Buses in London

This article is a general one on buses in London. For a specific article on the organisation responsible for running most buses in London, see London Buses.

The London Bus is one of London's principal icons, with the architypical red, rear entrance, double deck, Routemaster bus being recognised world-wide.

History

Buses have been used on the streets of London since 1829, when George Shillibeer started operating his horse drawn omnibus service from Paddington to the city. The London General Omnibus Company or LGOC was founded in 1855 to amalgamate and regulate the horse-drawn omnibus services then operating in London. LGOC began using motor omnibuses, which it built itself, in 1910.

In 1912 the Underground Group, which at that time owned most of the London Underground, bought the LGOC. In 1933 the LGOC, along with the rest of the Underground Group, became part of the new London Transport Executive. The name London General fell into disuse, and London Transport instead became synonymous with the red London bus.

Operation

Local Buses

Local buses within London form a network managed by London Buses, an arm of Transport for London, although most services are actually operated by private sector operators operating under contract to London Buses. All such buses are painted in a largely red colour scheme, with only minor variations and logos to distinguish the operator in question, and operate the same fare regime.

Although the rear entrance, double deck Routemaster is the architypical London bus, their numbers are now reducing quite quickly due to their age, inability to easily accept wheelchairs or baby transports, and requirement for a two man crew. The first Routemaster built (RM1) was 50 years old in 2004. There is talk of retaining a single Routemaster operated route as a working heritage service, akin to San Francisco Muni's line F heritage streetcars.

Most local bus services are now operated by modern low floor buses, which may single-deck, double-deck, or one of the new type of articulated buses, locally called bendy buses. With the introduction of the London Congestion Charge in central London and because at peak times the Underground is operating at maximum capacity, many bus service improvements have been undertaken, and central bus services are currently enjoying something of a resurgance.

Some local bus routes in the outer areas of London do cross the London boundary. London Buses services which cross the boundary will be standard red buses and accept London fares, at least within the boundary. Buses from outside London which cross into London will be in their operators own colour schemes, and may not accept London fares even within the boundary.

Night buses

Night buses were introduced to London the early 1980s and also form part of the London Buses network. Originally they had their own (premium) fare structure and all the routes were distinguished by an N prefixed route number, for example the N21 running to Foots Cray or the N29 to Winchmore Hill and Enfield. Most night bus services operate from a central London terminus in Trafalgar Square.

More recently, under the influence of the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, night buses have adopted the standard London bus fares. Some daytime bus routes have also started operating 24 hours a day, using the same (non-N prefixed) route number throughout the day and night. All night buses (whether on N-prefixed routes or 24-hour routes) are standard red buses.

Tour buses

A common sight in central London are the open-top buses (i.e. double-decker buses with an open upper deck) which provide tourist services with either live or recorded commentary. Most of these services allow passengers to embark and disembark at chosen stops along their route, continuing their journey on a later bus. There are several competing operators of such services and, although at least one paints their buses in the same red as London's local buses, they have no connection with London Buses. Fares are set by the operators and usually involve a flat fee for a day (or multiple days) usage; there is no need to pre-book and tickets can be bought from the driver and/or bus stop ticket sellers.

Other more formally organised tours use luxury buses (coaches in UK English) and in general need to be booked in advance through travel agents.

Long distance buses

Again normally called coaches in local usage, long distance buses link London with the rest of the UK and with other cities in Europe. Most of these services are run by National Express and their European affiliate Eurolines. National Express's predominantly white vehicles are common on the roads of central London, on their way to and from their terminus at Victoria Coach Station.

Recently competition for long distance traffic has been introduced by Megabus, a subsidiary of the large UK bus operating company Stagecoach. This company operates cheap services aimed at students and the like, which must be booked in advance on the web.

Other coach services link London to more medium distance destinations, and unlike National Express or Megabus provide walk-on fares. A good example of this are the services to the city of Oxford, where Stagecoach's frequent Oxford Tube service competes with a similar service from Go-Ahead's Oxford Bus Company and the less frequent but cheaper service from its sister company Megabus.

Airport buses

National Express is also the principal airport operator, serving Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted with its National Express Airport brand. Unlike their longer distance cousins, these services are walk-on services which serve stops throughout central London rather than running to Victoria Coach Station.

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