AN127 works the new 418
in July (below left) Dominic West. while
SNB425 approaches its terminus on route
420. the out-country replacement for LT's
280A service (below right). Guy Brigden

helpfully all the service changes in the

area-this
is reproduced below. Further
north there were some minor changes
around Redhill and Caterham, the main
casualty being the complete withdrawal of
route 440. Whitebushes Estate was thence
served by the diversion of route 411, while
Woldingham only received a handful of
buses by an extension of some 453 journeys
from Caterham. However, a last minute
change of heart caused a Tuesday and
Friday facility to be reinstated between
Redhill and Caterham only, reviving the
440 number, and using one of Chelsham's
school contract buses during shopping
hours.
Frequency reductions occurred at many
places in the northern areas during January,
February and March, and the odd bus was
saved here and there by minor adjustments
to the network. Peak-hour buses suffered in
Hemel Hempstead and Welwyn Garden
City and some rural buses were removed in
Buckinghamshire. Sunday buses on the 339
as well as those in Kent on 489 and 805
ceased without replacement. It was not all
gloom as a slight re-routeing on 366 gave a
regular service through Panshangar to

46

Hatfield and the local hospital. Wexham

Park Hospital in Slough was served more
frequently on local 445/446 (including new
variant 448), this partly offsetting the
reductions on route 335. Chorleywood lost
route 309 altogether but a limited replacement operated on Monday to Friday came
when some 336s were diverted and renumbered 337; some other 336s were speededup to run Express into Watford, omitting
the various deviations off the main road. An
isolated withdrawal was of Ware local route
364 which had been unable to reach its
intended
objective
at Old Vicarage
Estate-suitable
road construction had
never taken place and lack of a terminus
had caused a lack of passengers! From 24th
April further service reductions took place
around Harlow and again it was peak-hour
buses that suffered. Route numbers T12,
Tl3 and T16 all disappeared and Mark Hall
North was no longer served, although a
re-instatement took place to this estate in
December as new route T7. The Old
Harlow and Churchgate Street areas received their own routes T8 and T9, which no
longer ran across the Town Centre, T9
being the modern-day successor to the

dial-a-ride minibus service of the mid1970s.

24th April was also a notable date in both
the north and in the south as London
Country took over operation of routes that
had been worked by London Transport
outside the GLC area. Many of the services
were worked by the newly delivered Olympian double-deckers. LT services to the
Banstead area were cut to just a limited one
on 164 and LCBS introduced new services
418 and 420 from Sutton, via Banstead, to
Epsom and Leatherhead (418) and Tadworth and Walton-on-the-Hill (420). The
418 gave new cross-Epsom links, notably to
the district hospital. Existing route 422
between Sutton and Redhill gained extra
journeys, extra stops and an evening and
Sunday service. There were some minor
frequency reductions around Leatherhead,
notably on 416, and at Crawley routes
Cl/C2 gained an extension from Rutherford Way to a new terminus within Gatwick
Airport. Local objections in East Grinstead
caused route 474 to revert after less than
four months to Ship Street instead of Hurst
Farm Road.
The very long-standing but somewhat

<fi,.

..

...~
~
~~~

anomalous operation of red London buses

all the way out to St. Albans finally came to
an end with the takeover by London
Country of route 84, unusually retaining
this number. Rather optimistic scheduling
unfortunately caused an amount of late
running, but this was corrected later in the
year. To compensate, the 313 between St.
Albans and Enfield was withdrawn,
although red buses (using the 313 number)
then served the road between Potters Bar
and Enfield from 24th April. As was now
usual, a few peak-hour buses were cut out
on local routes around St Albans but two
improvements were a peak-hour service to
Grove Road, Borehamwood, on 355 and a
morning shoppers' bus for Well End
residents on Mondays to Fridays-they had
had only a Saturday bus previously.
The Green Line network had of course
not remained static and plenty of service
changes occurred all over the area. From
16th January a new 'Flightline' service 767
began between Victoria Coach Station and
Heathrow Airport, running non-stop every
half-hour, jointly with Alder Valley and in
direct competition with London Transport's Airbus, and at a lower fare too. From
the same date the 757 between Luton
Airport and London gained a doubling of
frequency for most of the day and also a
Sunday service-it too was thence marketed as a 'Flightline' service. The existing
Flightline route, 777, received its doubling
of frequency from 27th March and at the
same time 'Jetlink 747' gained more journeys.
Amersham, a garage with no Green Line
work at all not so long ago, gained yet more
services on 16th January. The 788 connected Aylesbury and London via Wendover, Great Missenden and Amersham at
commuter and shopping times, and a
connecting 789 gave a shopping facility to
London from Chesham by transferring
passengers on to a 788 at Amersham.
However the 789 never really caught on and
it ceased officially after 1st October. The
788 restored a direct service along the
A413, last served by the 359 in 1972, and
one has to go back forty years to find the last
Green Line service along this road. Wartime restrictions in 1942 forced the withdrawal of all coach routes and postwar
re-instatement saw the new 703 going no
further than Amersham. Route 788 soon
became popular and more coaches were
scheduled from October. The heavily used
291 between Thame, High Wycombe and
London gained an extension from Thame in
January to the neighbouring large village of
Haddenham, and some of the regular
duplicate coaches were added to the timetable. In July another 291 duplicate to and
from High Wycombe was renumbered 292
and diverted to serve Hazlemere and
Holmer Green. So many commuter coaches
were now required from Amersham garage
that some were used during the summer to
operate experimental seasonal services 728
to Penshurst Place and Hever Castle, 729 to
the Bluebell Railway in Sussex and 737 to
Woburn Abbey, all these services working
during the day from and to Victoria.
To give a faster link from Harpenden and
St. Albans into London route 707 was

r:
~-~-

ri'

,[JC c:
"J.oiJ.LjllIT
~
"

'

"1~'"
,~

~~.:."

;.~~-,""

'JP
~

,~'~--

. -~

U\

i~'

~..
..~

~,..

JF~

...
j

.J

Above: Route 309 was withdrawn and replaced by a new 337 service between Ley HiII/Amersham and
Rickmansworth. BN67 works a midday projection to Watford Junction. J. G. S. Smith Below: Green Line expansion
continued during 1982: many new links were forged and some old ones re-instated, as exemplified by route 788
to Aylesbury. SNB517 passes along Park Lane. Co/in Fradd.

"',

iDl
Below: To cash in on the lucrative Heathrow
from 16th January. To publicise the service.
Coach Station. Colin Fradd

services, route 767, jointly operated with AlderValley, was introduced

free travel was offered on the inaugural day. DL31ays over in Victoria

47

Above: Green Line orbital route 725 was split at West Croydon in the spring, severing a link between Surrey and
Kent dating from 1953. RP53 at New Maiden portrays the initial makeshift
western section of the route. S!ephen Madden

blind arrangement

for the renumbered

In the Guildford area, further joint operation with Alder Valley resulted in a projection of route 740 to Farnhamand a
new facility to Hindhead and Whitehill. RS107 is seen at Hammersmith, Butterwick (above) S!ephen Madden,
while RP36 at Victoria illustrates the frequent appearances by that type on the 741 (below). Ramon Hefford

----

. - -. -~

1-'
I
,

...

48

,/

speeded up from 16th January omitting

Barnet and Finchley and surprisingly, Brent
Cross. Only three stops were served on the
trunk road route between London Colney
and Marble Arch. From 27th March commuter route 758 from Hemel Hempstead's
eastern estates to London gained extra
journeys through the day because of its
considerable popularity in the six months
since the route's introduction. In September some peak journeys were further
extended to Redbourn and in October a
partner route 759 commenced to serve the
town's western estates.
The principal new service from 27th
March was the 760-a fast link from
Northampton, Milton Keynes and Dunstable to Hemel, Watford and Heathrow
Airport. It gave links with the popular
shopping centre of Milton Keynes to many
new points and also provided a regular
service along part of the A5. It was worked
jointly with United Counties, who provided
all the limited Sunday service. Because the
new route linked Kings Langley and Hemel
with Milton Keynes, the Saturday shoppers
coach 738 was diverted through Garston.
Further changes on Saturdays occurred
from 15th May when the 736 served
Borehamwood and Harpenden instead of
Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield, while a
new 766 started at Potters Bar, running via
Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City. Between them the 736, 738, 760, 766 gave
many towns in Hertfordshire direct links to
Milton Keynes. The 766 replaced a regular
excursion service but licensing problems
meant that the service continued to run as
an excursion until the 'proper' 766 could
begin on 5th June.
There were changes to the group of
Brighton services from 15th May as well.
The popular shoppers' services 773/4/5 had
previously been able to pick up passengers
all along the Brighton road but their
capacity had often not been enough to cope
with loads. All were speeded up after the
Horley area, and 773 was renumbered 776.
A new service 773, marketed as 'Sealine'
and joint with Southdown, henceforth
connected Gatwick, Crawley and Brighton',
running hourly in the week and with a few
Sunday journeys. It ran via Hassocks but
not via Handcross-this latter omission was
rectified with a timetable change early in
September.
On the following day in May the pattern
of service across Croydon was split up so
that the 755 ran only in peak and t>hopping
times into Croydon via the motorway from
Crawley, but no longer calling at Gatwick
Airport. Route 725 had its western portion
from Croydon to Woking renumbered 716,
restoring the number more traditionally
associated with the Woking area. The
seasonal non-stop 700 between Victoria and
Windsor once again operated for the
summer, with an extension as in 1981 to
Runnymede and Thorpe Park; once more
Addlestone garage shared in the operation
and, to provide coaches for the weekend.
operation, a Saturday and Sunday service
on the 730 was introduced for the summer.
Some weekday 730s served extra stops
along the Kingston by-pass to cover a
reduction of service on 710. Commuter

.
,..

service 703 was diverted around the Dedworth area in Windsor before proceeding
into London. However a most important
development was the expansion of route
740, hitherto limited to a few journeys, into
a regular-interval express route between
London and Guildford, many coaches
continuing on to Farnham and jointly
worked by Alder Valley. Both operators
also provided a limited service 741 from the
Surrey/Hampshire border at Whitehill,
Bordon and Hindhead with London.
Routes 740/741 ran non-stop between Hammersmith and Wisley, giving a faster service
than the traditional 715. One of the
duplicate coaches on the 730 was renumbered 731 from 28th June and started from
Chertsey, travelling via Ottershaw and
Addlestone to join the 730 route at Byfleet,
following requests locally for a commuter
coach from the Chertsey area.
The usual programme of seasonal services was again introduced in 1982 but some
new features occurred this year. Apart from
Amersham Garage's 728, 729, 737 already
noted, from May to September a Tuesday
779 ran from Caterham to Eastbourne and a
Thursday 778 to Hastings, both replacing
excursions over similar routes during
1981-double-deck operation soon became
the norm. Whipsnade Zoo gained a doubledeck summer Sunday service when the 84
was extended ther, in place of the 313 of
previous years. LCBS operations on
National Express routes again occurred for
the summer, but there were some yearround services as well, centred on Gatwick
Airport.
From Sunday 13th June a third London
to Cambridge route began, the 799 via
Harlow, Bishops Stortford and Saffron
Walden, and like the 797 and 798 was
operated jointly with Eastern Counties.
The three routes between them now gave 18
weekday journeys each way between the
two cities. During the succeeding week the
shopping coach routes from the Harlow
area were altered with the 742 to London
withdrawn as the 799 now provided the
London link. Brent Cross and Milton
Keynes were still attained on 743 and 744
but on Fridays a new venture was the 745.to
Basildon and Southend, giving Harlow
residents a range of facilities.

Above: Another route introduced

the summer season.
exemplified by AN178
& District in July, gave
Palace Road. J. G. S.

in May was Tuesdays-only 779 which ran from Caterham to Eastbourne during
Heavy loadings prompted the use of double deckers, other than the scheduled SNBs, as
at Godstone Green. Richard GodfreyBelow:
More joint operation, this time with Maidstone
rise to route 756 from Victoria to Tunbridge Wells. RB77 prepares to depart from Buckingham

Smith

Summer route withdrawals: below left: SNB221 works route 376 in West Thurrock shortly before that number
was withdrawn in July. Guy Brigden Below right: AN268 passes Fairfield Halls prior to the cessation of
long-established route 403 Express in August. Co/in Fradd

49

-~-

An express link between Tunbridge

Wells and London began on the last day of
July, jointly with Maidstone & District.
Numbered 756 it followed the now normal
pattern of serving a group of estates locally
before running fast into London. However,
its introduction meant that some peak
journeys on 706 were withdrawn. Route 756
.at never became a success like many of its
fellows, though, and was withdrawn at the
year's end.
Returning to the bus network, the annual
round of service reductions around Grays
from 10th July underlined the differences
between the declining bus and the expanding coach networks. Here four buses were
saved overall on the Monday to Friday
allocation, mostly achieved by frequency
reductions, especially to Rainham. The
offpeak route 376 that had served Uplands
Estate was withdrawn, leaving the estate to
..... be served by some extensions of 378 from
I
Purfleet. Stifford Clays lost the 376 but at
l~ast the area gained an improved service on
routes 396 and 399 to compensate. Route
377 was withdrawn during the day, covered
Above: RS150 is seen at Plaistow working the penultimate journey of the monthly 854 Chichester service which
west of Grays by extra 378s but to the
was withdrawn after the trip on 1st September. Richard Godfrey
east by diverted 370s (renumbered 371),
making a very complicated roundabout
routeing.
Two programmes in August affected
both the north and the south and in both
areas there were yet more service reductions in peak hours, evenings and Sundays.
From the 14th, three of the four remaining
Sunday bus routes in Hertford disappeared
while from the 21st the long-standing
Express section on the 403 from Chelsham
was withdrawn. The ending of the road
block on the old Hertford Road in the
southern suburbs of Stevenage enabled a
much improved service to be given to the
Bragbury End area. New midday-only
route SB30 replaced the extensions of six
routes from Stevenage Town Centre to the
Industrial Area. By the next week route 455
between Croydon and Crawley was withAbove: Saturdays-only route 881 was introduced in October to serve Colnbrook market. SNB414 in Langley drawn, accompanied by the extension of
illustrates the effective use of a slipboard. Oavid StewartBelow: The remaining northern section of the north orbital
the 422 from Redhill to Crawley over 455
734 service was withdrawn from 30th October. RB95 enters the Brent Cross complex some months earlier. John
Barnacle.
roads. Over on the other side of Surrey,
fewer London Country buses ran to Feltham, when most 459/461 journeys were
diverted instead to Ashford, helping to
cover a frequencyreductionon LT's route
216.
September and October were largely
taken up by minor adjustments to special
journeys for schools and works in many
parts of the network. 1st September,
though, saw the last operation on the rather
quaint once-a-month 854 from Guildford
and Cranleigh to Chichester, and once
more London Country had retracted to
their more traditional operational area in
this part of Surrey. At the end of October
another brave venture finally ceased to run
when the remnant of the 734 was withdrawn. Three years earlier it had begun as a
grand cross-North London service but had
declined to just a few daytime journeys
between Hertford and Brent Cross. The
rival attractions of Wood Green's Shopping
City with its relative proximity to the 734's
catchment area in Hertfordshire
had
obviously had an effect. An half-hourly
service on the 735 was restored through

--

50

:-i

-I

from Hertford to London to compensate for

the loss of tne 734.
More services designed principally for
shoppers were introduced, the first being a
Saturday-only 881 linking Slough and Langley with the new open-air market at
Colnbrook. This began on 30th October
and carried good loads from the start. Three
days later the number 313 was re-used for a
Tuesday and Thursday link from the hilly
Totteridge Drive area of High Wycombe to
the Town Centre. This was a restoration of
a facility lost under the Chilternlink MAP
scheme and was unusual in being BNoperated, quite a novelty when only half-adozen of the type remained in the fleet.
Watford's Saturday 'Shopperbus' reappeared for its eighth Christmas season and,
as in previous years, was free of charge,
being sponsored by the local council and the
Clements department store. Shoppers also
benefited from an extension of route 451
from Laleham to a new housing development near Shepperton Studios at the end of
November and, a few days later, a limited
shoppers' facility was restored to the Mark
Hall North area of Harlow with new route

---

T7 attaining the estate-previous

services
there had been withdrawn in April.
The coach services from North Hertfordshire to London gained a boost from 27th
November when faster services were given
to Hitchin and Welwyn Garden City with
new route 796, leaving the 732 to serve the
more traditional route but only as far as
Brent Cross. A routeing change south of
Potters Bar took the 732 and 796 away from
Barnet and Finchley, severing the last link
with the Green Line network for these
points. A scheme to help cover the reduction to peak hours only of the Central Line
service between Epping and Ongar involved both LCBS and LTE from 4th
December, and some exchange of routeings
took place. The main service between
Epping and Ongar passed to LT as their
route 201 and London Country's 339 was
speeded up to a limited-stop operation
omitting the lengthy deviation through
Epping. During shopping hours all the new
339 journeys went on from Ongar to
Romford, more than covering the withdrawal of the 247B route of LT. Route 712
was doubled in frequency during the week

and on Sundays to give a through halfhourly (hourly on Sundays) service between Bishops Stortford and Romford.
North of Harlow this increase covered the
cut-back ofthe 702 to become just an hourly
link between Harlow and Walthamstow.
However, the most unconventional operation was the working of a couple of
afternoon journeys on the 201 by London
Country, this being the first-ever operation
on the same route by both of London's
major operators.
What would have become the company's
longest stage service, route 762, did not
begin operation in 1982. Originally planned
for introduction on 13th November, running for ninety miles or so across country
from Reading to Brighton via Aldershot,
Guildford and Gatwick, it was to be
operated by Alder Valley and South down
as well as Green Line. British Rail objected
to the competition with its roughly parallel
rail services and a traffic court hearing had
to be convened just before Christmas. The
ruling, though, was in favour of the road
operators and the service was planned to be
introduced on 22nd January 1983.

- -

RP43 is seen at Epping Station prior to working one of the journeys operated by London Country on London Transport's
replacement for off-peak operation of the Epping to Ongar Central line service. Oavid Stuttard

route 201 which was introduced

as a

51

Summary of
London Country
Route Alterations
D
M-F
M-S
SDO
NSD
EXP

Daily
Monday to Friday
Monday to Saturday
Schooldays only
Not Schooldays
Express

M
Tu
W
Th
F
Sa
Su

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Days are combined as

necessarye.g. TuTh= Tuesday and
Thursday only.

The following is a correction to information shown on page 82 of the London Bus Review of 1981:
The date 13th July refers only to the C8 change; changes on routes T9, T15, 44, 712, 713, 742, 743 were made on 25th July.
Additionally from 31st October the scheduled RS journeys on route 369 from Grays were altered to SNB operation.
Route 407 (Guildford-Merrow Park): Since the route began on 31st August 1980 buses leaving Merrow Park have been doing a double-run via Park Lane to
and from the junction with Harewood Drive. By local arrangement from 22nd December 1982, there was an extension of the Kingfisher Drive leg to the
junction of Harewood Drive. It was intended that eventually the route would become a circular operation.
2nd January
Following the closure of East Grinstead (EG) Garage after service on 31st December 1981, there were many service and allocation changes and the last
examples of the XF and SMA classes were withdrawn, both from EG in December. Route working changes added Monday-Friday AN journeys on to 419,
but reduced them on 453, with Saturday AN journeys on 453 withdrawn. Route 426 was converted to AN operation, but some journeys on 426 and 438
became SNB operated.
Some Monday-Friday RN journeys were added to 411, 422, 433, PL journeys to C21, 433, and SNB journeys to 403 Express. One Monday-Friday
morning journey on 474 became operated from Godstone (GD), who lost their 464 journeys to Chelsham (CM). The school contract operations at
Godstone with AN, RN, SNB were transferred to Chelsham, but the SNB/SMA contract operation at East Grinstead was gained by Godstone with SNB.

405
409

M-S
M-S

409EXP M-S
410
M-S
411

M-5

415
M-S
M-5
419,
4191EXP

424

M-S

426

M-S

429

M-S

430

433

M-5

52

Withdrawn between Southgate Avenue and Handcross. Part of Crawley allocation transferred to Reigate.
Withdrawn between Godstone and East Grinstead, except for two Monday-Friday journeys as far as Lingfield. EG allocation
transferred to GD.
Journeys in East Grinstead to Estcots School and Stone Quarry Estate withdrawn. Allocation transferred from EG to GD.
Certain journeys introduced between Dunton Green Garage and Bromley via Brasted, Westerham and Biggin Hill. One
Monday-Friday bus from GD allocation transferred to DG.
Monday-Friday daytime and all Saturday service diverted at Redhill to run to Earlswood (Whitebushes Estate) via Woodlands Road,
Brighton Road, Three Arch Road. Additional Monday-Friday peak hour service introduced between Redhill and Whitebushes
Estate with LNB/SNBIRN operation from RG.
Withdrawn.
NEW ROUTES (SNB operation from GD): West Croydon to East Grinstead Station via 409 to Blindley Heath, then Godstone Road,
Lingfield, Dormansland, Holtye Road, East Grinstead Centre, with certain journeys in shopping hours extended in a loop via London
Road, Manor Road, Garden Wood Road, Brooklands Way to East Grinstead Station. The main service north of Lingfield worked
Express on a joint frequency with 409 Express, although two journeys worked non-express. Between Lingfield and East Grinstead
both 419 and 419 Express served all stops. No service in peak hours or evenings.
Operations via Snow Hill withdrawn, the evening service withdrawn, and allocation transferred from EG to RG, with AN and SNB
operation. Re-routed between East Grinstead Town Centre and Stone Quarry Estate via Lewes Road, Woodbury Avenue, Worsteds
Farm Estate, Estcots Drive, Holtye Road. Certain early and late journeys from the Reigate direction curtailed at Crawley Down
(Burleigh Way).
Allocation transferred from EG to CY and converted to AN operation (ex SNB). Withdrawn between Crawley Down (Burleigh Way)
and East Grinstead or Stone Quarry Estate, although two schoolday journeys retained as far as Felbridge (Imberhorne School).
NEW ROUTE (SNB operation from GD): East Grinstead (King Street) and Lingfield via Baldwins Hill, Felcourt, Lingfield Centre,
then loop via Town Hill, Station Road, Saxbys Lane and return to East Grinstead. Certain journeys projected to and from
Dormansland. Two early morning journeys operated through from Godstone Garage to East Grinstead via Blindley Heath, Lingfield
Common, Saxbys Lane and above route.
One Monday-Friday morning peak journey added (renumbered from 440) from Whitebushes Estate to Reigate Garage via
Earlswood, Redhill, Batts Hill.
Additional service introduced to replace part of 474, between Horsham and Crawley via Littlehaven, Lambs Farm Road, Roffey
Corner, Colgate, Faygate.

"

434

438

M-F

440

M-S

453

M-S

455

M-S

464
473
474

M-S
M-S
M-S

475
483
485
709

M-S
M-S
M-S
Sa

C4

M-S

EG allocation transferred to CY. Withdrawn between Crawley and Horsham except for the Sunday service which continued to work
between Stone Quarry Estate and Horsham. Monday-Saturday service withdrawn between East Grinstead (King Street) and Stone
Quarry Estate, although certain peak hour journeys were extended to Dormansland via Holtye Road. Journeys to Sharpthorne
withdrawn, and certain Monday-Friday peak hour journeys extended from Crawley to Manor Royal (Rutherford Way) via London
Road.
Old peak hour only service withdrawn, with journeys to and via Manor Royal withdrawn. EG allocation withdrawn. New operation
introduced as a trunk Monday-Saturday route (with AN operation from CY) between Horsham (Carfax) and East Grinstead (Stone
Quarry Estate) via Roffey Corner, Faygate, Crawley, Three Bridges, Copthorne, Crawley Down, Felbridge, East Grinstead, Lewes
Road, Woodbury Avenue, Worsteds Farm Estate, Estcots Drive, Holtye Road.
Service withdrawn, with part coverage by routes 411, 430, 453, and RG allocation withdrawn. However a limited service was
re-instated (with SNB operation from CM) with two journeys each way on Tuesdays and Fridays only between Caterham Station and
Redhill and Reigate Garage via Caterham-on-the-Hill, Chaldon, Merstham, London Road, Redhill Town Centre.
Frequency reduced, and withdrawn in late evenings. Certain Monday-Friday journeys extended from Caterham to Chelsham Garage
via Caterham Valley, Croydon Road, Woldingham, The Ridge, Botley Hill. One afternoon schoolday journey operated from
Caterham (Godstone Road) to Chelsham via Caterham-on-the Hill, Buxton Lane, Whyteleafe Road, Burntwood Lane,
Woldingham, The Ridge, Botley Hill.
Withdrawn between Southgate Avenue and Handcross. Additional service added to replace the frequency previously on route 415.
Part of CY allocation transferred to RG.
The GD-operated journeys transferred to CM.
Withdrawn between Crawley and Horsham except for one Monday-Friday morning peak journey. EG allocation transferred to CY.
Withdrawn between Crawley and Horsham. EG allocation transferred to CY. Although certain journeys retained via Rowfant, most
of the service diverted between Turners Hill and Three Bridges via Vicarage Road, Crawley Down, Copthorne. Re-routed between
Dunnings and East Grinstead Town Centre via Hurst Farm Road, Brooklands Way, Rail Station to terminate at King Street. Certain
schoolday journeys to or via Estcots and Chequer Mead Schools in East Grinstead, the morning journey being operated by GD.
Withdrawn.
Certain journeys diverted on schooldays at Westerham to double-run to Hosey Common School.
Withdrawn.
Re-routed between Lingfield and East Grinstead via FeJcourt and Baldwins Hill. Allocation transferred from EG to GD and
converted from SNB to AN operation.
One Monday-Friday morning peak journey from Crawley Bus Station via Tilgate and Furnace Green extended to Three Bridges
Station via Haslett Avenue.

As part replacement for some withdrawn LCBS facilities, Maidstone & District route 900 (Gillingham to Gatwick) gained extra stops between Horley and
Felbridge to cover parts of 415 and 424. New M & D route 238 worked on Wednesdays and Fridays between Dormansland
and Westerham to cover part of
485, and Westerham Coaches converted a school contract journey to stage operation connecting Chartwell and Sevenoaks via Edenbridge and Westerham.
One Monday-Friday
evening peak journey on Southdown 161 from Crawley to Handcross became worked by LCBS, with AN operation from CY, this
journey running at a similar time to one that had previously been on London Country 455.

"

An interesting feature of the Crawley

programme was the operation of one
journey by a London Country bus on
Southdown route 161 in replacement for
the 455 extension to Handcross.which was
withdrawn. AN283 approaches Pease Pottage. Oavid Stewart

4th January
Minor route-working changes at Hertford caused the withdrawal of the temporary AN journeys on 324, 334 in the Monday-Friday evening peak, and the
introduction of more AN journeys on 316, 331, 390.
355
361

D
M-S

The Monday-Friday journey to Marconi Works curtailed at St. Albans City Station.
One Monday-Friday'morning peak journey extended from St. Albans to Marconi Works.

10th January
Revision to the 'Aircoach' se~ices, the LCBS operations being concentrated on three Daily return journeys on 699, with RS and P operation from RG.
697
D
Withdrawn.
699
D
New timetable with a route extension. Now Daily between Gatwick Airport and Cardiff via A217, A25, A24, A246, A3, A322,
A329, A329M, M4, M32 to Bristol, then M32, M4, Severn Bridge Interchange, M4, Newport. The night journeys operated
additionally via Chepstow.

53

16th January
Minor route working changes at Harlow and St. Albans caused Monday-Friday AN journeys to be introduced on 313, 339; Monday-Friday RSIRB
journeys were withdrawn from 321 and introduced on 313, 343, 361; the Monday-Friday SNB/RP journeys on T-routes were revised with new journeys
introduced on T1; T4, T5. Part of the RS allocation on routes 707, 717, 727 at St. Albans became temporarily covered by additional RBs.

336
338
339
391
392

M-S
M-S
D
M-S
M-S

393
T9
491
291
707
757
767

M-S
M-S
M-S
M-S
D
M-S
D

788

M-S

789

M-S

Re-routed in Amersham via Chiltern Avenue, Hill Avenue.

Certain journeys diverted via Eastwick Village.
Sunday service withdrawn.
Withdrawn.
Diverted in shopping hours via Haydens Road in Harlow. Extended in Monday-Friday peak hours from Hoddesdon to Pindar Road
Industrial Estate via Essex Road.
Re-routed between Tylers Cross and Harlow via Roydon, Harlow Road, Roydon Road, Pinnacles, Fourth Avenue.
Monday-Friday service converted to AN (ex SNB); Saturday service already AN.
Converted from BN to SNB operation. With this conversion the associated BN journeys on 489 and 490 were also converted to SNB.
Extended from Thame to Haddenham (Crown).
Re-routed between London Colney and Finchley Road via A6, AI, A41, operating limited-stop over this section.
Frequency increased to half-hourly for part of Monday-Friday and all day Saturday with an hourly Sunday service introduced.
NEW ROUTE (joint with Alder Valley, the LCBS allocation being DL from WY): Victoria Coach Station to Heathrow Airport,
non-stop via M4, setting down at all three Terminals, but picking up only at the Central Bus Station.
NEW ROUTE (RB operation from MA): Limited stop service with two return journeys at commuter and shopping times between
Aylesbury (Victoria Park) and London (Victoria, Eccleston Bridge) via Elmhurst Road, Weedon Road, Bicester Road,
Buckingham Street, Aylesbury Bus Station, A413, Wendover, Great Missenden, Amersham, Chalfont St. Peter, A413, A4O,
A40M, Marble Arch, Hyde Park Corner.
NEW ROUTE (RB operation from MA): Limited stop service with one return journey at shopping times, the Saturday journey
actually being a feeder coach to the 788 at Amersham Garage. Chesham Broadway to London (Victoria, Eccleston Bridge) via
Amersham and as 788. By mid-February the through Monday-Friday service had been also altered to become a feeder to the 788 at
Amersham Garage, this taking place by local arrangement because of operating difficulties.

Period 13th January to 18th February

During this time there were total British Rail strikes on certain Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, and extensive duplication occurred on
many Green Line routes, principally 290,291,706,710,714,715,720,735,740,757,758,777,797.
Route 777 in particular saw heavy use, especially on
Sundays, and DS, GD, LH and RG as well as CY lent vehicles and drivers. On the last two strike days (16th, 18th February) a supplementary service
operated as 714 from South Holmwood to Victoria but working via the Kingston by-pass between Hook and Roehampton. On 21st January a commuter
service was operated from New Ash Green to Victoria (Bressenden Place) via Longfield, Darenth and A2, using an AN from NF under route number 721.
This was the only day that this route operated, and was an attempt at a replacement for the withdrawn OIsens Coaches facility, subsequently covered by
Grey-Green Coaches.

24th January
805
Su

Last day of operation. From 31st January some additional Sunday journeys were added to the 705 timetable.

25th January

411

M-S

430

21st February
489
D
497
D
498
D

Two further Monday-Friday morning peak journeys introduced, one from Whitebushes Estate to Reigate Garage via Redhill and
Batts Hill (renumbered from 430), and one from Whitebushes Estate to Gatton Point via Redhill (replacing a 405 journey).
The Whitebushes journey introduced on 2nd January transferred to 411 timetable.

Last day of Sunday operation, without replacement.

Sunday service had reverted from AN to SNB operation by this date, by local arrangement.
As 497.

Additionally, by about this date the AN journeys on 339 (Harlow) and W9 (Watford), the RB journeys on 343 (St. AIbans) and RS journeys on 273 (Hemel
Hempstead) had all been altered for SNB operation by local arrangement. These local changes were ratified on later dates when schedule changes came
about.

27th February
Minor route-working changes at Hatfield caused the transfer of one bus Monday-Saturday from St. Albans, giving Hatfield some journeys on 340. The
early morning AN journeys on G2, G14 were withdrawn, but new ones introduced Monday-Friday on GA, G11.
342

366

M-S

G12
G13
G14

M-F
M-F
M-F

14th March
739

20th March
775
Th

54

One afternoon peak journey Monday-Friday extended to start from New Hatfield (Manor Road) via Wellfield Road, Hatfield Town
Centre.
Monday-Friday evening service withdrawn. Saturday morning service reinstated between Hatfield Town Centre and Hatfield Garden
Village. Re-routed between Panshanger (Moors Walk) and Great Ganett via Panshanger Way, Black Fan Road.
Withdrawn.
Withdrawn.
Withdrawn between New Hatfield (Manor Road) and Welwyn Garden City, and re-routed to Hatfield Station via Wellfield Road,
French Horn Lane. Service reduced to one peak hour journey each way only, with AN operation morning, SNB afternoon.

First day of seasonal operation between Victoria and Brands Hatch. Planned dates in 1982 were 14th March, 9th, 12th April, 30th
May, 16th, 17th, 18th July, 15th, 30th August, 24th October.

Introduced also on Saturdays.

27th March
Minor route working changes at Hemel Hempstead, Watford and Amersham garages caused the withdrawal of the BN journeys on 398 and the RB journeys
on 305; Monday-Friday SNB journeys were introduced on 347 and W5 (although the latter had often been worked by SNBs in practice); Monday-Friday
RS journeys were introduced on 307, 317; Monday-Friday AN journeys were withdrawn from 306, 311, H12, H13, W9 (the latter already withdrawn in
practice), introduced on H7, H15, increased on H14, H16 and reduced on H18.

273
302
305
309
311
312
325
335

M-F
M-S
M-S
M-S
M-S
D
M-F
M-S

336

M-S

336EXP M-S

'""

337

M-F

349
352
353

M-S
M-S
D

364
372

M-F
M-S

445,446

448

M-S

460
466
821

M-S
M-S
SDO

832
H14

SDO
M-S

H15

M-F

H21
738

SDO
Sa

747
758
760

D
M-S
D

777

The morning service officially converted to SNB (ex RS); afternoon still RS.
Withdrawn late evenings between Hemel Hempstead and Northchurch.
Certain journeys between Amersham and Uxbridge diverted via Chalfont Common.
Withdrawn.
The terminal working at Shenley extended as a loop via Pound Lane, London Road, Harris Lane, Rectory Lane.
The terminal working at Shenley revised as 311.
An afternoon facility introduced on Schooldays from High Wycombe to Gerrards Cross.
Severely reduced in frequency throughout. MA allocation reduced to two journeys on Monday-Friday mornings and two on Saturday
afternoons.
Certain journeys transferred to routes 336 Express and 337 with a consequential reduction in the service via Chenies and Chorleywood
Station.
NEW ROUTE (SNB operation from MA): Certain journeys on Monday-Saturday transferred from route 336 between Ley Hill and
Watford Junction, but running limited-stop between Little Chalfont and Watford via the main roads omitting the 336 deviations via
Chenies, via Chorleywood Station, via New Road, Croxley and via Watford (Met) Station.
NEW ROUTE (SNB operation from MA, with certain BN journeys): Ley Hill or Amersham Garage to Rickmansworth via
Amersham, Little Chalfont, Chorleywood Common, Chorleywood Station Approach, Shire Lane, Heronsgate, Mill End. One
midday journey in each direction extended to and from Watford Junction via route 336.
The shoppers' service via Hyde Heath withdrawn on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
GR allocation withdrawn on Saturdays.
The special journeys to and from Chalfont Common and Slough Trading Estate all withdrawn.
Withdrawn.
The Monday-Friday daytime journeys between High Wycombe and Amersham Garage reverted to being 'dead' ferry journeys.
School day and Saturday services not altered, the latter being effectively 'live' ferry journeys.
Monday-Saturday daytime offpeak operation revised so that buses terminating at Slough High Street (Pied Horse) withdrawn, and
increased service applied to the Wexham section. At these times route 445 was withdrawn (see 448) and 446 worked from Wexham
Park Hospital via Manor Park (clockwise) back to the Hospital.
NEW ROUTE (SNB operation from WR): Wexham Park Hospital via Wexham Road, Slough, Stoke Road, Manor Park
(anti-clockwise loop) and back to the Hospital. Operation in daytime offpeak only, replacing 445 at these times.
The late evening service withdrawn, except for one journey from Slough to Staines retained for interworking purposes.
The late evening service withdrawn.
NEW ROUTE (AN/SNB operation from HH): Redbourn and Woodhall Farm Estate to Gadebridge and Bourne Valley Schools,
renumbered from H21.
Converted from AN to SNB operation.
Withdrawn on Saturdays, and withdrawn between Maylands Avenue and Apsley Mills, Two Waters or North End Farm Estate, these
sections transferred to route H15. Existing circular operation at Grove Hill withdrawn and revised to work in Monday-Friday peak
hours between Grove Hill West and Maylands Avenue South via Washington Avenue, St. Agnells Lane, Grove Hill North, Aycliffe
Road, Cambrian Way, Jupiter Drive, Swallowdale Lane.
Previous service altered to replace parts ofHl4, with service to Leverstock Green and via St. Albans Hill withdrawn. Revised service
in Monday-Friday morning, midday and evenings peaks and in Saturday morning and midday peaks between Apsley Mills and
Swallowdale Lane via Durrants Hill Road, Belswains Lane, Barnacres Road, Bennetts End Road, Longlands, Adeyfield Road,
Leverstock Green Road, Maylands Avenue. Certain Monday-Friday journeys operated between North End Farm Estate and
Swallowdale Lane via Bennetts End Road and above route.
Renumbered 821.
Withdrawn over previous route between Watford and Adeyfield and re-routed via Garston, Horseshoe Lane, Bedmond, Leverstock
Green, then via Ml to Milton Keynes as before.
Increased in frequency to half-hourly all day.
Increased frequency throughout, with additional stop at Baker Street station.
NEW ROUTE: Jointly operated with United Counties Omnibus Company (LCBS allocation RS from HH on Monday-Saturday,
UCOC operates all Sunday service): Heathrow Airport to Northampton (Bus Station) via West Dray ton, Uxbridge, Denham, Maple
Cross, A405, Kings Langley, Two Waters, Hemel Hempstead (Bus Station), Adeyfield Road, Longlands, Breakspear Way, Ml (Jet. 8
to 9), A5, Dunstable, Hockliffe, Bletchley (Bus Station,) Bean Hill, Central Milton Keynes, Ml (Jct. 14 toI5), A508. One
Monday-Saturday morning journey northbound (Green Line-worked) and one southbound (UCOC-worked) diverted between
Central Milton Keynes and Northampton via Stantonbury, Wolverton, Stony Stratford, Old Stratford, Yardley Gobion, Grafton
Regis, Roade and A508.
Increased to half-hourly Daily. The additional allocation from both joint operators LCBS and Southdown, the LCBS allocation now
being RS and PL from CY. The Monday-Friday peak hour duplicate coaches operating direct between Crawley and Victoria (not via
Gatwick) officially added into the timetable.

Additionally,
from 27th March, an allocation of two ANs was added Daily on hire to LTE for the Round
further allocation was added from 3rd May.

5th April
721
M-F
-/

11th April
701
D
705

Su

12th April
417
Su

London

Sightseeing

Tour, operating

from LH. A

NEW ROUTE (P/RB operation from DT): One return journey in Monday-Friday peak hours from Dartford (Fleet Estate, Lunedale
Road Library) to Victoria (Eccles ton Bridge) via Princes Avenue, Park Road, St. Vincents Road, Attlee Drive, Henderson Drive,
Trevithick Drive, Dartford Town Centre, West Hill, Shepherds Lane, then non-stop to London via 720 routeing setting down at
London Bridge, Cannon Street, Blackfriars, Embankment Station, Westminster, Millbank, Pimlico, Victoria.

Certain journeys extended to Windsor Safari Park (also on 12th April and 3rd May). Full seasonal extension not implemented until
16th May.
Certain journeys seasonally diverted via Chartwell until 31st October.

Seasonal operation of Dorking Rambler's Bus on 12th April and 3rd May only. Full seasonal implementation not until 30th May.

55

Left: Minor alterations to services from Hatfield in

February resulted in the withdrawal of routes G 12 and
G 13. SNB309 is seen in Welwyn Garden City on the last
day. Richard Godfrey

1-.

I
,

Below: A temporary diversion to the 712 prompted the

operation of a connecting shuttle service during the
spring. RP2. on loan from Hertford. awaits custom at
Epping on this special service. Trevor Whe/an

Left: In Hertfordshire. April saw the withdrawal of

London Country 313 and its replacement east of
Potters Bar by an LT route retaining the same
number. SNB115 is seen departing from Enfield
before the change. Co/in Fradd

56

19th April
712
D

20t~ April
321
D
827

SDO

S4

M-S

Temporary diversion via Bell Common, Epping, due to M25 road construction south of Epping. A special shuttle service worked to
connect at Epping Church with through coaches, working circular via Station Road, Bower Hill, Brook Road, Bridge Hill, Centre
Drive, Station Road. Route 712 reverted to normal route from midday on 8th June and the shuttle was then withdrawn.

The schoolday journey from Kinsbourne Green to St. Albans (Francis Bacon School) withprawn (actuallast day 7th April at the end of
previous term).
NEW ROUTE (AN operation from SA) with one return journey on schooldays from Kinsbourne Green to St. Albans (Nicholas
Breakspear School) via Harpenden, Bowling Alley, Harpenden Road. Batchwood Drive. Waverley Road, Normandy Road, St.
Albans City Centre, City Station, Hatfield Road, Colney Heath Lane.
Certain journeys to and from Cottonmill Estate diverted on schooldays at Fleetville to work to or from Nicholas Breakspear School
via Hatfield Road and Colney Heath Lane.

Note: These changes were introduced in advance of the planned 24th April date due to the earlier start of the new school term.

..;

."

24th April
General timetable changes on most routes worked from Harlow. St. Albans. Leatherhead. Reigate and Crawley garages. The planned allocation of LRs
to SA, LH. RG was only partial at SA on the date. with further examples being allocated over the succeeding few weeks to give a mixed AN/LR
allocation at these garages. Route working changes on Monday-Friday caused AN/LR journeys on to routes 330. 343. 357. 358. 361. 422. 468. 478. 842.
843. S4, S5. S6; BN journeys on to 357 and off 313.343: SNB journeys on to 84. T2. Tl5. 406. 704 and revised on Tl. n. T5. TlO. Tl4 with the midday
service on T14. TI5 and morning service on Tl7 all scheduled for SNB. Coach journeys on 313. 339. 361. 405. C21 were withdrawn. but added to 355.
408A. 425. 455. SI. S6; scheduled RP journeys were added to 358.715 and RN journeys on 740. On Saturdays the AN journey on 479 was withdrawn.
but several journeys on 357. 358 converted to AN/LR.

84

304
313
339
343
355

M-S
D
M-S
M-S
D

357
358

D
D

361
405
406

M-S
M-S
D

414
418

D
D

420

422

M-S

474

M-S

478
702

D
D

BWI
Cl, C2

M-S
D

Cl6
C21
S6
T1

M-F
SDO
M-S
D

TI

TI

T5
T8
T9

D
M-S
M-S

TU
T12
T13
T14
T15
T16
T17
TII
TI6
TI9

M-F
M-F
M-F
M-S
M-S
M-F
M-F
SDO
SDO
SDO

NEW ROUTE (LR operation from SA): St. Albans Garage to New Barnet Station via London Colney, South Mimms, High Barnet.
One Monday-Friday afternoon journey extended to start from Radlett Station.
Withdrawn.
Re-routed between Harlow Bus Station and Potter Street via Third Avenue, Abercrombie Way, Southern Way.
One Monday-Friday afternoon journey from St. Albans to Hatfield back-projected to start from Kimpton (Hamden). via route 304.
All Monday-Saturday service. except late evenings. extended in Borehamwood to Grove Road. Monday-Saturday evening service
diverted at Park Street to operate around How Wood Estate. One Monday-Friday journey diverted to Firbank Road.
Monday-Friday morning shopping journey added from St. Albans to Borehamwood and return, operating via Well End.
TJ1e Firbank Road journeys withdrawn, but one Monday-Friday morning journey extended from St. Albans to New Greens via
Harpenden Road, Green Lane. Additional Monday-Friday offpeak service added between St. Albans Garage and London Colney
(Sheephouse Farm Estate).
Evening service withdrawn. The Marconi Works journey withdrawn.
Sunday service re-introduced between West Croydon and Crawley (Bus Station).
Withdrawn evenings between Tadworth and Redhill. Certain Monday-Friday peak journeys diverted at Tadworth to
Walton-on-the-HiII, and at Lower Kingswood to Rookery Way.
Sunday service reduced between West Croydon and Reigate.
NEW ROUTE (operation from LH Daily-mixed AN'LRlSNB Monday-Friday. AN/LR Saturday. SNB Sunday): Sutton
(Marshalls Road) to Leatherhead Garage via Belmont. Banstead. Firtree Road. College Road. Epsom. Ashtead. Leatherhead
Town Centre. Certain peak journeys diverted to Ashtead (SI. Andrew's School). to Langley Vale and from Effingham (Woodlands
Road) for interworking purposes.
NEW ROUTE (operation and allocation as 418): Sutton (Marshalls Road) to Walton-on-the-HiIl (Howard Close) via Belmont.
Banstead. Tattenham Way. Tattenham Corner. Merland Rise. Tadworth.
Monday-Saturday evening and Sunday service added. and revised from limited-stop to serve all bus stops throughout. LNB/SNB
operation Daily from RG. with certain AN/LR journeys Monday-Friday.
In East Grinstead withdrawn from Hurst Farm Road and re-routed via Ship Street, Town Centre to terminate at the Rail Station. In
Crawley, one morning schoolday journey and one afternoon return journey diverted from Haslett Avenue to Holy Trinity School via
Southgate Avenue, Furnace Green, Ashdown Drive, Downland Drive, Horsham Road. The last journey on Saturday evening from
East Grinstead diverted via Ashurstwood, Forest Row, Wych Cross, Hindleap Cross Roads, Tyes Cross, Sharpthorne and existing
route to Crawley.
Withdrawn evenings between Leatherhead Garage and Bookham Station.
Re-routed between Woodford Green and Chingford Mount via Woodford Wells, Chingford Lane, Chingford Hatch. Additional
schoolday journeys added between Harlow and Woodford (County High School).
Converted from BN to SNB operation (although certain BN journeys remained).
Monday-Saturday service revised so that routes were extended from Manor Royal and Rutherford Way to Gatwick Airport
(Terminal, Perimeter Road) via Gatwick Road, BCAL Base, Perimeter Road. The service to Langley Green was not affected.
One morning peak journey diverted via Fleming Way.
Withdrawn.
A late evening journey introduced to Jersey Farm Estate.
Journeys operating to and from Mark Hall North withdrawn from the terrninalloop and diverted instead to Mill Station via First
Avenue, Old Harlow, Station Road. Monday-Saturday evening service diverted in Harlow via Haydens Road.
Section between Bus Station and Mill Station via Old Harlow withdrawn. Additional peak hour service added, renumbered from T12.
Monday-Saturday evening service diverted in Harlow via Haydens Road.
Section between Bus Station and Mill Station via Old Harlow withdrawn. Additional peak hour service added. renumbered from
T13. Monday-Saturday evening service diverted in Harlow via Haydens Road.
Withdrawn at offpeak times between Little Parndon and Pinnacles.
NEW ROUTE (AN operation from HA): Harlow Bus Station to Churchgate Street via First Avenue, Old Harlow, Gilden Way.
Withdrawn between Bus Station and Little Parndon. Withdrawn between Gilden Way and Churchgate Street. Revised to operate
Monday-Saturday offpeak and peak hours between Harlow Bus Station and Old Harlow (Gilden Way).
Journeys to and from Mark Hall North revised in line with route Tl.
Renumbered TI, following the route change on TI.
Renumbered TI, following the route change on TI.
Midday peak service converted from AN to SNB operation.
Midday peak service converted from AN to SNB operation.
Withdrawn.
Morning service converted from AN to SNB operation.
Morning service converted from SNBIRP to AN operation (afternoon already AN).
Afternoon service extended from Little Parndon to Pinnacles.
Morning service revised to start at Sumners rather than at the Bus Station.

57

4th May
779
Tu

6th May
778
Th

NEW ROUTE (SNB 0l?eration from GD): one return 'ourney on Tuesdays until 28th September with limited stop operation:
Caterham (Clifton Arms) to Eastbourne via Godstone, B indley Heath, Lingfield Common, Lingfield, Newchapel, Felbridge, East
Grinstead, Forest Row, Highgate Green, then non-stop via A22.

NEW ROUTE (SNB operation from GD): One return journey on Thursdays from 6th May until 30th September with limited stop
operation: Caterham (Clifton Arms) to Hastings via 778 to Highgate Green, then Uckfield and non-stop via A22, A271, A269, A259.
Both 778 and 779 soon became regularly worked by AN (also later LR) vehicles.

9th May
729

Advance one day operation of new route. Full seasonal operation from 16th May (see that date for details).

14th May
721
M-F

Last day of operation.

15th May
736
Sa

766

Sa

Service between Welwyn Garden City and Milton Keynes withdrawn, but a new route introduced, also on Saturdays only with one
return limited-stop journey (RS operation from SA): Borehamwood (Milton Drive) to Central Milton Keynes (Shopping Centre) via
Borehamwood, Brook Road, Stapleton Road, Shenley, Bell Lane, London Colney, London Road, St. Albans, Harpenden,
Kinsbourne Green, then non-stop via A6, Ml (Jct. 10 to 14).
NEW ROUTE (PIRS operation from HF): One return limited-stop journey on Saturdays only from Potters Bar Station to Central
Milton Keynes (Shopping Centre) via Potters Bar High Street, Brookmans Park, Welham Green, South Hatfield, Lark Rise, Woods
Avenue, Hatfield Town Centre, Chequers, Howlands, Great Ganett, Black Fan Road, Panshangar Drive, Moors Walk, Herns Way,
Haldens, Knightsfield, Welwyn VilIage, Codicote, Kimpton, then non-stop via Peters Green, New MiII End, Gas House HilI, A6, M1
(Jct. 10 to 14). Due to licensing difficulties this route ran on an excursion licence initially, as indeed it had done for some time
previously; full stage-carriage introduction occurred from 5th June.

..

, , ,I
..

Right: Short-lived commuter route 721 between Dartford and Victoria began on 5th April.
P19 crosses London Bridge homebound in
May. David Stewart Below left: At Hemel
Hempstead. schooldays-only route H21 was
interestingly renumbered 821. AN162 pauses
at Woodhall Farm Estate. Richard Godfrey
Below right: Appearances by SA's LRs were
not confined to just the 84. New route 827,
introduced in April with ANs, became a regular
recipient of the type once the Atlanteans were
removed in late May. LR17 at SI. Albans. David

Stewart

:,'

58

..

fl,.,..'
".;>!'~-

15th May (continued)

773
TuSa
Westcott to Brighton service renumbered 776 and revised (see below).
773
D
NEW ROUTE: Jointly operated with Southdown Motor Services (LCBS allocation PL from CY on Monday-Saturday, Southdown
operation Daily): Gatwick Airport to Hove (Sackville Hotel) via M23, Crawley Avenue, Crawley Bus Station, Southgate Avenue,
A23, Hickstead, Albourne, Hurstpierpoint, Hassocks, Patcham, Brighton (Old Steine, North Street, Churchill Square, Preston
Street), then on journeys toward Hove only via Sea Front (eastbound) to Palace Pier (outside Pool Valley), returning westbound to
Sackville Hotel. Certain Monday-Friday peak hour journeys diverted between Gatwick and Crawley via Gatwick Road, FIeming
Way, Faraday Road, Manor Royal, Northgate Avenue. Certain Monday-Friday peak hour journeys diverted at Brighton (Churchill
Square) to Hangleton (Grenadier Hotel) via Western Road, Hove Town Hall, Sackville Road, Portland Road, Portslade Station,
Boundary Road, Hangleton Road. Certain journeys extended from Hove to Hove Station via Sackville Road, Blatchington Road on
occasions of football matches at the 'Goldstone Ground'.
774
Sa
Re-routed between Horley and Brighton via M23, A23. Revisions to stopping points meant that 774 no longer picked up after Horley,
and was withdrawn via Crawley.
775
ThSa
Revision to stoJ?ping points meant that the last pick-up point was at Wood hatch, thence setting down only at Gatwick, Crawley and
Brighton, runmng via A23.
776
TuSa
NEW ROUTE (PLIRN operation from DS): Renumbered from old 773 and re-routed between Woodhatch and Brighton via Lee
Street, Horley Town Centre, Brighton Road, then non-stop via M23, A23. Revisions to stopping points as 774.
Note: These stopping-point
alterations on 773, 774, 775, 776 did not affect the special arrangements
however, Handcross was no longer served by any of the services.

16th May
84
D
461
D
700
D
701
703

D
M-F

710
715
716

M-F
D
D

720
725

M-S
D

726
728

D
TuF

729

WSu

730

M-F

737

Su

740

M-F

741

755

760

to observe

a stop at Hickstead

on show-jumping

days;

Certain journeys extended seasonally on Sundays until 26th September from St. AIbans to Whipsnade Zoo via A5183, A5, B4540.
Increased Sunday afternoon service re-introduced, and converted from RB to SNB operation on Sundays.
Re-introduction of Daily seasonal service between Victoria and Windsor (Bus Station) non-stop except for stop at Windsor Castle,
with certain journeys extended to Addlestone Garage via Runnymede, Thorpe Park and Chertsey. RB operation from WR and WY
Daily until 1st October.
Re-introduction of Daily seasonal extension to Windsor Safari Park until 1st October.
Re-routed between Windsor (Bus Station) and Slough via St. Leonards Road, Clewer Hill Road, Dedworth Road, Ruddles Way,
Maidenhead Road, Smiths Lane, Dedworth Road, A332, Slough Bus Station and existing route.
Reduced frequency and re-routed via Ripley.
Reduced service between Guildford and Kingston.
NEW ROUTE (RB operation from WY): Daily, East Croydon Station (westbound) or West Croydon (arrival eastbound) to Woking
Station (Monday-Saturday) or Staines Station (Sunday) via Carshalton, Sutton, Maiden, Kingston, Hampton Court, Walton,
Weybridge, Addlestone, covering the withdrawn section of 725.
Increased frequency. Sunday service planned but not introduced.
Withdrawn between West Croydon and Woking or Staines (see 716) and WY allocation withdrawn. Increased frequency between
West Croydon and Gravesend and re-introduced on Sundays on this section. Monday-Saturday DT and Sunday NF allocations
re-introduced.
Certain journeys extended from Dartford to Northfleet Garage or Gravesend, and Monday-Saturday NF allocation re-introduced.
NEW ROUTE (RB operation from MA) with one return journey on Tuesdays and Fridays seasonally until 1st October: Victoria to
Hever Castle via Camberwell, New Cross, Lewisham, Catford, Bromley, A21, A26, B2176, Penshurst Place, Chiddingstone Hoath,
Markbeech, Hever, stopping intermediately only at Bromley, Polhill and Penshurst.
NEW ROUTE (RB operation from MA) with one return journey on Wednesdays and Sundays seasonally until 29th September, and
with one special advance operation on Sunday 9th May. Victoria to Sheffield Park via Chelsea Bridge, Clapham Common, Brixton,
Streatham, Purley Way, A22, East Grinstead, A22, A275, stopping intermediately only at East Grinstead. Note that both 728 and 729
were originally planned to have been operated by NF but changed at the last minute.
Certain journeys gained extra stops between Tolworth and Hammersmith to cover 710 reduction. Seasonal Saturday and Sunday
service introduced until 26th September between Woking Station and Oxford Circus, operating via existing 730 route but also serving
710 stops between Tolworth and Hammersmith.
Seasonal Sunday service re-introduced until 26th September with RS operation from SA. Additional seasonal service introduced on
Tuesdays and Thursdays (RB operation from MA) until 30th September, operating non-stop between Victoria and Woburn Abbey via
Finchley Road, A41, M1, A5.
Monday-Friday peak hour service from Grange Park to Victoria via Guildford retained. Additional Daily service introduced on a
regular frequency, joint with Alder Valley, between Victoria and Farnham Station via existing 740 route to Guildford but with an extra
stop at Wisley, then via Dennisville, University of Surrey, A3, A31, Farnham Hospital and Town Centre, LCBS allocation RS from
GF.
NEW ROUTE. Joint with Alder Valley. with LCBS allocation RS from GF: Daily service providing a day-return facility into
London and also a weekend return facility. Whitehill (Prince of Wales) to London (Victoria), via Bordon Camp, Linford, Headley,
Headley Down, Grayshott, Hindhead. Milford. Godalming. A3100. Farncombe, Peasmarsh, Guildford, then as 740 via Merrow,
Wisley. A3, Hammersmith.
Withdrawn on Sundays, and withdrawn between West Croydon and Gravesend with NF allocation withdrawn. Service via Gatwick
Airport withdrawn. Remaining service from Crawley (Broadfield) to West Croydon via Gossops Green, Tilgate, Furnace Green,
Bus Station. Three Bridges, M23, Coulsdon, Purley, operating one Monday-Friday peak hour return journey (RS operation from
RG) and certain journeys at shopping times on Tuesdays. Thursdays and Saturdays (PL operation from CY).
Diverted in Milton Keynes via the new Central Rail Station. (United Counties began the diversion from this day but it is thought
that Green Line operated from 15th May.)

22nd May
Commencement of LCBS seasonal operations on National Express routes until 25th September. Operating garages were CM (138 to Clacton), DG (two
coaches on 056), DT (055, 060,138 to Walton, plus midweek services on 058, 059, 060), GY (two coaches on 129), HP (103), NF (058,059,077), SJ (057,
137), SV (466), thus needing 15 coaches for peak operation.
055
056
057
058
059

Sa
Sa
Sa
Sa
Sa

060

Sa

077
103
129
137
138
466

Sa
Sa
Sa
Sa
Sa
Sa

Dartford to Bournemouth via Catford, Croydon, Southampton.

Catford to Paignton via Croydon, Bristol, Weston super Mare, Exeter.
Swanley to Hayling Island via Orpington, Croydon.
Gravesend to Portsmouth via Dartford, Catford, Croydon. (Also Tuesday operation from Dartford only.)
Gravesend to Chichester via Dartford, Catford, Croydon, Brighton, Bognor. (Also Monday and Wednesday operation from Dartford
to Bognor only.)
Slade Green to Hastings via Woolwich, Catford, Croydon, Eastbourne, Bexhill. (Also Thursday operation from Dartford to
Eastbourne and Friday operation from Dartford to Hastings.)
Gravesend to Ventnor via Dartford, Catford, Victoria.
Hatfield to Great Yarmouth via Cambridge.
South Ockendon to Great Yarmouth via Grays, Basildon, Ipswich, Lowestoft.
Catford to Great Yarmouth via Bexleyheath, Dartford, Ipswich, Lowestoft.
Croydon to Clacton via Catford, Bexleyheath, Dartford. (Also a second vehicle working Catford to Walton-on-the-Naze.)
Victoria to Skegness via Stevenage.

59

23rd May
318
Su

Re-introduction of seasonal Sunday service until 30th August. A special Saturday operation occurred on 5th June.

30th May
417
Su

Re-introduction of seasonal Sunday service until 26th September.

During May and June

The planned LR allocation (see entry for 24th April) was completed at Leatherhead on 13th May and at Reigate on 11th June to give a mixed ANILR
allocation at both garages. The LR allocation at St. Albans was completed on 28th May, replacing all ANs there. Between 17th June and 9th July the AF
allocation and part of the AN allocation at Godstone was replaced by LRs (routes 409, 410, 411, 411A, 709, 778, 779). However one AF remained as a spare
until 8th October.
8th June
The special service at Epping on route 712 operating since 19th April was withdrawn. Certain journeys at shopping times on routes 370,377,378 diverted
via the ASDA store. Tilbury. in advance of the planned date of 10th July.
12th June
44
ThFSa

13th June
742
MWF
743
Th
744
TuSa
745
F
799

20th June
025
D
625
699
729

D
D
WSu

755

M-S

Last day of operation of section Luton Bus Station and Luton Airport.

Service withdrawn.
Thursday service withdrawn, but introduced on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Introduced also on Thursdays.
NEW ROUTE (RB operation from HA) with one return limited stop journey on Fridays: Old Harlow (Post Office) to Southend
(Victoria Bus Station) via Harlow Bus Station, Staple Tye, Southern Way, Potter Street, Thornwood, Woodside, North Weald,
Ongar (last pick-up point), then via A128, A127, A176, set-down at Basildon Bus Station, then A176, A127 to Southend.
NEW ROUTE. Jointly operated with Eastern Counties Omnibus Company (LCBS allocation RB from HA): London (Victoria
Coach Station) to Cambridge (Drummer Street) via Westminster, Embankment, Cannon Street, Aldgate, Stratford, Leytonstone,
Redbridge Station, M11 Motorway, Potter Street, Harlow Bus Station, Old Harlow, Sawbridgeworth, Bishops Stortford, Stansted,
Newport, Saffron Walden, Chesterfords, Sawston, Great Shelford, Trumpington.

NEW ROUTE on the National Express network, jointly operated with Southdown and East Kent (Daily LCBS allocation from RG
with RS): Southsea to Dover via Portsmouth Harbour, Havant, Chichester, Bognor, Littlehampton, Worthing, Shoreham, Brighton,
A23, M23, Gatwick Airport, M23, M25, M26, M20, A249, M2, A2, Canterbury, A2, Eastern Docks.
New service number for the Gatwick to Bristol and Cardiff express service.
Renumbered 625, effective from the 0130 departure from Cardiff on 20th June.
Extended on Sundays to start from High Wycombe, thence via Amersham, Chalfont St. Peter, Denham, A40 to Victoria and Sheffield
Park. The Wednesday service continued to start at Victoria.
The RG allocation converted from RS to SNB operation (temporary until September).

Additionally,
National Express coach services at Gatwick Airport were revised to terminate at the lower level road rather than the high level (routes 025,
625 affected). Following alterations to the layout of Stevenage Bus Station, all services (except 744, northbound 797 and certain works journeys) used stops
in the Bus Station, in some cases replacing stops in Danestrete
opposite the Bus Garage.

28th June
731
M-F

5th July
382

M-S

NEW ROUTE (RB operation from WY): One return journey in Monday-Friday
peak hours from Chertsey (Clay Corner) to London
(Oxford Circus) via Botleys Park, Ottershaw, Coombelands,
AddIestone,
New Haw, Woodham, West Byfleet, Byfleet, non-stop via
A245, A3, A306, Hammersmith,
Kensington,
Hyde Park Corner, Marble Arch.

One late evening journey introduced Daily from Stevenage Bus Station to Bragbury End via Broadwater, operating by local
arrangement in advance of the schedule changes of 14th August.

During July
At SI. Albans the BN operations. scheduled for certain journeys on 304, 355, BWl and one 357 journey, became covered by SNBs and the BNs were
relegated as spare vehicles. seeing very little regular use during the rest of the year.
10th July
General timetable revisions on services from Grays Garage, officially incorporating the local-arrangement changes already in operation on routes 370 and
378. Route-working changes caused the AN journeys on 377 to be withdrawn, one morning journey on 367 to become AN, and the remaining
Monday-Saturday evening service on 375 and most of that on 373 to become AN operated.
370

371

M-S

373

374
375

M-S
D

376

M-S

60

Monday-Saturday frequency reduced in evenings, and between Romford and Corbets Tey and between Tilbury (Feenan Highway)
and Tilbury Ferry. During the daytime offpeak period Monday-Saturday, one bus per hour to and from Romford renumbered 371 and
diverted at Feenan Highway to run to Grays Bus Station via St. Chad's Road, Tilbury, ASDA store, Little Thurrock. During shopping
hours buses to and from Tilbury Ferry also diverted via the ASDA store, officially recognising an operation in effect locally since 8th
June.
NEW ROUTE (AN operation from GY): Romford to Grays via Ockendon, Grays, Chadwell, Tilbury, renumbered from some
buses on 370 (see above).
The Monday-Friday peak service to Rainham reduced in the mornings and the peak journey to Ockendon Station withdrawn.
Monday-Saturday evening service (apart from one late journey) withdrawn between Grays and Aveley (Usk Road). Unchanged
Sundays.
Re-routed at East Tilbury via Gloucester Avenue, Coronation Avenue to serve the Bata Estate.
Withdrawn between Aveley and Rainham in peak hours, this section only working in the Monday-Saturday daytime offpeak
period. Monday-Saturday evening service withdrawn between Grays and Aveley (Usk Road). Unchanged Sundays.
Withdrawn.

Left: One of the new seasonal operations.

utilising coaches made spare at Victoria during
the day. was route 728 which ran to Penshurst
Placeand Hever Castle in Kent. where RB84 is
seen. Richard Godfrey

Right: LCBS seasonal workings on the National

Express network took place once again in 1982.
PL20 is seen at Stevenage in August. working a
Saturdays-only service to Skegness. J. G. S.
Smith

--.;;,;;

Left: National Express service 699 was

renumbered 625 in June. following route and
timetable alterations earlier in the year. RS36
makes an appearance on the route at Gatwick
Airport. J. G. S. Smith

----

61

10th July (continued)

377
D
Withdrawn during Monday-Saturday daytime offpeak period. Reduced to a limited peak hour and evening service between Purfleet
(Garrison Estate or Uplands Estate) and Tilbury (Feenan Highway) or Chadwell St. Mary (evenings only). Unchanged Sundays.
378
M-S
Diverted during shopping hours via ASDA store in Tilbury, officially recognising the operation in effect locally since 8th June.
Additional Monday-Saturday daytime offpeak service between Grays Bus Station and Purfleet (Garrison Estate or Uplands Estate)
to cover the withdrawal of 376 and 377, the service to Uplands previously having run only in peaks and evenings.
396
M-S
Jesmond Road loop working withdrawn, and re-routed via Stifford Clays loop (Long Lane, Whitmore Avenue, Blackshots Lane).
Terminal in Grays moved from Derby Road to the Bus Station (Maidstone Road stop).
399
M-S
Re-routed at Long Lane, Blackshols Lane junction via the Jesmond Road loop, thence back to Grays via outward routeing (Cramavill
Street and Lenthall Avenue) rather than via Turps Corner. Terminal in Grays moved from Derby Road to the Bus Station (Maidstone
Road stop).
723
D
Withdrawn from Hogg Lane and re-routed via Hathaway Road and Lodge Lane.
13th July
At Waltham Cross, southbound buses on routes 310, 316, 324, 334, 360, 390, 734, 735 diverted via Park Lane, due to road construction. Northbound buses
were not affected.
757

19th July
292
M-F

Converted from RSIRB to TL operation (completed 17th July).

NEW ROUTE (RB operation from MA): One Monday-Friday peak-hour return journey, replacing a former duplicate journey on
291: Amersham Garage to London (Victoria Coach Station) via Holmer Green, Hazlemere, Terriers, High Wycombe, M40, A40.

24th July
477
D

Crockenhill journeys no longer worked in service to and from Church Road.

26th July
343
M-S

Additional seasonal service until 6th September on Mondays-Fridays between St. Albans City Station and Whipsnade Zoo.

29th July
778
Th

By this date regular LF/AN operation had caused a re-routeing between Hailsham and Bexhill via A22, A27, A259.

31st July
756
M-S

NEW ROUTE. Joint with Maidstone & District (LCBS allocation RB from DG): Victoria (Eccleston Bridge) to Tunbridge Wells via
Camberwell, New Cross, Lewisham, then direct via A20, A224, A21 to Tonbridge, Southborough, High Brooms. Service terminates
at Central Station in daytime, but extended at peak hour times Monday-Saturday to Showfields Estate and Ramslye Estate
(Summervale Road). One morning journey into London and one evening journey from London operated via Hildenborough, these
both being Green Line workings. One M & D-worked journey into London and one from London diverted in Monday-Friday peak
hours via Westminster, Embankment, Lower Thames Street, Aldgate, Blackwall Tunnel.

Additionally, there were frequency reductions on 705 (Sundays) and 706 (Monday-Friday peak hours).
July to November
New TL class coaches were allocated to Reigate, Windsor, Northfleet and St. Albans to replace early RS (RG, SA) and RB (SA, NF, WR) vehicles. TLs
thus formed part of the allocation on routes 700, 701, 703, 704, 707, 717, 720, 725, 726, 727, 736, 737, 738, 746, 755, working alongside other coach types.
Allocation to Reigate was from 22nd July to 10th November, to Windsor from 29th July to 10th September, to Northfleet from 9th August to 15th
November, and to St. Albans from 10th August to 26th November.
14th August
General schedule revision at Hertford and Stevenage garages, involving many evening reductions. Route working changes at Hertford caused existing
RB journeys on 333. 350. 384 to be replaced by different journeys on 331, 333; many more AN journeys introduced on Monday-Saturday on 316, 324,
390. At Stevenage Monday-Friday SNB journeys introduced on SB4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 15, 16; Monday-Friday PL journeys on 382 were altered and a new
journey introduced on SBI5.

303
303C

M-S
M-F

316

324
331

M-S
D

333
334
350
351
382

M-S
M-S
M-S
D
D

384
390

M-S
M-S

395
SBl
SB2
SB3
SB7
SB13
SB14
SB15
SB16
SB17

D
D
D
D
M-S
M-F
M-S
M-S
M-F
M-F

SB30

M-S

62

Extension of some journeys from Hitchin to Hitchin Station withdrawn.

.
Extension of some journeys from Hitchin to Hitchin Station withdrawn. Re-routed between Fairview Road and Julians Road via
Symonds Green and Fishers Green Road.
The last remaining journey to Hertford (Horns Mill) withdrawn. Evening and Sunday service reduced. Part of service re-converted
from SNB to AN operation.
One Monday-Friday journey diverted to Ware College.
Sunday service withdrawn. Evening service reduced. Last remaining journey to Hertford (Horns Mill) withdrawn. Converted from
SNB to AN operation, although isolated SNB journeys were retained.
Evening service withdrawn.
Evening service withdrawn.
Evening service withdrawn.
Sunday and late evening service withdrawn.
Withdrawn between Letchworth Station and Works Road. Certain additional buses diverted via Weston. Re-routed between
Bragbury End and Roebuck Centre via Hertford Road (east), Ashdown Road, Broadwater Crescent.
Evening service withdrawn. Stevenage allocation re-introduced with SNB on Monday-Saturday.
Re-routed between Bragbury End and Roebuck Centre via Hertford Road, Roebuck Inn. Journeys via Aston withdrawn except for
one Saturday afternoon journey. Part of service converted from SNB to AN operation.
Sunday service withdrawn.
Withdrawn in midday peaks between Stevenage and Gunnels Wood Road.
Withdrawn in midday peaks between Stevenage and Gunnels Wood Road.
Withdrawn in midday peaks between Stevenage and Gunnels Wood Road.
Re-routed between Roebuck Inn and Bragbury End via Hertford Road.
Service withdrawn.
Withdrawn in midday peaks between Stevenage and Gunnels Wood Road.
Withdrawn in midday peaks between Stevenage and Gunnels Wood Road.
Diverted at Martins Wood to serve The Oval.
NEW ROUTE (AN operation from SV): Bragbury End to Bus Station via Hertford Road, Roebuck Centre, Broadhall Way, Gunnels
Wood Road, in Monday-Friday peak hours only.
NEW ROUTE (AN operation from SV): Bus Station to Gunnels Wood Road South, in midday peak hours only Monday-Saturday,
replacing all journeys on other routes.

18th August
326
M-S

Re-routed at Booker in a loop-working clockwise via New Road, John Hall Way, Holmers Farm Way, Cressex Road, New Road.

21st August
Minor schedule revisions in parts of Surrey affected route-workings at Crawley (certain AN journeys introduced on 414, 422), and at Reigate (the
Monday-Friday morning coach journey on 455 replaced by one on 422; many more ANILR journeys on 414, 422, 424 although all retained some SNB/LNB
operation). At Chelsham, additional journeys on 453 in the early evening on Monday-Friday became AN-operated.
403EXP
405
414

M-F
D
D

422

424
437
453
455
459

M-S
M-S
M-S
M-S
M-S

461

30th August
318
Su

Withdrawn.
Certain Monday-Friday peak hour journeys diverted via Rutherford Way, Manor Royal.
Revised timetable between Croydon and Reigate, including the conversion of some journeys on this section Monday-Saturday from
SNB/LNB to AN operation.
Extended on Monday-Saturday from Redhill to Crawley (Bus Station) via Salfords, Horley, Gatwick Airport (A23), Rutherford
Way, then Manor Royal (peak hours) or Northgate (daytime). Certain Monday-Friday journeys continued to Southgate Avenue or
Buckswood Drive.
Most of Monday-Friday service converted from LNB to AN operation.
Certain Monday-Friday peak hour journeys diverted via Sheerwater.
Additional service introduced on the Caterham-Woldingham-Chelsham
section.
Service withdrawn.
In Monday-Friday peak hours withdrawn between Sunbury Cross and Feltham, and re-routed to Ashford Station via Staines Road
West, Chertsey Road, Feltham Hill Road, Convent Road, Church Road. Certain peak journeys diverted via Sheerwater.
Withdrawn between Sunbury Cross and Feltham, and re-routed to Ashford Station via Staines Road West, Chertsey Road, Feltham
Hill Road, Convent Road, Church Road.

Last day of seasonal operation.

'it

1st September
440
TF
482
D
837

SDO

838

SDO

854

Converted from SNB to AN operation.

One Monday-Friday morning journey diverted on schooldays between Slough Trading Estate and Britwell via Burnham Lane,
Haymill Road, Long Furlong Drive.
NEW ROUTE (RP/SNB operation from WY): One return journey on school days between Maybury (Maybury Hill) and Sheerwater
School via Maybury Inn, Pyrford Village.
NEW ROUTE (RP/SNB operation from WY): One return journey on schooldays between Maybury (East Hill) and Sheerwater
School via East Hill, Pyrford Village.
Last day of operation.

Additionally,
changes to school contract operations
(replacing an RS), Swanley and Windsor.

4th September
310
D
316
D
360
M-S

5th September
773
D

6th September
343
M-S
383
M-S
418
D
432
M-F

caused one AN to be introduced

at each ofChelsham

(replacing

two SNB contracts),

Guildford,

Grays

Extended in Enfield from Cecil Road to Little Park Gardens.

As 310.
As 310.

Additional stops introduced, notably at Handcross (diversion into village). In Brighton and Hove a new loop-working introduced from
Old Steine, via North Street, Churchill Square, Western Road. Hove Town Hall, Grand Avenue, Kingsway to Sackville Hotel,
returning via Kingsway (Sea Front) to Palace Pier, thence Kings Road, Preston Street, Churchill Square, North Street, Old Steine,
etc.

Last day of seasonal operation to Whipsnade Zoo.

One Monday-Friday morning journey from Chadwell to Purfleet diverted via Feenan Highway and Chadwell by-pass.
The morning schoolday journey to Ashtead (SI. Andrew's School) extended to Leatherhead Garage.
The only afternoon journey (schooldays only) withdrawn, this being the only AN worked journey (last operation was at the end ofthe
July school term). Service withdrawn between Knockholt (Tally Ho!) and Knockholt Pound.

7th September

361

M-S

821
706

SDO
D

SB26

SDO

10th September
382
D

13th September
807
SDO

19th September
625
D
750
D

Certain journeys extended on school days from SI. Albans City Station to Nicholas Breakspear School via Hatfield Road, Colney
Heath Lane.
Withdrawn from Bourne Valley School, Hemel Hempstead, and re-routed at Gadebridge to John F. Kennedy School instead.
Additional schoolday journey introduced, mornings only, from Knockholt (Tally Ho!) to Tunbridge Wells via Knockholt Pound,
Halstead, Polhill, Sevenoaks, then direct (not via Weald), Tonbridge. This replaced the previous facility on 432 (plus train journey),
and the afternoon reciprocal operation is by M & D service 203.
Certain journeys extended in Broadwater to Woodland Way (Shephalbury School).

Last day of operation

of the late evening service between Stevenage

and Bragbury

End, thus service withdrawn

evenings and Sundays.

NEW ROUTE (RS operation from HH): Renumbered from a 307 journey, morning only: Woodhall Farm Estate to Harpenden
(Roundwood School) via Redbourn, Harpenden, Sun Lane, Hollybush Lane.

National Express Gatwick-Bristol and Cardiff service diverted via Reading.

LCBS allocation (RB from GR) withdrawn from this National Express service.

63

20th September
44
ThFSa
366
M-S
758
M-S

Additionally,

vehicles.

Re-routed out of Luton via St. Mary's Road, Windmill Road.

Re-routed as 44.
Certain Monday-Friday peak hour journeys extended from Woodhall Farm Estate to Redbourn (High Street) via Lybury Lane
Estate.

by this date routes 459 and 461 in Ashford

had their terminal point altered from the Station to Church Road due to problems

caused by parked

25th September to 1st October

Last days of seasonal operations on National Express (25th), 84 to Whipsnade Zoo (26th). 417 (26th), 700 (1st), 701 to Windsor Safari Park (1st), 728 (1st),
729 (29th), 730 Saturday and Sunday service (26th), 737 (30th), 778 (30th), 779 (28th). With these changes routes 417,728.729.737,778,779
were
suspended for the winter and route 700 reduced to a daytime Monday-Friday
facility only.

2nd October
788
M-S
789

M-S

11th October
460
M-S

Peak hour journeys extended from Aylesbury (Victoria Park) to Bedgrove. Additional daytime frequency introduced between
Aylesbury (Bus Station) and London (Victoria). with certain journeys diverted via Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
Withdrawn.

Certain Monday-Friday peak hour journeys diverted in Datchet to double-run via Riding Court Road to serve the Appleton Park
Industrial area.

13th October
A new one-way system in Redhill town centre came into effect, with a new link road (Princess Way) to the north-east of the centre; southbound
buses on
414,430,440
no longer served the northern part of Ladbroke Road. being re-routed via London Road. Routes affected were 405, 406, 410, 411, 411A, 414,
422,430,440,447,774.

16th October
W7
D
W8
D
W9
M-S
830
SDO

Re-routed
Re-routed
Re-routed
Extended

in Watford Town Centre northbound via King Street, Exchange Road. Beechen Grove, Clarendon Road, High Street.
as W7.
as W7.
via High Elms Lane to Garston (Parmiters School).

18th October

759

M- F

24th October
739

30th October
734
M-S
881
Sa

NEW ROUTE (RS operation from HH): Monday-Friday peak hours only: Two Waters Garage to London (Victoria) via Boxmoor,
Long Chaulden. Gadebridge, Hemel Hempstead Bus Station. Adeyfield, Ml, A41, Baker Street. Marble Arch.

Last day of occasional seasonal operation.

Withdrawn. Additional frequency introduced on 735 to compensate.

NEW ROUTE (SNB operation from WR) Saturday shopping hours: Slough Bus Station to Colnbrook Market via London Road,
Trelawney Avenue, Common Road, Tamar Way, Parlaunt Road. Sutton Lane. CoIn brook High Street. Horton Road.

Additionally, minor route working alterations at St. Albans changed three Monday-Friday evening peak journeys on route 84 to SNB (ex LR) and an
evening peak journey on route S5 to LR (ex SNB); the morning RP journeys on 358 were altered to RBrrL operation.
31st October
705
Su

Last day of seasonal operation via Chartwell.

1st November
388
M-S

Certain journeys on school days extended in Hertford to Simon Balle School via London Road.

2nd November
313
TuTh

397

TuTh

NEW ROUTE (BN operation from MA) with two return journeys from High Wycombe (Totteridge Drive) to the Bus Station via
Walton Drive. Arnison Avenue, Bowerdean Road. London Road.
Withdrawn between High Wycombe Bus Station and Claymoor.

13th November
The free Watford

27th November
389
D
451
M-F
707
D
717
D
732
D

796

M-S

797

M-S

64

'Shopperbus'

reintroduced

on Saturdays

13th November

to 18th December

between

Watford

Junction

Station

and the Town Centre.

Extended from Aveley (Usk Road) to Uplands Estate via Sandy Lane, Tunnel Garage, AB.
Extended from Laleham to Shepperton (Studios Road) via Shepperton Road, Squires Bridge Road.
Re-routed between Luton Airport and Crawley Green Road via Wigmore Bottom instead of Lalleford Road.
Re-routed as 707.
Withdrawn on Monday-Saturday between Brent Cross and London (Victoria) and withdrawn from the Golders Green deviation.
Sunday service retained through to London. Re-routed between Potters Bar and Hendon Central via M25, AI, A41.
NEW ROUTE (RS operation from HF and RSIPL operation from SV) Monday-Saturday: Letchworth (Jack mans Estate) to London
(Victoria) via Radburn Way, A505, Hitchin, White hill Road. A602, AIM, Al000. Bessemer Road, Digswell Road, Welwyn Garden
City, Broadwater Road, Stanborough Road, Wellfield Road, Hatfield Town Centre, Woods Avenue, Travellers Lane, Great North
Road, Potters Bar, M25, AI, A41, Hendon Central, Fichley Road, Baker Street, Marble Arch.
Re-routed between Royston Bus Station and Melbourn via Old North Road (AI4) and the Royston by-pass (A505) and AI0.

4th December

17

M-F

329
339

M-S
M-S

839

SDO

840

SDO

702

712

NEW ROUTE (AN/SNB operation from HA) Monday-Friday shopping hours only: Harlow Bus Station to Mark Hall North (Fesants
Croft) via First Avenue, Howard Way, Mowbray Road.
Certain Monday-Friday peak hour journeys extended in Harlow to the Town Station.
Certain Monday-Friday peak hour journeys extended in Harlow to the Town Station. Schoolday journeys to Chigwell withdrawn, and
service via Epping withdrawn. Renumbered 339 EXPRESS and altered to limited-stop Monday-Saturday operation from Harlow to
Romford Station via Potter Street, Thornwood, North Weald, Ongar, Stanford Rivers, Passingford Bridge, Stapleford Abbotts,
Havering-atte-Bower, Chase Cross. No service in peak hours and evenings between Ongar and Romford.
NEW ROUTE (SNB/RP operation from HA): Epping Church to Chigwell (West Hatch School) via Epping Station, Ivychimneys,
Theydon Bois, Abridge, Rolls Park.
NEW ROUTE (SNB/RP operation from HA): Epping Church to Chigwell (West Hatch School) via Wake Arms, Loughton,
Palmerston Road, Buckhurst Hill Station.
Withdrawn between Harlow and Bishops Stortford, and re-routed in Harlow via Tillwicks Road, The Stow, First A venue. Journeys to
Woodford County School and via St.Margaret's Hospital withdrawn.
Revised to operate daily throughout between Bishops Stortford and Romford Market with an increased frequency. Journeys via
St.Margaret's Hospital withdrawn, but all service diverted via Epping Station. Monday-Friday peak hour service extended in
Romford to the Station (South Street).

Additionally, two Monday-Friday

(RP/SNB operation from HA).

afternoon peak hour journeys on LT route 201 between Ongar and Epping became operated by London Country

18th December
Last day of the seasonal

operation

of the Watford

'Shopperbus'

service.

31st December

756

M-S

Last day of operation. 'Maidstone & District' continued to work certain Monday to Friday peak hour journeys.

Christmas and New Year Services

No service on 25th Deeemher. and special journeys on routes 348. 430. 702. 747. 773. 777 on 26th and 27th. Sunday services operated on 28th and on
2nd. 3rd January. with Saturday services on 1stJanuary.A special service was operated by Green Line on 290 (28th. 1st) and on 797, 798, 799 (1st) due to
Oxford-South Midland and Eastern Counties not operating on these days. On 29th. 30th. 31st December a Monday-Friday service on Green Line. but a
Saturday service on huses. with certain variations to suit shoppers and workers. Saturday-only route 881 did not run. but special peak hour services
operated on SB30 (Stevenage Bus Station to Gunnels Wood Road South) and TI I (Harlow. Templefields to Pinnacles via Bus Station). these covering
the lack of normal peak hour routes in Stevenage and Harlow on these days.

'"

-- -

- - -- --

Late in the year, route 339 was revised for express operation between Harlow and Romford via Ongar. Attractive blue blinds were produced for the service as
exemplified by RP47 at Stapleford Abbotts. Oavid Stuttard

65
..

iiiiiiiiiiiiIii

London Country
Vehicles

A new generation of double-deckers entered service in April. Above: Leyland Olympian LR3 gleams in the traffic at
New Bamet soon after delivery. Jon White while. below. LR7 demonstrates the clean lines of these vehicles at SI.
Albans. S. J. Cfark

66

Changes in the composition of the fleet

were fairly small in 1982 though the year's
new vehicles were of more interest than
normal owing to their advanced design.
Both classes were delivered later than
planned and the first arrival, a double-deck
Leyland Olympian, bodied by Roe, did not
materialise until mid-April. The Olympian
was in some respects a development of the
Titan, sharing many of its design features
but permitting some choice of bodywork.
Perhaps the main advance which the passenger would notice was the steady ride,
resulting from the adoption of self-levelling
air suspension. To accommodate the suspension units, the underframe was laid out
with extra longitudinal sections running
outside the cross members which were
dependent on the body for strength. The
frames curved upwards behind the rear
wheels and the engine, the turbocharged
TLll as used in the Titan, was accommodated at the back. Transmission was by
way of a semi-automatic hydracyclic. fivespeed gearbox. Protective devices were
fitted preventing surging and the incorrect
selection of gears, whilst the air-operated
brakes were assisted by a retarder acting in
the gearbox.
Bodywork was similar in styling to that
of the Titan though the difference in the
depths of the upper and lower deck windows was less marked, and the recessed
section in the rear absent. The lower front
panel projected further outward to suit the
forward mounted radiator and curved
windscreen, the latter (on London Country's vehicles) interchangeable with that of
the AN. General appearance was much
less imposing than the Titan though the
overall height was only a few inches less.
Interior layout and decor were substantially the same as those of the later ANs
but there was no inward facing single seat
on the nearside of the lower deck behind
the luggage pen. A used ticket container
for upstairs passengers was an unusual
luxury .
Thirty Olympians were delivered from
April to July and, surprisingly, in view of

its recent use for the Leyland PD3/4 trainer

operated from 1975 to 1980, the classification LR (Leyland/Roe) was revived for the
new class. First priority in allocating these
vehicles was to cover the work gained from
London Transport but by 24th April only
five had been received; LRl- 3 entered
service that day on route 84 with LR6 and
LR8 following suit at Leatherhead and
Reigate respectively during May. Special
arrangements had to be made to enable
other buses to be available where required,
notably the loans of AN182 from Crawley
and AN221 from Swanley to Leatherhead,
and the position at each of the garages
involved remained somewhat fluid until
early June, by which time planned doubledeck allocations had been achieved (see
appendix). This in turn released a number
of single deckers, including four BNs and
one RP for disposal from St. Albans. Also
displaced were eight ANs, comprising the
two loaned to Leatherhead, the entire
allocation of three at St. Albans which
moved to Stevenage, and a further three
from Reigate which went to Harlow. (The
latter were the unique dual-door AN68/1R
vehicles ANI21-3. Following closure of

East Grinstead, one had been sent to

Reigate and two to Crawley, but opportunities presented by revisions to requirements were taken to reunite the trio at
Reigate by April.)
The objective of the last two groups of
transfers was to release at least ANI-9 for
conversion to driver trainers in place of the
seven DMSs and two AFs thus employed
(three ANs were saved in service reductions at Stevenage and Harlow). However,
there was more demand for them as PSVs
and little progress was made until December when ANI, 3 and 7 entered the Central
Repair Works (CRW) for conversion. In
the meantime AN2, 8 and 9 operated at
Hemel Hempstead in July on route 758 and
ANI ran briefly from Hatfield-in
both
cases the first dual-door ANs to operate at
the garages concerned-whilst
Hertford
(nominally possessing MCW-bodied examples only) and Watford also benefited from
the availability of the supernumary vehicles. A few were also noted on training
duties (AN2, 8, 9, 11 and also 14), probably as type trainers pending alterations to
the controls.
The last ten LRs were allocated to

Godstone. Here they replaced the remaining five AFs, three buses covering for ANs
redeployed on a contract and two ANs
required for service changes at Hertford.
Problems experienced with the new buses,
particularly gearbox failures, delayed the
withdrawal of some of the AFs and the last
in passenger service, AFlO, survived until
early October. AF5 and 8 had become
trainers after withdrawal from passenger
service in June but were finally delicensed,
along with AF2 and permanent trainer
AF3, in August. AF9 succeeded in introducing the class to a second garage as far as
public service was concerned, being
pressed into operation by Northfleet, on
route 720, for a few days in July following
its withdrawal from Godstone. Only AF6,
a South-East Area trainer, remained
licensed after the end of the year. Two
DMSs, DMS631 and 640, were also still in
use in the North-West but the other five
were taken off the road in September and
October to fulfil a long-standing promise to
dispose of them to Midland Red (East).
Delivery of the second class of new
vehicles, forty-two Green Line coaches on
Leyland Tiger chassis, was supposed to

Old soldiers: right: During the rail strikes in July. a

trio of early PRY Atlanteans were loaned to Hemel
Hempstead for use on express route 758 running
via the M1 motorway. AN2. pictured here complete
with erroneous 'Townbus' logos. was later relegated to training duties. Ran Harper Below left:
The AF class, a small batch of vehicles diverted to
LeSS from Western Welsh in 1972. were all
withdrawn from passenger service by October.
AF5 ekes out its last days on route 409 at Purley in
June. Co/in Fradd Below right: DMS641 was
amongst the majority of the class to be delicensed
before the close of the year. Cofin Fradd

67
'-

..

----

Top: Deliveryof the TLclass commenced in June after teething problems hadbeen solved with the manufacturers.
These vehicles departed from the previous classic bopywork design hitherto associated with Green Line. Guy
Brigden Centre: Whereas most TLs had their 'Tiger' badges removed for secure storage at Reigate soon after
delivery. TL8 is seen here at Ewell during August with the distinctive emblem still affixed to its grille. Guy Brigden
Bottom: The first six Tigers received 'Flightline' livery for route 757. TL6 was captured at Eccleston Bridge
demonstrating problems of legibility caused by the novel installation of the blind box inside the vehicle behind the
curved windscreen. John Barnacle

68

have commenced in February, but was

delayed until June and not completed until
November. To someextent this wascaused
by a strike at the chassismanufacturers but
there were also design problems with the
bodies which necessitated each vehicle
being modified before delivery, some
being dealt with by Wadham Stringer.
Motor Transport had reported that all
deliveries of the ECW coach body had
been taken out of service by May due to
the discovery of cracks in the boot area.
Other operators' examples had been
returned to ECW for modifications and
gradually returned to service during the
summer. Almost all of the NBC's 1982
coach order was, unusually, bodied by
Eastern Coach Works, probably for political reasons. Certainly London Country
lost no chance in returning to one of its
normal suppliers for 1983 deliveries. The
class designation was TL; the first thirty
numerically were 49-seaters with luggage
pens for stage carriage work and the last
twelve 53-seaters for coaching, proposals
for a more comfortable 46-seat variant
having unfortunately
been dropped.
Unlike previous practice, these vehicles
were leased direct from Leyland.
The Tiger chassis first appeared in 1980
and differed from its predecessor, the
Leopard, principally by incorporating air
suspension, the turbocharged TLll engine
and a front-mounted radiator. As with the
LR, the design produced a steady ride
enhanced by a smooth gearchange and
good roadholding, though some drivers
found the steering a little heavy. Performance was excellent, hill climbing being
especially impressive, while interior noise
levels were acceptable under all conditions. Ferodo retarders were fitted, as
indicated by small advertisements in the
rear windows. Cab layout was very similar
to that of the LR and a noticeable feature
was the small size of the steering wheel,
only eighteen inches in diameter. A minor
modification effected by LCBS was to
exchange the positions of the cab light and
demister switches to bring the former to
the front of the row. The location of the
offside driving mirror was adjusted to
obviate a blind spot and a switch was fitted
in the conventional position, adjacent to
the stairwell, to enable the driver to close
the doors after leaving the vehicle.
Design of the body was based on one
produced in the early 1970s for the Bristol
RELH chassis but was completely restyled
and notable for its clean lines. The front
windscreen extended up to the roofline
and the blind box was positioned behind it,
an unusual location which Leyland claimed
would not be subject to undue reflection
problems. Tinted glazing for the side windows was a new feature for Green Line
travellers and was successful in cutting
down the heat of direct sunlight without
rendering a bright day dull to those inside.
Much use was made of fibreglass in the
construction of various body panels and
interior fittings including a curved screen
behind the steps which somewhat spoiled
the inviting aspect of the entrance area by
constricting access to the rest of the vehicle. Seats were of a design new to London

Country with fixed cushions and were

upholstered in the standard autumnal yellow, brown, orange and black shades (as
used on the LRs and many other NBC
vehicles). Ashtrays were embodied in the
seat backs facing the last five rows of
passengers with overhead luggage racks
carrying individual air vents and effective
reading lights. The ECW design of roofmounted emergency exit was soon modified to form one of four normal rooflights.
Simulated wood interior panelling was
restricted to the sides beneath window
level.
External livery was very similar to that
of DL3-8, with the broad green band
relieved by two narrow white lines. A
departure from the standard colour scheme
was the use of black paint to distinguish the
spigot mounted wheels, this applying also
to the LRs and, from 1982, to the DVs.
There was little ornamentation as chrome
trim was restricted to a thin line either side
of a black strip above the side windows,
whilst the lower edge of the green area was
delineated by a white moulding strip with a
black line inset. The overall impression
was perhaps less luxurious than that of the
previous coaches but the TL class offered
no less comfort and introduced some significant advances.
Which garages were to receive the new
coaches was determined largely by the
distribution of the 1977 batches of RSs and
RBs which were due for replacement by
TLs as their leases expired. Before withdrawals had commenced, St. Albans had
had twelve RSs and Reigate three, Windsor eight of the RBs, Amersham two and
Northfleet five. St. Albans had already lost
RS1 and 2 in December 1981 and RS4-8
were taken out of service the next month
ready for the extensive refurbishing
required under the terms of the leasing
arrangements. RSs borrowed from Guildford and Hatfield, plus RBs from Addlestone, Dartford, Dunton Green and Harlow, helped sundry SNBs and RPs to plug
gaps but this procedure could not be
extended indefinitely and the leases on
most of the 1977 coaches still in service
were extended by one to five months
terminating between the end of August
and the end of October. Eventually, the
replacement programme got under way in
July when the first TLs at last entered
service. TLl-6 carried special FLIGHTLINE 757 lettering in yellow and white on
the front, sides and rear; the fleetname
appearing over the front wheel arches in
small lettering. After St. Albans had
receivea these vehicles, subsequent 49seaters were allocated, as far as possible,
on the basis of one pair at a time to
Reigate, Windsor and St. Albans, total
allocations of this variant reaching seven,
ten and thirteen respectively. 53-seaters
also helped replace earlier coaches,
accounting for five of the seven sent to
Northfleet; Reigate had four of these and
Leatherhead one. A complication in the
RS/RB replacement programme was that
the first examples due fori refurbishing in
July were at Reigate and Windsor, thus
TLl-6 displaced RS10 and 11 to Reigate
and RB61, 80 and 82 to Windsor. One of

Top: TL17, photographed at Surbiton on route 727, unusually followed other NBC operators' practice in displaying
the corporate identity symbol in place of the Tiger'. Stephen Madden Centre: 'Flightline' livery had also been
applied to two DLs earlier in the year for new route 767 introduced in January. An interesting comparison between
this and the 'Jetlink 747' livery is offered here at Heathrow. S. J. Clark Bottom: Furtherinterest was added in May
when vehiclesused on a new 773 service receivedpale blue 'Sealine' insignia.The only LondonCountry vehicle so
treated, RS148, stands in the heart of 'C-line' territory. Co/in Fradd

69

.~~
,.

the vehicles in turn released from Reigate

was RBI6, which had been taken into
Works from Windsor (where it had last
worked in July 1979) for refurbishing, but
was reallocated for coach duties in May.
However, it saw little further service.
Another complication was that Amersham's RB24 and 25 were replaced by RBs
from Windsor rather than TLs directly.
Replacement of the RSs ended in September with the withdrawal of RS14 and 15,
and the last RBs went in October (RB26,
29 and 30), but the appearance of the final
six TLs was delayed by additional body
modifications until November (these were
TL12, 22, 24, 40-42). By this time the
various garages which had loaned coaches
had received replacements--only Dunton
Green and Hatfield actually regained their
own vehicles-with
the exception of
Addlestone, whose RB90 remained at St.
Albans.
Vehicles released, apart from the foregoing, included four RSs for Hemel Hempstead (three replacing RPs on the DoE
contract, one for coach work); one RS and
one SNB for route 796 at Stevenage; one
RS and one P for Crawley (replacing an
SNB on route 777 duplication and for
private hire respectively); and the PL from
Leatherhead was made available for route
762, though was not in the event needed
until 1983. At Northfleet the increase in
coaches available for route 720 was most
welcome since the operation had grown to
require ten coaches on weekdays by the
end of the year. The temporary withdrawal
of DL6 owing to fire damage in July did

70

not help; the remains were sent to Leyland

at Aldenham for reclamation with a view
to rebodying. Since one RS had been saved
at Grays, RSI44 was transferred across to
Northfleet as a substitute but was itself
replaced by a TL and, as mentioned above,
passed to Stevenage in November. Completion of the whole programme resulted in
all RSs being removed from Reigate and
St. Albans and all RBs from Northfleet,
though Reigate retained one P, St. Albans
five RBs and, of course, Stevenage had the

one RS. Despite the net increase of twelve

luxury coaches, the change of emphasis
from bus to Green Line operation meant
that a need for twenty more such vehicles
could be identified. Negotiations to extend
the leases on the remaining RSs and RBs
therefore began in order to increase the
proportion of coaches in the fleet.
In the meantime, SNBs and RPs
remained to cover the shortfall and, as a
result, RP withdrawals were negligible,
with the four licensed examples taken. out

5" ..
,"

Top: Early members of both the RB and RS classes. originally delivered in 1977. were returned to the KirkbyCentral
Organisation following protracted refurbishing by London Country throughout the summer. RS12 at Victoria. S. J.
Butler Bottom: Hemel Hempstead's entire RP allocation was removed late in the year. RP54. which was later
transferred to Northfleet. loads up in the town centre on a rare bus working. Ran Harper

--

.i
(

t~ t:

----

Above: BL11. latterly used as a ferry bus for route 757 drivers, habitually displayed its running number in the route
number blind box. Guy Brigden Below: Mobile Uniform Issue Unit 581J, formerly RLH44. was withdrawn in
February but subsequently acted as temporary offices at Stevenage where it is seen two months later. Trevor
Whelan

of passenger service being balanced by the

reinstatement of a similar number from
storage, Allocations at Addlestone, Dorking and Guildford ~emained virtually intact
with Guildford losing just one upon the
receipt of an RS from Reigate to replace
one loaned to St. Albans, Windsor,
however, had its staff bus RP replaced by
an SNB and, as already noted, Hemel
Hempstead lost its allocation in November. One of the latter was, by that time,
already defunct but RP7 was re-engined

and sent to Harlow whilst RP54 reappeared at Northfleet, where RPs had not
operated before, As with three surburban
coach SNBs allocated for the purpose
during the summer, it ran on routes 725
and 726 on weekdays to release coaches for
the more discriminating users of the 720,
Moving to the North-East area, St. Albans
gained two reinstated RPs in the first
quarter of the year to release a fare boxequipped SNB for Stevenage and help
operate schools journeys required after

Easter pending the 24th April programme.

Subsequently, they were retained to facilitate duplication on routes 84 and 757,
though only RP20 was still active at the end
of the year. Hertford regained an allocation, which included two reinstated vehicles, as extra engineering spares but the
last left in September; their trainer RP50
was withdrawn officially in November following a period of disuse. Most of the
supernumary RPs gravitated to Harlow
which succeeded in finishing the year with
more of these vehicles than it had had at
the start. Included was reinstated RP39,
last to carry the 1973-type Green Line
livery in service. It is worthy of note that
route 702 was officially rescheduled for
RP/SNC operation from 4th December
since the same vehicles worked route 339
Express and the RBs were fully occupied
with other Green Line work.
The few surviving members of the BL
and BN classes faced further withdrawals,
starting in January with the pair at Northfleet (BN61 and 62) retained for route 491
until approval for SNB operation was
obtained. April withdrawals comprised
BN56 at Amersham (service reductions)
and BN55, 63, 64 and 65 at St. Albans
(SNB conversion of all but two runnings);
BU1, the ferry bus for route 757, was also
taken out of service in April, as was
Dunton Green's trainer BU in May. The
position remained stable for the remainder
of the year, Amersham retaining five BNs
and St. Albans two, accompanied in each
case by a BL trainer, though the St. Albans
vehicles tended to be used as ferry buses as
much as in passenger service.

.1.)

.;.

71

--

...

1I

,.-,o,.

[d
,

ft.

'

...

..,

"

"~

4""

Above: In direct replacement for 581 J. LNB57 underwent extensive interior modifications and gained a distinctive
new livery. J. G. S. Smith Below: Another stalwart vehicle withdrawn during 1982 was RF79. the Leatherhead
tow-bus. illustrated here at its home base some time before. Guy Brigden

--

--

---

--

Below: The last dual-purpose-liveried National SNC191. was overhauled in August. It is depicted here leaving
Staines two months earlier. Stephen Madden

72

The oldest buses to be withdrawn both

originated in the 1950s and owed their
longevity to their conversion to service
vehicles. First was 5811, formerly RLH44,
which had acted as a mobile uniform issue
unit since 1971. After withdrawal in February, it was moved to Stevenage to provide
temporary office accommodation during
rebuilding. The other was towing vehicle
RF79 which had been based at Leatherhead until withdrawal in May. The replacement for 5811 was LNB57, licensed in
February after a rebuild at the Central
Works incorporating a counter, measuring
area, changing cubicles and storage space.
Its green and yellow livery was the same as
that of the two LNs converted to mobile
instruction units the previous year; of
these, LN3 was licensed in September but
LN1 remained in store.
Another interesting conversion was that
of a pair of ANs to open top configuration
for operation under contract to London
Transport on the Round London Sightseeing Tour. The contract called for one
closed top bus to operate from March
onwards, together with two open toppers
from May to the end of October. MCW
bodied vehicles were selected, AN106, 110
and 116 being contributed by Godstone
and AN109 by Reigate. Ultimate replacements were LRs but immediate cover was
provided by spare SNBs, two directly, and
two releasing double deckers, AN16 from
Watford and AN240 from Grays, for temporary use at Godstone. AN106 and 110
were despatched to Midland Red for open
top conversion-during
which weatherproof secondhand seating replaced the
original seats upstairs-and
all four were
repainted red by London Country with
grey wheels and, in the case of the open
toppers only. white relief. All were allocated to Leatherhead where the garage
code 'LT was applied. Needless to say,
they were very occasionally pressed into
service on London Country's own routes
and. for example. one of the open toppers
appeared on route 714 during the rail strike
(as. indeed, did RMC4!).
Less drastic livery variations to occur
during the year affected some of the coach
fleet, starting with DL3 and 4, upon their
transfer to Addlestone from the SouthEast area in January to inaugurate route
767. Appropriate FLIGHTLINE lettering
was applied in much the same way as
already described for TLl-6, though the
places served were detailed in white rather
than black. Two Alder Valley Plaxtonbodied Leopards, numbers 92 and 93,
received the same treatment but retained
red as the relief colour. Unlike the vehicles
on route 777, those on route 767 displayed
only the fleetname of the owning company,
whilst Southdown coaches 1342 and 1343
acquired FLIGHTLINE livery, complete
with gold lower sections, but with the two
fleetnames in equal sized lettering. For the
augmentation of the service, no further
Green Line vehicles were so treated.
However, RS148 had pale blue SEALINE
773 insignia applied to match the Duple
bodied. Leopards used by Southdown on
that service. At St. Albans the three gold
RBs had the special lettering for route 757

.-

-i'
I

painted out but gained the small FLIGHTLINE 757 stickers attached to most of the
RSs and RBs at the garage earlier in the
year.
One livery variation carried by Leyland
Nationals disappeared during 1982, namely
the half green, half white dual purpose or
local coach colour scheme. SNC191 was
the last of the class to carry this livery; it
was taken in for overhaul in August after
attention at the Northern Area Works
having last operated from Windsor. All
overhauls concerned this type of vehicle
and the rate of output showed a gradual
decline from eight per month in January to
four in August, during which period fortythree in the SNB128-189 range were
outshopped, then stopped altogether with
the exception of a solitary vehicle in
October. This was significantly less than
programmed, partly because the amount of
work necessary to refurbish the RSs and
RBs to the required standard was much
greater than anticipated, and caused
serious problems. During the course of the
year, every vehicle had to be presented for
an annual Freedom From Defect (FFD)
test, a statutory requirement from 1982, to
establish anniversary dates for tests in
subsequent years, under EEC law. (The
FFD test, together with the granting of a
Certificate of Initial Fitness to each vehicle
when new, replaced the Certificate of
Fitness valid for a variable number of years
depending on the age and condition of the
vehicle.) Whilst overhauled SNBs were
tested on completion, so few were produced that the burden of preparing vehicles for testing fell more heavily at garage
level than was desirable. Some work was
passed to other concerns, notably the
refurbishing of RB20- 22, 24, 25 and 27 to
Midland Red and the overhaul of SNB202
to APT, whilst certain SNBs were prepared for FFD tests by United Counties.

More importantly, a rise in costs of 14%

was attributed to the extra workload, and
the attainment of reliability targets started
to cause difficulty for the first time since
1978. Incidentally, SNB165 missed its
overhaul as it was prepared for its FFD test
at its home garage, Dorking, in January
instead. To assist in providing cover for
buses out of service for test preparation,
SNB174 and 183 became Northern Area
float vehicles after overhaul in August;
further SNBs were overhauled in November and December, but retained at the
Works to form a 'Central Pool' for similar
use in 1983, in anticipation that the Works
would take on a much more ambitious
share of the test preparation/overhauling.
Works repaints in 1982 consisted mainly
of AN31-134, earlier members of the class
being excluded in anticipation of the conversion of some to trainers and possible
withdrawal of others within the next year
or two as further LRs joined the fleet.
ANI6, however, received a repaint while
at Godstone and Dunton Green's AN26
was also so treated. In December a Works
repaint programme for coaches commenced, RS31, 35-37 and 41 plus P12
being dealt with that month. Heater modifications to the first 120 ANs also progressed.
There was an increase in the number of
buses carrying special advertising liveries,
starting with AN92 at Hertford in January
as a UniBus for the Waltham Abbey
Building Society. Its colour scheme consisted of blue lettering and black logos on a
white band. The vehicle had not been used
in service since April 1981 although its
overhaul had been completed in August of
that year. Hertford gained another UniBus
in July, this time a second one for the
long-established Waltham Cross furnishing
store, Fishpools. Colours used on the
vehicle, ANU5, were red and black on

yellow. One more existing advertiser to

commission an extra bus was Telepages,
though instead of a yellow background
SNB518 was given a white band with most
of the lettering in yellow outlined in black.
It re-entered service after repainting in
August at Addlestone. Two Leyland
Nationals already in Telepages livery were
reallocated. SNC119 temporarily from St.
Albans to Hemel Hempstead between
February and July, and SNBI00 permanently from Reigate to Dorking in
April.
The next new scheme to appear was on
ColorBus (all over advertisement) AN293
at Stevenage, painted dark blue for Provident Mutual Life Assurance. Lettering was
mainly in light green and pale blue. Stevenage residents were treated to a second
advertising livery from November, when
AN263 received a UniBus scheme with
mauve and black lettering on a white band
for Wallspan bedroom furniture. Last to
appear, a ColorBus, was AN50 in late
November in a new livery for Imperial Life
Assurance. The background was white,
with the roof, upper deck window surrounds and a narrow, lower skirt in blue,
most of the colour being provided by a six
shade rainbow and drawings of a family
(and dog). AN50 was allocated to Guildford in place of AN5, in use as an Imperial
Life advertisement since 1978. as the older
bus was wanted for conversion to a trainer.
In the event AN5 remained at Guildford
for the rest of the year standing in for
another AN under repair. There were only
two advertising buses restored to normal
livery in 1982, LNB56 (Hemel Hempstead
Building Society) in February and AN226
(Barratt Homes) in November. the latter
receiving a Works repaint out of sequence.
Vehicle orders for 1983 consisted of a
further fifteen Leyland Olympians and
forty-five Tiger coaches with Duple bodies.

r
I

"--

L--...
I

.. '..c-r

1-I1- ':\

AN1 was temporarily loaned to

both Hatfield and Hertford garages during the year, prior to its
conversion into a driver-training
vehicle. It is seen alongside a
more usual HG inmate at the
Bircherley Green bus station in
August. both of them operating
a route which consolidated its
double-deck
workings
that
same month. S. J. Butler

73

Summary of
London Country
Vehieles
New Vehicles
Leyland ONTLl1l1R Roe H72F: LRl-30 (TPO 101-130X)
Leyland TRCTLl1l2R ECW C49F: TLl-30 (TPC 101-111X, WPH 112Y, TPC 113-114X, WPH 115-130Y)
Leyland TRCTLl1l2R ECW C53F: TL31-42 (WPH 131-142Y)

Total:
Total:
Total:
Total new deliveries:

30
30
12
72

Vehicle Disposals
XF
3
AF
1,4,7, 11
BL
2
BN
33, 42, 43, 44, 52, 61
OMS
630, 633, 641, 643, 654
RS'
1-15
RB'
16-30
, Returned off lease to Kirkby-Kingsforth

Total: I
Total: 4
Total: I
Total: 6
Total: 5
Total: '15
Total: 15

Vehicles written off

XF
6
On loan to International Wreckers, Hertford

Total:

Net disposals: 48
Specification
changes
Upseated to C53F: RS31, 35, 36, 37,108,110,112,144,
RB63, 105,
Tachographs were fitted to approximately 215 vehicles early in the year for use on private hire work to comply with EEC regulations, All new vehicles
were so equipped before delivery,

Initial allocations of new vehicles

Garage
SA

Vehicles
LRl-5, 7, 9, 10, 15, 17, 19

Dates to service

LH
RG
GO
SA
RG
WR
NF
LH

LR6, 11, 12
LR8, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20
LR21-30
TLl-6, 12-14, 17,20,24,27
TL7, 8, 11,21,22,25,26,31,35,36,39
TL9, 10, 15, 16, 18, 19,23, 28, 29, 30
TL32, 33, 34, 37, 38, 40', 41,
TL42

May
May and June
June and July
July-November
July-November
July-September
August-November
November

, TL40

74

April and May

first licensed at RG but moved to Northfleet for service,

Types displaced
AN, BN, RP and additional requirement
Additional requirement
AN and additional requirement
AF,AN
RS, RP, BN
RS,RB,P
RB
RB and additional requirement
PL

....--

Left: The V'valtham Abbey Building Society

sponsored a UniBus which took to the road
in January. The vehicle concerned, AN92, is
depicted at Bircherley Green, Hertford,
some time afterwards. J. G. S. Smith

Right: A revised UniBus livery for Fishpools

was applied to AN115 in July, eventually to
replace the original. AN105. although both
continued to run from Hertford for the remainder of the year. Oavid Stewart

Left: AN263 appeared late in the year in a

UniBus scheme for Wallspan bedroom furniture. operating from Stevenage garage. Paul
Oabrowski

75

--