London General is a bus company operating in

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness Greatness is a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person or object in a particular place or area. Greatness can also be attributed to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than al ...

. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group 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 Buses have been used as a mode of public transport in London since 1829, when George Shillibeer started operating a horse-drawn ''omnibus'' service from Paddington to the City of London. In the decades since their introduction, the red London b ...

between 1855 and 1933.

History

The modern-day London General commenced operating on 1 April 1989 when London Buses was divided into 11 separate business units. Its original logo being an omnibus in reflection of the name's history. In 1994 the company was sold in a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena o ...

, before being sold to the Go-Ahead Group for £46 million in May 1996. 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. In October 2009, Go-Ahead completed the purchase of East Thames Buses from Transport for London and incorporated it 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. In March 2012, First London's Northumberland Park garage was purchased. On 1 April 2014, the London operations of Metrobus depots in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an exten ...

and

Orpington Orpington is a town and area in south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross. On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St ...

were integrated into London General. On 25 April 2014, the

Vehicle and Operator Services Agency Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) was an executive agency granted trading fund status in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Transport of the United Kingdom Government. It was announced on 20 June 2013 that VOSA would ...

formally increased London General's licence to accommodate the Metrobus buses. However, as at September 2014, the buses continued to carry Metrobus branding.

Garages

London General operates 9 bus garages.

Sutton (A)

As at February 2020, Sutton garage operate routes 80, 93,

151 Year 151 ( CLI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Condianus and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 904 ''Ab urbe con ...

154 Year 154 ( CLIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Lateranus (or, less frequently, year 907 ''Ab urbe cond ...

and

213 Year 213 ( CCXIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Calvinus (or, less frequently, year 966 ''Ab urbe cond ...

.
Go-Ahead London

History

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 London Underground, 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 Colliers Wood is an area in south west London, England, in the London Borough of Merton. It is a mostly residential area, but has a busy high street around Colliers Wood tube station on London Underground's Northern line. The high street is p ...

(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, including 10 buses subcontracted to

Surrey County Council Surrey County Council is the county council administering certain services in the non-metropolitan county of Surrey in England. The council is composed of 81 elected councillors, and in all but one election since 1965 the Conservative Party has ...

. Sutton also helped when Carshalton garage closed in 1964.

Putney (AF)

As of March 2020,

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

garage operate routes 14, 22, 74,

209 Year 209 ( CCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Commodus and Lollianus (or, less frequently, year 962 ''Ab urbe condi ...

, 337, 378,

424 Year 424 ( CDXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Castinus and Victor (or, less frequently, year 1177 ''Ab urbe condit ...

430 __NOTOC__ Year 430 ( CDXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Valentinianus (or, less frequently, yea ...

, N22 and N74.

History

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 Putney Bridge is a Grade II listed bridge over the River Thames in west London, linking Putney on the south side with Fulham to the north. The bridge has medieval parish churches beside its abutments: St Mary's Church, Putney is built on the so ...

Garage (F), it started to receive both short and long wheelbase

AEC Routemaster The AEC Routemaster is a front-engined double-decker bus that was designed by London Transport and built by the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) and Park Royal Vehicles. The first prototype was completed in September 1954 and the last on ...

s 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.

Merton (AL)

As of May 2020, Merton garage operate routes 44, 57,

131 131 may refer to: *131 (number) *AD 131 *131 BC *131 (album), the album by Emarosa *131 (MBTA bus), the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus. For the MBTA bus, see 131 (MBTA bus). *131 (New Jersey bus) 131 may refer to: *131 (number) *AD ...

, 152,

163 Year 163 ( CLXIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laelianus and Pastor (or, less frequently, year 916 ''Ab urbe condi ...

, 164,

200 __NOTOC__ Year 200 ( CC) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 953 ''Ab ur ...

219 __NOTOC__ Year 219 ( CCXIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antonius and Sacerdos (or, less frequently, year 972 ''Ab ...

, 280 and 413. It also runs the St. Bede's School private bus services 514 and 519, which run between the

Caterham Caterham () is a town in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valley but rises to equal ...

area and the school, on behalf of

History

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 was also responsible for the maintenance of vehicles for route 200 in 1988/9 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 Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. It h ...

and the acquisition of the former pub ( King's Head, Merton) next door.

Croydon (C)

As of September 2020,

garage operate routes 119, 127, 197, 355,

359 __NOTOC__ Year 359 ( CCCLIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Eusebius and Hypatius (or, less frequently, year 1112 ' ...

, 403,

434 __NOTOC__ Year 434 ( CDXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aspar and Areobindus (or, less frequently, year 1187 ' ...

, 455, 463, S1 and X26

History

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, GoAhead took over this garage (and Croydon) from Metrobus, however the garages are still in the same place.

Orpington (MB)

As of August 2020, the Green Street Green garage operate routes 126,

138 138 may refer to: *138 (number) *138 BC *AD 138 Year 138 ( CXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Niger and Camer ...

, 162, 208,

227 Year 227 ( CCXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Senecio and Fulvius (or, less frequently, year 980 ''Ab urbe condi ...

, 233, 320,

352 Year 352 ( CCCLII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Decentius and Paulus (or, less frequently, year 1105 ''Ab urbe con ...

353 __NOTOC__ Year 353 ( CCCLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magnentius and Decentius (or, less frequently, year 110 ...

, 354,

358 Year 358 ( CCCLVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Datianus and Cerealis (or, less frequently, year 1111 ''Ab urb ...

, 654, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8, R9, R10 and

R11 R11, R-11, Meaning R11 - Rhyll Anthony, R11.ID Automobiles * BMW R 11, a German motorcycle * R-11 Refueler a military truck of the United States Air Force * Renault 11, a French family car Vessels * , a submarine of the Royal Navy * , a destr ...

History

A former farm, Green Street Green depot was for many years the only garage for all of Metrobus' London tendered routes since the award of route 61 in 1986. More recently routes have been operated from Godstone and in December 2005 a new depot was constructed in Croydon to cope with new tender awards. During mid-2005 major reconstruction started on the Green Street Green site to make improvements and provide an expansion. During these works, a temporary base was being used at

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter main line railway into London. Sevenoaks is from Charing Cross, the traditio ...

in next to the base of what was Southlands Travel.

Northumberland Park (NP)

As at March 2022, Northumberland Park garage operate routes 67, 76, 106,

153 Year 153 ( CLIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rusticus and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 906 '' Ab urbe cond ...

, 184, 212, 214, 230, 232, 357,

379 Year 379 ( CCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Ausonius and Hermogenianus (or, less frequently, year 1132 '' A ...

, 444, 456, 476,

657 __NOTOC__ Year 657 (Roman numerals, DCLVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 657 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domi ...

and W15.

History

Capital Citybus was bought out by the management team in late 1995, and subsequently by

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.First Capital. In March 2012, FirstGroup sold Northumberland Park garage, together with its route contracts, vehicles and staff to the Go-Ahead Group with it becoming part of London General. On 13 October 2017, route 257 was transferred to Stagecoach London (East London) On 2 June 2018, route 491 was transferred to

Metroline Metroline is a bus company operating services in Greater London and south Hertfordshire. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Corporation and operates services under contract to Transport for London. As at March 2021, the fleet consisted of 1,5 ...

. On 9 June 2018, route 231 was transferred to

and route 327 was transferred to Sullivan Buses.

Waterside Way (PL)

As at February 2020, Waterside Way,

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

garage operated routes 39, 485, and 493. This depot also acts as a storage for the training bus fleet.

Waterloo (RA)

Waterloo garage operates Red Arrow routes

507 __NOTOC__ Year 507 ( DVII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Anastasius and Venantius (or, less frequently, year 1260 ...

and 521.

History

The garage opened in the early 1980s as a Red Arrow garage and in the 1990s had an allocation of

s for route 11. The garage only operates Monday to Friday due to its proximity to residential properties. In June 2002. the Red Arrow

Leyland National The Leyland National is an integrally-constructed United Kingdom, British high-floor, step-floor single-decker bus manufactured in large quantities between 1972 and 1985. It was developed as a joint project between two UK nationalised industri ...

s were replaced by London's first fleet of

Mercedes-Benz Citaro The Mercedes-Benz Citaro is a single-decker, rigid or articulated bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz/ EvoBus. Introduced in 1997, the Citaro is available in a range of configurations, and is in widespread use throughout Europe and parts of Asia ...

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 Citaro The Mercedes-Benz Citaro is a single-decker, rigid or articulated bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz/ EvoBus. Introduced in 1997, the Citaro is available in a range of configurations, and is in widespread use throughout Europe and parts of Asia ...

Stockwell (SW)

As of June 2022,

Stockwell Garage Stockwell Garage is a large bus garage in Stockwell, in the London Borough of Lambeth, which opened in April 1952. At the time of construction it was Europe's largest unsupported roof span. The garage provides of unobstructed parking space a ...

operated routes 11, 77, 87, 88, 93, 118, 155, 170, G1, N11, N44, N87 and N155

History

Opened in 1952 after nearly four years of planning and building with many materials short of supply and problems re-housing residents of the houses that stood on the site. Stockwell garage is a 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 unobstructed parking space. The offices and workshops are on the edges of the garage but do not take up any of the parking space. In the first few days of operation the 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 program 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 which increased the PVR to 110 buses. In the early 1970s the Round London Sightseeing Tours moved to Stockwell. In 1984 Stockwell was chosen to conduct comparative testing on route 170, consisting of

MCW Metrobus The MCW Metrobus is a two and three-axle double-decker bus manufactured by Metro Cammell Weymann (MCW) between 1977 and 1989, with over 4,000 built. The original MkI was superseded by the MkII which had a symmetrical windscreen with an arched ...

es, Leyland Titans,

Leyland Olympian The Leyland Olympian was a 2-axle and 3-axle double-decker bus chassis manufactured by Leyland between 1980 and 1993. It was the last Leyland bus model in production. Construction The Olympian had the same chassis and running gear as t ...

Dennis Dominator The Dennis Dominator was Dennis's first rear-engined double-decker bus chassis, it was launched in 1977. History Dennis had been absent from the bus manufacturing market since the last Lolines were produced in 1967. The Dominator was d ...

s, and

Volvo Ailsa The Volvo Ailsa B55 was a front-engined double-decker bus chassis manufactured in Scotland by Ailsa, Volvo's British subsidiary in which it owned 75%, from 1974 until 1985. Versions The B55 was designed with a front-mounted engine that sti ...

s. The allocation steadied at around 120 for many years, but has increased in the last few years, partially due to taking back full control of route 11 from Waterloo garage.

Former garages

Mandela Way (MW)

As at May 2015, Mandela Way,

Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham ...

garage operate routes 1,

453 __NOTOC__ Year 453 ( CDLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Opilio and Vincomalus (or, less frequently, year 1206 ...

, 521,

624 __NOTOC__ Year 624 ( DCXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 624 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era be ...

658 __NOTOC__ Year 658 (Roman numerals, DCLVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 658 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domi ...

N1. It was included in the 2009 East Thames Buses purchase. On 28 July 2017, Mandela Way garage was closed with bus routes being transferred to other garages."New garage for Go-Ahead London" ''Buses Magazine'' issue 750 September 2017 page 24

Belvedere (BV)

As at May 2015,

Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa * Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco *Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...

garage operated routes

180 __NOTOC__ Year 180 ( CLXXX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rusticus and Condianus (or, less frequently, year 933 '' Ab ...

244 __NOTOC__ Year 244 (Roman numerals, CCXLIV) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Tiberius Pollenius Armenius Peregrinus, Arm ...

669 __NOTOC__ Year 669 ( DCLXIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 669 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

and N1.

History

Belvedere was purchased by

Harris Bus Harris Bus was an English bus operator that operated services under contract to Transport for London. History Harris Bus was established in October 1986 as bus and coach operator in Grays. In 1997 it diversified, operating routes under contra ...

in 1998 to house its operations that moved from

Crayford Crayford is a town and electoral ward in South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bexley. It lies east of Bexleyheath and north west of Dartford. Crayford was in the historic county of Kent until 1965. The settlement deve ...

. Harris Bus went into receivership in 2000, and its routes and garage were taken over by London Buses under the guise of East Thames Buses. East Thames Buses remained a subsidiary of London Buses, taking over routes from defunct operators such as London Easylink's 42 and 185 when this company ceased operating in 2002. Following the move to Mandela Way the engineering is now done there, however limited engineering facilities exist at Belvedere. In October 2009, East Thames Buses was sold to Go-Ahead London. As a result of the purchase by Go-Ahead some route and allocation movements have taken or are due to take place. Even though Belvedere was a London General Garage it operated as a satellite of

London Central London Central is a bus company operating in South London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and operates services under contract to Transport for London. History London Central commenced operating on 1 April 1989 when London Buse ...

's Bexleyheath garage. All of Belvedere's engineering and fleet and staff management was done at or organised by Bexleyheath. Belvedere Garage closed on 1 December 2017 when the lease expired. Routes 180 and N1 transferred to the recently opened Morden Wharf bus garage in Greenwich, while Routes 244 and 669 transferred to Bexleyheath.

References

External links

*
Company website
{{Go-Ahead Bus Companies Go-Ahead Group London bus operators 1989 establishments in England Putney

History

Garages

Sutton (A)

History

Putney (AF)

History

Merton (AL)

History

Croydon (C)

History

Orpington (MB)

History

Northumberland Park (NP)

History

Waterside Way (PL)

Waterloo (RA)

History

Stockwell (SW)

History

Former garages

Mandela Way (MW)

Belvedere (BV)

History

See also

References

External links