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London General

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This article is about a bus company. For the accent spoken in south-eastern England, see Estuary English.

London General
New Routemaster on route 11 at Waterloo station in November 2023
ParentGo-Ahead London
Founded1 April 1989; 35 years ago (1989-04-01)
HeadquartersMerton
Service areaGreater London
Service typeBus services
Depots9
Websitewww.goaheadlondon.com

London General Transport Services Limited, trading as Go-Ahead London, is a bus company operating in Greater London. The London General brand is a subsidiary of Go-Ahead London and operates services under contract to Transport for London. The company is named after the London General Omnibus Company, the principal operator of buses in London between 1855 and 1933.

History

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AEC Routemaster operating route 11 in June 1993

In April 1989, London Buses was divided into 11 separate business units, one of which revived the London General Omnibus Company name as London General Transport Services;[1] the new London General's original logo featured a representation of a LGOC B-type bus in reflection of the name's history.

In November 1994, London General was sold in a management buyout for £28 million (equivalent to £72,042,000 in 2023),[2][3] before being sold to the Go-Ahead Group for £46 million (equivalent to £115,566,000 in 2023) in May 1996.[4][5]

Having previously been based at London General House in Mitcham, Surrey, the company moved its offices to an address in Merton, adjacent to the Merton bus garage. In August 2008, Go-Ahead's London bus operations all adopted the Go-Ahead London trading name, although the individual company names are still applied beneath the logo on most buses.

In August 2009, Go-Ahead purchased East Thames Buses from Transport for London for £5 million, incorporating the business, consisting of two small bus garages, 133 buses and 460 employees, into London General. Although Transport for London's normal practice is to put routes out for tender, London General began a new five-year contract for all East Thames Buses routes without going through the tendering process.[6]

In March 2012, First London's Northumberland Park garage was purchased by the Go-Ahead Group for £14 million and integrated into London Central's operations.[7] On 1 April 2014, the London operations of Metrobus, based at two garages in Croydon and Orpington, were integrated into London General. On 25 April 2014, the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency formally increased London General's licence to accommodate the Metrobus buses.[8][9][10]

Garages

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London General operates nine bus garages.

Goat Road (GM)

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As of March 2024, Goat Road garage operates routes 80 (hybrid allocation only), 280 and 470. Buses are regularly shared with Merton garage.

Goat Road was opened on 25 March 2023 as a replacement for Waterside Way (PL) garage, acquired from East Thames Buses in 2009, with routes, staff and vehicles transferring from Waterside Way after London General's lease on the site expired.[11] The depot uses the code 'GM', last used for the operator's Victoria garage on Gillingham Street.

Merton (AL)

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Merton bus garage entrance from Merton High Street, July 2018

As of March 2024, Merton garage operates routes 57, 131, 152, 157, 163, 164, 200, 219, 413, 485 and 493. Some buses are regularly shared with Goat Road garage. This garage also runs the St. Bede's School private bus services 514 and 519, which run between the Caterham area and the school, on behalf of Surrey County Council.

History

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Merton was, for many years, the largest of the London General Omnibus Company's garages and continued to boast high allocations in the early days of London Transport. The garage was modernised in 1960, and again in 1991 when a new roof was fitted and various stores and welfare areas were moved to provide a larger, unobstructed parking area, which had previously been long and narrow.

Merton garage was responsible for the maintenance of vehicles for route 200 between 1988 and 1989 after the withdrawal of the Cityrama sightseeing company, whilst the route was operated from Sutton garage.

The garage has become Go-Ahead London's head office, following the sale of Raleigh House, Mitcham and the acquisition of the former pub (King's Head, Merton) next door.[citation needed]

Northumberland Park (NP)

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As of August 2024, Northumberland Park garage operates routes 67, 91, 106, 184, 212, 230, 232, 299, 357, 389, 399, 444, 456, 476, 657, N91 and W15.

History

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Located adjacent to the Northumberland Park railway station and the Victoria Line depot, Northumberland Park bus garage was opened in 1991 to house the Walthamstow Citybus operation, a subsidiary of Capital Citybus formed when the operator acquired tenders for routes operated by the collapsed London Forest LRT business unit. Capital Citybus was bought out by a management team in late 1995, and subsequently by FirstGroup in 1998, becoming First Capital.[12]

In March 2012, the FirstGroup sold Northumberland Park garage, together with its 13 Transport for London route contracts, fleet of 130 buses vehicles and around 400 staff members, to the Go-Ahead Group for £12 million, with the garage's operations integrated into London General.[7]

Putney (AF)

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Forecourt of Putney bus garage from Chelverton Road, January 2023

As of July 2023, Putney garage operates routes 14, 22, 39, 74, 209, 265, 378, 430, 533, N22, N74 and N97.

History

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With its ancestry going back to the horse bus days of the 1880s, Chelverton Road Garage was converted to a motor-bus garage in 1912. The garage is well hidden in a side road with a modest frontage, yet it has an allocation of 112. It has been modernised twice, firstly in 1935 and then again in 1985. The garage was well known for being allocated the pre-war RTs in 1940, which displaced the STLs. During the war the garage was under-utilised and was used to store de-licensed buses. Renamed Putney, in 1963, after the closure of Putney Bridge Garage (F), it started to receive both short and long wheelbase AEC Routemasters for its Central London routes. The Routemasters remained at the garage until July 2005, when both the 14 and 22 were converted to low floor one-person-operated buses.

Croydon (C)

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As of March 2024, Croydon garage operates routes 119, 127, 264, 359, 403, 434, 439, 450, 463, 633, 663, S1 and SL7. Some drivers for route 157 are based at this garage.

History

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The Beddington Lane depot was opened by Metrobus in December 2005 to house route 127 which had been surrendered early by Centra. Work was completed on the garage buildings in February 2006. This garage took over the London routes that ran from Godstone with the exception of the 146 and 246 which moved to Orpington. In April 2014, Go-Ahead London took over this garage (and Orpington) from Metrobus, however the garages are still in the same place.

Orpington (MB)

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Orpington bus garage forecourt during an open day, September 2023

As of August 2020, Orpington garage operates routes 126, 138, 162, 208, 227, 233, 320, 352, 353, 354, 358, 654, 664, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8, R9, R10 and R11.

History

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Formerly the site of Oak Farm, which was purchased, built upon and used as the base of the independent Orpington and District bus company until its collapse in February 1981,[13] Orpington depot (also known as Green Street Green) was for many years the only garage for all of Metrobus' London tendered routes since the award of route 61 in 1986. The garage expanded during this period when Metrobus purchased their neighbours, Jasons Coaches. Orpington garage was one of eventually two Metrobus garages included in the sale of Metrobus to the Go-Ahead Group in September 1999, although the Metrobus brand was retained as a separate identity to London General.[14]

During mid-2005 major reconstruction started at Green Street Green to make improvements and provide an expansion. During these works, a temporary base to house 19 buses was constructed at Sevenoaks next to the base of what was the independent Southlands Travel.[14]

On the evening of 21-22 November 2018, eleven buses were destroyed and several other buses were damaged in a fire that broke out at Orpington garage, requiring the callout of 60 London Fire Brigade firefighters to bring the fire under control. No injuries were reported and Orpington garage maintained a full service on the morning of 22 November, with numerous buses saved by being driven out onto Farnborough Way and surrounding roads.[15][16]

Stockwell (SW)

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A panoramic view of the interior of Stockwell garage, October 2013
Main article: Stockwell Garage

As of November 2023, Stockwell garage operates routes 11, 44, 77, 87, 88, 118, 155, 170, 333, 337, 424, 690, G1, N11, N44, N87 and N155.

History

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Stockwell garage opened in 1952 as part of London Transport's tram replacement programme after nearly four years of planning and building, with many construction materials short of supply in the aftermath of World War II and problems rehousing residents of the houses that stood on the site. Stockwell garage is a Grade II listed building, and when built was a masterpiece of architectural design incorporating a new roof structure that did not need supports which enabled for a 73,350-square-foot (6,814 m2) unobstructed parking space. The offices and workshops are on the edges of the garage but do not take up any of the parking spaces.[17][18]

In the first few days of operation, Stockwell garage ran just 11 buses on route 178 which had moved from Rye Lane (Peckham), but then gained more work from the next stage of the tram replacement programme for which it had been designed, but it was still well short of capacity. More work arrived in late 1953 and early 1954 when routes 77 and 77A (now 87) moved from Victoria garage due to recruitment problems, and the closure of Nunhead garage which increased the peak vehicle requirement of Stockwell to 110 buses. In the early 1970s, the Round London Sightseeing Tours moved to Stockwell.[18]

Between spring 1984 and August 1986, Stockwell operated a varied fleet of double-decker buses on route 170 as part of London Transport's Alternative Vehicle Evaluation comparative trial, aimed at finding a new standard double-decker bus type. The vehicles trialled included a pair of MCW Metrobus Mk2s, one of which was built with a Maxwell transmission while the other had a Cummins L10 transmission, three ECW-bodied Leyland Olympians, three Northern Counties-bodied Dennis Dominators and three Alexander-bodied Volvo Ailsas,[19][20] the latter being the first front-engined buses delivered to London Transport since the last Routemasters were delivered in 1968. The trial ultimately concluded in favour of the ECW-bodied Leyland Olympian, with London Transport taking delivery of a further 260 between 1986 and 1987.[18]

Sutton (A)

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Sutton bus garage from Bushey Road, April 2018

As of March 2024, Sutton garage operates routes 80 (electric allocation only), 93, 151, 154, 213 and S2.

History

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Opened by the London General Omnibus Company in January 1924 at cost of £30,000, Sutton garage had a capacity for 100 buses. During its early years, less than half of the garage was put to use, holding only 40 buses by 1926. This would change somewhat by the extension of the Underground to Morden and major house-building projects in the area.

Between 1945 and 1953, it had an allocation of exactly 100 relaxed-Utility Daimlers (classed as Ds) numbered from D182 - D281. By 1952, the garage had 128 buses allocated, achieved mainly by parking buses in surrounding streets. However, this would soon fall again, to 100 in 1966, 82 in 1976 and 62 in 1987.

The garage passed to the reborn London General bus company in the run-up to privatisation in 1985. Sutton Garage also partly took control of route 200 at a yard in Colliers Wood (AA) in 1989, after Cityrama withdrew from their contract. Sutton was responsible for providing drivers for the service, whilst Merton garage were contracted to do the maintenance. By 1994, the garage allocation had grown to 85 buses and again to 92 in 2001.

Waterloo (RA)

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Buses for route SL6 at Waterloo garage, April 2024

As of July 2023, Waterloo garage operates routes 153 and 214. After the morning services for route SL6, the buses for this route are taken to this garage, where they are cleaned for the evening services.[21]

History

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The garage opened in the early 1980s as a Red Arrow garage and in the 1990s had an allocation of AEC Routemasters for route 11. The garage only operates Monday to Friday due to its proximity to residential properties.

In June 2002. the Red Arrow Leyland Nationals were replaced by London's first fleet of Mercedes-Benz Citaro articulated buses. Because of the extra space required to stable these, the route 11 Routemasters were transferred to Stockwell garage. In September 2009 the articulated fleet was replaced by Mercedes-Benz O530 Citaros. On 29 April 2023, routes 507 and 521 were withdrawn.

Former garages

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London General previously had four[dubious – discuss] bus garages - Mandela Way (MW), Waterside Way (PL) and Belvedere (BV). Mandela Way and Belvedere were included in the 2009 East Thames Buses purchase. In 2017, these bus garages were closed.[22][23] Waterside Way (PL) garage was temporarily closed from 25 March 2023 to 28 June 2023, but re-opened only for the commercial bus fleet and the University of Roehampton bus fleet.

Victoria (GM)

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Eastern Scottish express coaches parked at Victoria garage, April 1966

Victoria bus garage, located on Gillingham Street, opened in March 1940.[24] As well as being used for regular bus services by London Transport and successor London General, serving as the only bus garage in central London, Victoria garage was also used by several express coach operators from across the United Kingdom to store their vehicles between services to and from the nearby Victoria Coach Station.[25]

In May 1993, London General announced it was closing Victoria garage due to the financial impact of the loss of routes at the garage. At the time, Victoria garage operated routes 11, 22, 52, 344, N11 and N19 with a fleet of 65 buses, having recently lost tenders for routes 19 and C2.[26] The garage was eventually demolished for redevelopment in 1999.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "LRT launches 11 fleets for dereg". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 6 April 1989. p. 20. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  2. ^ Eadie, Alison (4 November 1994). "Sold: the Clapham omnibus". The Independent. London. p. 33. Retrieved 7 November 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "LBL companies sold". Coach & Bus Week. No. 142. Peterborough: Emap. 12 November 1994. p. 6.
  4. ^ "London General sell to Go-Ahead". Bus & Coach Buyer. No. 360. Spalding: Glen-Holland Limited. 31 May 1996. p. 2. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  5. ^ "Annual Report year ended 29 June 1996" (PDF). Go-Ahead Group. 19 September 1996. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  6. ^ "Go-Ahead buys East Thames Buses". Bus & Coach Professional. 3 August 2009. Archived from the original on 24 May 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Go-Ahead to buy First's Northumberland Park Depot". Coach & Bus Week. Peterborough. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  8. ^ "Go-Ahead London welcomes Metrobus garages into fold". Bus Talk. No. 27. Go-Ahead London. April 2014. p. 2. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  9. ^ "Metrobus within Go-Ahead London". The London Bus. No. 598. London Omnibus Traction Society. June 2014. p. 7.
  10. ^ "Go-Ahead London". Buses. No. 713. Stamford: Key Publishing. August 2014. p. 71.
  11. ^ "Welcome to the family" (PDF). Bus Talk. No. 74. Go-Ahead London. Spring 2023. p. 25. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  12. ^ Lyons, Mark (2020). "London bus garages: Northumberland Park". The London Bus. Vol. 7. Stamford: Key Publishing. pp. 36–40.
  13. ^ Millier, Noel (26 May 1984). "Private operators who believe in service". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. p. 61. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  14. ^ a b Lyons, Mark (2023). "London bus garages: Orpington". The London Bus. Vol. 10. Stamford: Key Publishing. pp. 94–99.
  15. ^ "Orpington fire: 'huge' explosions heard at London bus garage". The Guardian. London. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  16. ^ "Orpington bus depot fire destroys vehicles". Coach & Bus Week. Peterborough. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  17. ^ "New Garage for 200 Buses". The Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 23 October 1953. p. 66. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  18. ^ a b c Lyons, Mark (2022). "London bus garages: Stockwell". The London Bus. Vol. 9. Stamford: Key Publishing. pp. 16–21.
  19. ^ "LT's off-the-peg buses". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 30 July 1983. p. 16. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  20. ^ "Volvo deckers arrive in London". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 16 June 1984. p. 19. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  21. ^ Lyons, Mark (October 2023). "Superloop and night bus expansion in the suburbs but 168 withdrawn". Buses. No. 823. Stamford: Key Publishing. p. 20. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  22. ^ "Mandela Way garage has closed its gates, after nearly 10 years" (Press release). Go-Ahead London. August 2017. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  23. ^ Lyons, Mark (September 2017). "New garage for Go-Ahead London". Buses. No. 750. Stamford: Key Publishing. p. 24.
  24. ^ "One hears". The Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 30 March 1940. p. 23. Retrieved 7 November 2024. That London Transport's first combined coach and bus garage in Inner London was opened last week in Gillingham Street, close to Victoria Station.
  25. ^ "Garage space". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 4 May 1985. p. 21. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  26. ^ Dennard, Lucy (5 May 1993). "Bus garage to close in financial shake-up". Westminster and Pimlico News. p. 5. Retrieved 7 November 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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