The AEC Regent III (also known as Regent 3 or Regent Mark III) was a type of
double-decker bus
A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and also in cities such as Sydney; the best-known example is the ...
chassis manufactured by
AEC.
It was mainly built for operation outside
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...
and overseas. It could be fitted with AEC's 9.6-litre diesel engine (except a minority with 7.7-litre ones), 'Wilson' preselective
epicyclic gearbox (except for a minority with crash gearboxes; a synchromesh option also became available in the early 1950s) and air-pressure operated brakes (except a minority with vacuum brakes). The Regent III was available with bodies from a number of manufacturers including
Park Royal
Park Royal is an area in North West London, England, partly in the London Borough of Brent and partly the London Borough of Ealing.
It is the site of the largest business park in London,
but despite intensive existing use, the area is, to ...
,
Metro Cammell Weymann
Metro Cammell Weymann Ltd. (MCW) was once a major contributor in transportation manufacturing in the UK and Europe. It was established in 1932 by Metro-Cammell's bus bodybuilding division and Weymann Motor Bodies to produce bus bodies.
...
and
Charles H. Roe.
AEC Regent III was superseded by the
AEC Regent V
The AEC Regent V was a front-engined double-decker bus built by the Associated Equipment Company between 1954 and 1969. It was the last AEC Regent series double-decker model, and was the successor to the AEC Regent III (not to be confused with ...
, not the AEC Regent IV underfloor-engined double decker which existed as a one-off prototype only. The last Regent IIIs were supplied to Reading Corporation in 1956.
Regent III in London
London Transport acquired 76 AEC Regent III buses with
Weymann lowbridge
A lowbridge double-deck bus is a double-decker bus that has an asymmetric interior layout, enabling the overall height of the vehicle to be reduced compared to that of a conventional double-decker bus. The upper deck gangway is offset to one side ...
bodywork. They were numbered as the RLH-class (Regent Low Height) and were used by London Transport from 1950 until 1971.
The first 20 RLHs were built in 1950 and were almost identical to 10 vehicles sold to Midland General who had originally ordered the vehicles. In 1952 a further batch of 56 buses was purchased which had minor differences. The fleet operated from various garages around both the Central area (painted red) and the Country area (painted green) of London Transport, usually where a low railway bridge over the road would otherwise cause a problem.
Many RLHs were sold for further use after London Transport. Due to their lower height of , about lower than standard double-decker buses, a significant number found their way to other countries especially in Europe and the USA where maximum vehicle height restrictions allowed them to operate.
The RT-type
The AEC Regent III RT (RT-type) was first built in 1939 and was designed for and by
London Transport. It was the standard red London bus during the 1950s, with a total of 4,825 buses built for London Transport. Although not all were in service at the same time.
Some RT-type buses were built for operation outside London, such as for St Helens Transport.
References
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External links
The RLH Bus Information CentreRLH 62 The RLH 62 Website
{{AEC range
Regent III
Double-decker buses