Boro'line London was a bus operator that operated bus services under contract to London Regional Transport. It was owned by Maidstone Borough Council who already operated Boro'line Maidstone. It experienced initial rapid success, gaining and operating some of the first services to be contracted out in the

Bexleyheath Bexleyheath is a town in south-east London, England. It had a population of 31,929 as at 2011. Bexleyheath is located south-east of Charing Cross, and forms part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...

area of South East London. Later services reached Greenwich, Stratford and Euston station. However, the company quickly encountered problems, and on 17 February 1992 sold its London operations to

Kentish Bus London Country South East (LCSE) was a bus operator in South East England and London. It was formed from the split of London Country Bus Services in 1986 and operated a fleet of around 170 buses from four garages, with its headquarters locat ...

. Two days later, Boro'line was placed into administration.

History

Boro'line successfully tendered to operate several London bus routes, with the first contracts being won in 1987. In January 1988 Boro'line started its London operations with Bexley-based routes from a Bexley council site in

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 ...

. Another site in Greenwich later came into use for two Greenwich services working into Euston, Stratford and Lewisham.Countrybus website
Boro'line Leyland Lynx page
Route 188 history Contracts were won initially in competition with the London Buses low cost

Bexleybus Bexleybus was an English bus operator. A subsidiary of Selkent, it was established as a low cost operator. It operated services under contract to London Regional Transport from January 1988 until January 1991. History Bexleybus was formed by Sel ...

unit. Further routes in the area were gained after being given up by the poorly performing strike prone Bexleybus operation. Routes awarded were operated with a mixture of purposely ordered new buses, and second hand vehicles. The large orders were in marked contrast to the piecemeal fleet replacement in Maidstone. Boro'line's bright blue livery contrasted with the traditional red of London Buses in the centre of the capital. Additionally, while waiting for new deliveries of buses for its tenders, a motley crew of second hand buses were hired or bought to operate in the meantime, a large number being ex Ipswich Buses

Leyland Atlantean The Leyland Atlantean is a predominantly 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, Asi ...

s, bringing more odd bus types and liveries to London.Countrybus website
Boro'line Leyland Olympian page

Routes

The following London bus routes had been operated by Boro'line: 108,

132 132 may refer to: *132 (number) *AD 132 *132 BC __NOTOC__ Year 132 BC was a year of the Roman calendar, pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laenas and Rupilius (or, less frequently, year 622 ''Ab ...

188 Year 188 (CLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in the Roman Empire as the Year of the Consulship of Fuscianus and Silanus (or, less frequently, year 941 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomi ...

233 __NOTOC__ Year 233 ( CCXXXIII) 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 Claudius and Paternus (or, less frequently, year 986 ...

272 __NOTOC__ Year 272 ( CCLXXII) 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 Postumius and Veldumnianus (or, less frequently, year 102 ...

422 __NOTOC__ Year 422 ( CDXXII) 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 Honorius and Theodosius (or, less frequently, year 1175 ...

and

492 Year 492 ( CDXCII) 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 Anastasius and Rufus (or, less frequently, year 1245 '' Ab urbe co ...

. In 1990 Boro'line lost the tender for route 188 to Selkent due to performance issues.

Vehicles

The vehicle batches used in London were as follows: ;Double-deck buses *1989 built Alexander RV-bodied Volvo Citybuses *1976 built Alexander AV-bodied Volvo Ailsa B55s (ex-Tayside) *1988 built Optare-bodied Leyland Olympians *1991 built Northern Counties-bodied Leyland Olympians *1988 built Alexander RH-bodied Scania N112 ;Single-deck buses *1978 built Leyland Nationals (ex London Regional Transport) *1989 Leyland Lynxs *1991 built Leyland Lynxs Upon sale of the London operations, all vehicles purchased specifically for London contracts passed to Kentish Bus.Talks continue on Maidstone sale
''Commercial Motor'' 27 February 1992 page 18 Some of the second hand vehicles used were moved to Maidstone. Ironically some of the London Lynxs later found their way into Maidstone & District colours and then passed into

Arriva Southern Counties Arriva Southern CountiesCompanies House extract company no 20314 ...

Kent and Sussex division.

References

{{Defunct British Bus Companies Former London bus operators Transport companies established in 1988 Transport companies disestablished in 1992 1988 establishments in England 1992 disestablishments in England