Royal Blue Express Services was a coach operator in the south and west of England from 1880 until 1986.
History
![Royal_Blue_at_Weymouth_-_geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Royal_Blue_at_Weymouth_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1757660.jpg)
Origins
The Royal Blue business was founded in 1880 by Thomas Elliott in
Bournemouth
Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...
. The business, at first known as Royal Blue & Branksome Mews, included the hire of every kind of
horse-drawn vehicle
A horse-drawn vehicle is a mechanized piece of equipment pulled by one horse or by a team of horses. These vehicles typically had two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers and/or a load. They were once common worldwide, but they have m ...
, as well as coach building, saddlery and blacksmithing. Elliott soon started a four-in-hand
stagecoach
A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...
service to connect Bournemouth to the railway at
Holmsley. That service became redundant when the railway was extended to Bournemouth in 1888, but by then Elliott had started running Royal Blue excursions by
charabanc
A charabanc or "char-à-banc" (often pronounced "sharra-bang" in colloquial British English) is a type of horse-drawn vehicle or early motor coach, usually open-topped, common in Britain during the early part of the 20th century. It has "ben ...
and coach around Bournemouth and the
New Forest
The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...
. When Thomas died in 1911, the business was taken over by his sons John and William.
Early motor coach services
In 1913, Royal Blue purchased its first motor charabanc, and motors rapidly replaced the horses. In 1919, the Elliott Brothers took advantage of a railway strike to start a motor coach service from Bournemouth to
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 ...
. The service was so successful that the service was increased to twice a week during 1920, and twice daily during 1921. By 1926, Royal Blue was operating 72 coaches.
Until 1928, the express coach service only carried passengers to and from Bournemouth and London, not intermediate points. In 1928, Royal Blue obtained licences to pick up and set down en route, and started services from Bournemouth and London to many more cities, including
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
,
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
and
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
. By 1930, Royal Blue was operating 11 routes, an expansion prompted by the expected passage of the
Road Traffic Act 1930
The Road Traffic Act 1930 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom introduced by the Minister of Transport Herbert Morrison.
Context
The last major legislation on road traffic was the Motor Car Act 1903. Amendments had been discussed ...
, which was to regulate competition for passenger road transport.
The Road Traffic Act led coach operators to eliminate competition in two ways: by buying competitors and by reaching agreements with competitors to share services and pool revenues. Royal Blue did both. It acquired competitors in Plymouth (Traveller Coaches) and
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
(Olympic Services), and made co-ordination agreements with
Southdown and
East Kent
Kent is a traditional county in South East England with long-established human occupation.
Prehistoric Kent
Kent has been occupied since the Lower Palaeolithic as finds from the quarries at Fordwich and Swanscombe attest. The Swanscombe skul ...
(between
Margate
Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...
and Bournemouth),
Greyhound Motors
Greyhound Motors, later known as Bristol Greyhound, was an English bus and coach company based in Bristol.
History
Greyhound Motors was formed in February 1921 by Sydney Tom Toogood to operate motor buses in Bristol.
In February 1925, it comm ...
(between London and Bristol),
Western National
Western National was a bus company operating in South West England from 1929 until the 1990s.
Early history
Western National Omnibus Company was founded in 1929 as a joint venture between the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the National O ...
(between London and Plymouth) and
Southern National
Southern National was a bus company operating in South West England from 1929 until 1969, and again from 1983 until 1999.
History Original company (1929-1969)
Southern National Omnibus Company[Paignton
Paignton ( ) is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignt ...]
). In 1934, Royal Blue was one of the founders of
Associated Motorways
Associated Motorways was a consortium of motor coach operators in the south and Midlands of England, which was active from 1934 to 1974.
History
Associated Motorways was formed as a result of the Road Traffic Act 1930, which encouraged com ...
, which co-ordinated coach routes of six operators.
At the end of 1934, Elliot Brothers sold the Royal Blue business to Western National and Southern National, by then controlled by the
Tilling Group
The Tilling Group was one of two conglomerates that controlled almost all of the major bus operators in the United Kingdom between World Wars I and II and until nationalisation in 1948.
Tilling, together with the other conglomerate, British El ...
. The new owners continued the process of acquiring competitors and expanding the route network, particularly in
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
and
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
. The change of control also meant that Royal Blue switched to
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
for its new coaches, the Tilling Group also controlling the Bristol bus factory.
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
brought black-out night driving, fuel shortages and bomb damage to Royal Blue garages. Royal Blue was forced to cease operations from October 1942 to Easter 1946.
Nationalisation
In 1947, the Tilling Group sold its bus operations (including Western National and Southern National) to the
British Transport Commission
The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the se ...
, so that Royal Blue became government owned. State control did little to hinder the expansion of Royal Blue services. Fuel shortages meant that in the early post-war years even those who owned cars hesitated to use them for long journeys, and few people went on holiday abroad, so there was a strong demand for long-distance coach travel. The
Beeching cuts
The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised British Rail, railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Develop ...
of the early 1960s generated more traffic for Royal Blue, and traffic peaked in 1965, with well over 1.5 million passenger journeys.
On 1 January 1963, Royal Blue's owners, Western National and Southern National were included in the British Transport Commission's transport assets passing to the state-owned
Transport Holding Company
The Transport Holding Company (THC) was a British Government-owned company created by the Transport Act 1962 to administer a range of state-owned transport, travel and engineering companies that were previously managed by the British Transport C ...
, which in turn passed to the state-owned
National Bus Company on 1 January 1969.
In 1972, the National Bus Company formed National Travel, which became
National Express
National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
, to run long-distance coach services. The following year the operations of Royal Blue were franchised to National Express. Western National continued to own the Royal Blue coaches, but was required to adopt the National Express brand white livery, somewhat inappropriate for Royal Blue. The Royal Blue name was retained.
Unlike many local bus services, Royal Blue's coach services continued to make profits. The spread of the UK's motorway network in the 1970s cut journey times dramatically, and coach travel had a significant cost advantage over rail travel.
Privatisation
Under the
Transport Act 1980
The Transport Act 1980 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It introduced deregulation of coach services in the United Kingdom and allow authorities to deregulate bus services on a trial basis. It was introduced by the Conservative go ...
, express coach services were deregulated. In January 1983, Western National was divided into four companies and these were privatised between 1986 and 1988. In 1986, to strengthen the national brand, National Express dropped all regional names, and so the Royal Blue name came to an end after 106 years.
In 1988, National Express was sold to its management, and in December 1992 it was floated on the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
.
Reuse of name
The Royal Blue brand has been resurrected, but the reincarnation is related to the original Royal Blue in name only.
In March 2012, Royal Blue Motorcoach was launched in the Bournemouth area, where Elliott Bros began their first Royal Blue services, as a trading name of Self Heritage International Tours Limited.
Home
Royal Blue Motorcoach
References
*Anderson, R. C. A. & Frankis, G. G. A. (1970) ''History of Royal Blue Express Services'' Newton Abbot: David & Charles
*--do.-- (1985) 2nd ed. Newton Abbot: David & Charles
External links
{{Bus companies in South West England, state=collapsed
Coach operators in England
Former coach operators in England
1880 establishments in England
1986 disestablishments in England
Transport companies established in 1880
British companies established in 1880
British companies disestablished in 1986