London General Omnibus Company
The London General Omnibus Company or LGOC, was the principal bus operator in London between its foundation in 1855 and 1933. The London General Omnibus Company was founded to amalgamate and regulate the many independent horse-drawn omnibus services then operating in London. Originally an Anglo-French enterprise, also known as the Compagnie Generale des Omnibus de Londres, the LGOC soon became the largest omnibus operator in London. It bought out hundreds of independently-owned buses and established a consistent level of service for its fleet. Within a year the LGOC controlled 600 of London's 810 omnibuses.[1]
LGOC began using motor omnibuses in 1902, and the last LGOC horse-drawn bus ran on 25 October 1911. The company began producing motor omnibuses for its own use in 1909 at works in Blackhorse Lane, Walthamstow, London. The first model built was the LGOC X-type, which was designed by Frank Searle, LGOC's chief engineer.[2][3]
In 1912 the Underground Group, which at that time owned most of the London Underground, bought the LGOC. The bus manufacturing elements went on to become the Associated Equipment Company, more commonly known by its initials AEC, whilst the bus operating elements continued to use the name London General. In 1933 the LGOC, along with the rest of the Underground Group, became part of the new London Passenger Transport Board. The name London General fell into disuse, and London Transport instead became synonymous with the red London bus.[2][4]
In the run up to the privatisation of the UK bus industry in the 1980s, London Transport created a series of shadow bus operating companies with names of geographic or historic significance, and one of these was christened London General in honour of the LGOC. The new London General was initially privatised by management buy-out, and acquired by the Go-Ahead Group in 1996.
See also
References
- ^ "From omnibus to ecobus, 1829-1850". London's Transport Museum. Retrieved July 3.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ a b "From omnibus to ecobus, 1919-1938, 4th page". London's Transport Museum. Retrieved July 3.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Thackray, Brian (2004). AEC Vehicles: Origins to 1929. Venture Publications Ltd. ISBN 1-898432-44-9
- ^ "From omnibus to ecobus, 1919-1938, 3rd page". London's Transport Museum. Retrieved July 3.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help)