The London Transport Board was the organisation responsible for public transport (except main-line trains) in

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 ...

, England, and its environs from 1963 to 1969. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operational brand of the organisation was London Transport.

History

The London Transport Board (LTB) was established on 1 January 1963 pursuant to the

Transport Act 1962 The Transport Act 1962 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Described as the "most momentous piece of legislation in the field of railway law to have been enacted since the Railway and Canal Traffic Act 1854", it was passed by Haro ...

and replaced the

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 ...

(LTE) upon the dissolution of 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 ...

. It was an independent statutory undertaking reporting directly to the

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

, whose responsibilities were similar to those of the LTE, but with the addition of some railway lines previously the responsibility of British Railways. The first Chairman was Alexander Valentine, who had been the Chairman of the LTE. The LTB was responsible for 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 counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

and for bus and coach services within the London Passenger Transport Area, an area with a radius of about 30 miles from Charing Cross established when the

London Passenger Transport Board The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for local public transport in London and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and brand was Lond ...

was formed in 1933. Services were generally maintained and not cut as elsewhere in the country, as train services were under the

Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the M ...

. The board was responsible for the Bus Reshaping Plan in 1966, a comprehensive programme of changes to bus services. By 1970 the roads in London had become so congested that the Greater London Development Plan included in its scope policy to reduce dependence on the car. On 1 January 1970 responsibility for public transport within Greater London passed to the Greater London Council (GLC) under the Transport (London) Act 1969, with the ''London Transport'' brand retained by the GLC. Bus services outside the GLC area and

Green Line Coaches Green Line is a commuter coach brand in the Home counties of England. The trademark is owned by Arriva, with services operated by Arriva Shires & Essex and Reading Buses. Green Line had its origin in the network of coach services established ...

were passed to a new company,

London Country Bus Services London Country Bus Services was a bus company that operated in South East England from 1970 until 1986, when it was split up and later sold as part of the bus deregulation programme. History Formation London Country Bus Services Ltd was ...

, formed on 1 January 1970 as a subsidiary of the National Bus Company.GLC and London Transport '' Buses'' issue 177 December 1969 page 515

Notes

References

* * * {{Authority control British Transport Commission Defunct transport authorities in London Government agencies established in 1963 Intermodal transport authorities in the United Kingdom 1960s in London 1963 establishments in England 1969 disestablishments in England