London Transport in the 1980s

Book excerpt: The 1980s were a decade of change for London Transport. The last of the RTs and RFs were withdrawn during 1979 and during the 1980s the first large-scale withdrawal of Routemasters commenced, although many of these were to find a second career outside London as they became preferred vehicles by operators keen to acquire a competitive edge in the brave new world of Deregulation. London, too, witnessed revolution; not quite as dramatic as Deregulation but equally significant for the provision of bus services was the 1984 London Regional Transport Act. This separated London Transport from direct responsibility for running services and allowed for the process of franchising and privatisation that was to result in myriad operators - such as Kentish Bus - acquiring operations in the Metropolis and a break, for a brief period, from the predominantly red livery that had adorned London buses since the creation of the LPTB. In terms of vehicle acquisitions, the policy of acquiring vehicles specifically designed for operation in London ceased and, during the decade, many 'off the peg' designs were introduced both by the London Buses operational units and by the new entrants into the market. These included models produced by Dennis, Leyland, Volvo and Scania; some were to prove successful while others less so. In this informative new volume, Michael Baker details the history of public transport during the 1980s, to provide a concise overview of this period of dramatic and turbulent change for London Transport.