Bus routes operated by private operators in London before 2000

[Mikey C]

You're probably right, although it depends whether you include commuter coaches in your definition. The only non TfL services I can think of which enters one of the London Boroughs and which is not a commuter coach are Arriva's 477 in Orpington and Stagecoach's 415 in Kingston. There are probably a handful which enter Heathrow (Carousel Coaches, Reading plus others); are there any others?

Not including commuter coaches, there are a few non TfL routes that cross over into the outer London boroughs, if you go to places like Barnet, Kingston or Uxbridge you will see non TfL buses. The frequency of these services is far less than on TfL routes like the 96 to Ebsfleet, 142 to Watford


Harry Blundred's Docklands Transit briefly operated a genuinely private service back in the late 80s (not my photo)

Blundred's minis to sail into docklands | 1st December 1988 | The Commercial Motor Archive

'Blundred's minis to sail into docklands' first printed in the 1st December 1988 issue of Commercial Motor

archive.commercialmotor.com

 

[W-on-Sea]

Sampsons and Cityrama were possibly absolutely the very worse of the tendered operators on LRT services in the early days - truly dreadful. (Although I vaguely remember seeing even grottier vehicles on the old Elmtree Transport 98b around Ruislip). Ensighbus, conversely, were excellent from day one, as they have been in every subsequent incarnation.

One thing that has changed is that the number of non-LRT/TfL services that cross the boundary of Greater London has sharply reduced, I think since 2000 or so: Romford and Enfield, for example, had lots of services into Essex and Herts operated, mostly by the successors of Eastern National and London Country. In the latter case such routes have mostly been cut back to Waltham Cross, in the latter case they have either been withdrawn entirely or cut back to Brentford or further east sill.

Then there were peculiarities like the Thames Weald minibus service, which ran from Romford to Sevenoaks via the Dartford Tunnel, but via quite a bit of the London Borough of Havering en route. I think some of the Bordabus (which replaced Upminster & District) services did outlast the introduction of the 256 (and later the 193) to the County Park Estate in Emerson Park, for a few years - I think a route along Parkstone Avenue may have been the last, but it was a very limited service.

 

[Deerfold]

Sampsons and Cityrama were possibly absolutely the very worse of the tendered operators on LRT services in the early days - truly dreadful. (Although I vaguely remember seeing even grottier vehicles on the old Elmtree Transport 98b around Ruislip). Ensighbus, conversely, were excellent from day one, as they have been in every subsequent incarnation.

One thing that has changed is that the number of non-LRT/TfL services that cross the boundary of Greater London has sharply reduced, I think since 2000 or so: Romford and Enfield, for example, had lots of services into Essex and Herts operated, mostly by the successors of Eastern National and London Country. In the latter case such routes have mostly been cut back to Waltham Cross, in the latter case they have either been withdrawn entirely or cut back to Brentford or further east sill.

Then there were peculiarities like the Thames Weald minibus service, which ran from Romford to Sevenoaks via the Dartford Tunnel, but via quite a bit of the London Borough of Havering en route. I think some of the Bordabus (which replaced Upminster & District) services did outlast the introduction of the 256 (and later the 193) to the County Park Estate in Emerson Park, for a few years - I think a route along Parkstone Avenue may have been the last, but it was a very limited service.

I remember the 310 (and 311 at the time) (Hertford to Enfield) being up to every 15 minutes, with the service being cut back in Waltham Cross in two stages. In November 2005 the non-peak 310s were cut back. In October 2006 the last few 310s and peak 311s were cut back.

 

[Statto]

Not including commuter coaches, there are a few non TfL routes that cross over into the outer London boroughs, if you go to places like Barnet, Kingston or Uxbridge you will see non TfL buses. The frequency of these services is far less than on TfL routes like the 96 to Ebsfleet, 142 to Watford


Harry Blundred's Docklands Transit briefly operated a genuinely private service back in the late 80s (not my photo)

Blundred's minis to sail into docklands | 1st December 1988 | The Commercial Motor Archive

'Blundred's minis to sail into docklands' first printed in the 1st December 1988 issue of Commercial Motor

archive.commercialmotor.com

I remember Docklands Transit operating a Liverpool Street Station-London City Airport shuttle commercial service not long after London City Airport opened

 

[duncombec]

I think the reason for many cross-boundary routes being withdrawn is a rather complex one, and what applies for one case will not have applied for others. The general transfer of these services from LLSA to LSP conditions seems to have had an effect, as do vehicle quality requirements and other conditions ranging from onerous to acceptable.

It is noticeable that TfL require 90 days notice of any service change, and thus longer than the 70 (?) days now required in the rest of England. This then goes through a "consultation", except these are not accessible via the main consultation hub, it seems, only a direct link from the LSP bulletin. This includes the renewal of a permit, additional stops, etc. I wonder how many people actually comment on a new permit for a private school service.. or what happens if the only comment in TfL land is a rejection, yet it is a local authority contracted service coming in from Hertfordshire? Could this be dispensed with and the requirement dropped to the same as everywhere else?

That's before you get to things like TfL having to produce a timetable, which they may or may not bother to actually put in the frame, or update appropriately.

A list of current LSPs (and their status through Coronavirus) is at http://content.tfl.gov.uk/lsp-bulletin.pdf. Even though there should have been a new one on 2 November, it still seems to link to the previous edition.

 

[Wolfie]

Yes it was. At that time, operators were allowed to use their own liveries with the sticker that you refer to on the front of the bus indicating that it was an LRT service.

The best known route was probably the 24 operated by Gray-Green.

Just saw philthetube's posts - read the whole thread is the lesson lol

 

[Wirewiper]

You're probably right, although it depends whether you include commuter coaches in your definition. The only non TfL services I can think of which enters one of the London Boroughs and which is not a commuter coach are Arriva's 477 in Orpington and Stagecoach's 415 in Kingston. There are probably a handful which enter Heathrow (Carousel Coaches, Reading plus others); are there any others?

There are several non-TfL routes that come into the Greater London area, especially Kingston and Uxbridge where the town centres are close to the County boundary. However this is digressing from the theme which is routes before the year 2000.