London Regional Transport (LRT) was the organisation responsible for most of the public transport network in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, between 1984 and 2000. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operational brand of the organisation was London Transport from 1989, but until then it traded as LRT. This policy was reversed after the appointment of Sir Wilfred Newton in 1989, who also abolished the recently devised LRT logo and restored the traditional roundel.

History

The LRT was created by the

London Regional Transport Act 1984 The London Regional Transport Act 1984 (1984 c. 32) was an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament which created the statutory corporation named London Regional Transport. It received royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monar ...

and was under direct state control, reporting to the

Secretary of State for Transport The Secretary of State for Transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Department for Transport. The incumbent i ...

. It took over responsibility from the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

on 29 June 1984, two years before the GLC was formally abolished. Because the Act only received the

Royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...

three days earlier, its assets were temporarily frozen by the banks as they had not received mandates to transfer. The headquarters of the new organisation remained at the former

London Transport Executive The London Transport Executive was the organisation responsible for public transport in Greater London, England between 1948 and 1962. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operational brand o ...

building at 55 Broadway. On 1 April 1985, the company was re-organised into several companies with London Regional Transport as the holding company. London Buses Limited was formed to manage the bus network and London Underground Limited the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

network, as wholly owned subsidiaries of LRT. In 1985 the operation of some bus services was put out to tender for the first time and, for a number of years, buses bearing a variety of different colour-schemes operated alongside those still operating in the traditional red livery by operators such as

Armchair Passenger Transport Armchair Passenger Transport was a bus and coach charter operator in London. History Armchair Passenger Transport was established as a coach operator in November 1960, being sold to EH Mundy in 1974. In June 1990 it became a London Regional Tra ...

Boro'line Maidstone Boro'line Maidstone, previously Maidstone Borough Council Transport was a municipal bus operator in Maidstone and the surrounding villages. Maidstone Borough Council Transport was formed in 1974 from Maidstone Corporation Transport following l ...

, Capital Citybus,

Grey-Green Grey-Green was a bus and coach operator in England. It was based in Stamford Hill and operated in London and the East of England. History Grey-Green can trace its origins back over a century to the foundation of George Ewer's horse carriage ...

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 ...

, Kentish Bus,

London Buslines London Buslines was a bus operator in London that operated services under contract to London Regional Transport, London Buses between July 1985 and March 1996. History London Buslines was formed to bid for bus services being put out to tender ...

and Metrobus. In response to the competition, LRT established low-cost business units Bexleybus and Westlink. The variety of liveries was found to be confusing to tourists and non-Londoners expecting to find red-painted buses and, after lobbying from the tourist board, in 1997 it became a requirement when contracts were retendered that bus liveries be predominantly red. In 1987, the computer services division was sold to

Cap Gemini Capgemini SE is a multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting company, headquartered in Paris, France. History Capgemini was founded by Serge Kampf in 1967 as an enterprise management and data processing company. The compa ...

for £1.3 million. On 1 April 1989 London Buses was divided into business units, in preparation for privatisation. Upon the

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the industr ...

, the

Waterloo & City line The Waterloo & City line, colloquially known as The Drain, is a London Underground shuttle line that runs between Waterloo and Bank with no intermediate stops. Its primary traffic consists of commuters from south-west London, Surrey and Hampsh ...

passed to the London Underground and LRT management on 1 April 1994. In 1994/95, the bus units were sold. LRT remained in control of public transport in London until 2 July 2000 when Transport for London, an agency of the newly created

Greater London Authority The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the metonym "City Hall", is the devolved regional governance body of Greater London. It consists of two political branches: the executive Mayoralty (currently led by Sadiq Khan) and the ...

took over responsibility under the

Greater London Authority Act 1999 The Greater London Authority Act 1999 (c. 29) is the Act of Parliament that established the Greater London Authority, the London Assembly and the Mayor of London. Background The Act was brought in after a referendum was held under the Greate ...

Fares

LRT was responsible for some modifications to the fare system, including inclusion of the separately managed British Rail services. In January 1985 the ''Capitalcard'' season ticket was launched, offering validity on British Rail as well as London Underground and London Buses. It was priced around 10-15% higher than the

Travelcard The Travelcard is an inter-modal travel ticket for unlimited use on the London Underground, London Overground, Elizabeth line, Docklands Light Railway, London Trams, London Buses and National Rail services in the Greater London area. Tr ...

. In June 1986 the ''One Day Capitalcard'' was launched. The ''Capitalcard'' brand ended in January 1989 when the Travelcard gained validity on British Rail. In January 1991 Zone 5 was split to create a new Zone 6. The

Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London, England and provides a direct connection between London's two major financial districts, Canary Wharf and the City of Lo ...

was opened on 31 August 1987 and was included in the zonal Travelcard ticketing scheme.

Chairmen

* Sir

Keith Bright Sir Keith Bright (30 August 1931 – 20 January 2021) was Chairman of London Regional Transport in the 1980s. He resigned following the Fennell Report into the King's Cross fire in 1988, that criticised the management of London Underground and L ...

, 1984–1988 * Sir Neil Shields, 1988–1989 * Sir

Wilfrid Newton Sir Charles Wilfrid Newton, CBE (11 December 1928 – 28 November 2012) was managing director of Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC) in the 1980s and London Regional Transport in the 1990s. History Charles Wilfrid Newton was b ...

, 1989–1994 * Peter Ford, 1994-1998 * Sir Malcolm Bates, 1999–2001 *

Bob Kiley Robert R. Kiley (September 16, 1935 – August 9, 2016) was an American public transit planner and supervisor, with a reputation of being able to save transit systems experiencing serious problems. From 2001 to 2006 he was the initial Commissio ...

, 2001 * Sir Malcolm Bates, 2001–2003

Publication

''LT News'' was London Regional Transport's inhouse journal. First published in April 1973, it was originally published fortnightly, becoming monthly in January 1988. It was renamed ''LRT News'' in July 1984, before resuming its original title in September 1990.London Transport - and the roundel - makes a comeback ''LT News'' issue 383 15 June 1990 page 1

References

External links

London Transport
(Archive) {{Authority control Defunct transport authorities in London Greater London Council replacement organisations Intermodal transport authorities in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1984 Organizations disestablished in 1984 1980s in London 1984 establishments in England 1990s in London 2000 disestablishments in England