Bus Reshaping Plan

By the early 1950s the London Transport Executive was experiencing difficulty in providing bus services in the capital. The reliability of services was declining as an increase in private motor traffic was causing congestion. At the same time, industrial relations in the organisation were poor, and the retention and recruitment of staff was difficult.[5] The issue of London's public transport had become one of interest to national politicians, and two committees of inquiry had been appointed to investigate the matter. The Chambers Committee, chaired by S P Chambers, deputy chairman of ICI was appointed by the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Alan Lennox-Boyd in April 1953.[6][7] The emphasis of the committee's work was to find ways of reducing costs "with a view to ascertaining what practical measures can be taken... in order to secure greater efficiency or economy".[5][6] The committee delivered its report in February 1955, and recommended only limited changes to bus services. The London Transport Executive had forcefully made the case for the wholesale introduction of one man operation, but the committee rejected this option. Indeed, they felt that it would be impractical in much of central London, and would in fact lead to serious delays and a reduction in service efficiency. Instead they suggested that only some routes in the Country Area should be converted to OMO.[5][7][8][9] Flat Fares were also examined, but were felt to be inappropriate in most areas of London.[5] One idea explored by the committee was the "Wheel Plan", suggested by the Greater London Chambers of Commerce. This would divide bus services in London into two groups: radial services in the suburbs, terminating at the edge of the central area; and a separate system of central London bus routes. Passengers moving from the radial services to the central routes would be required to change buses at a number of interchanges at the edge of the central area. The committee found that the Wheel Plan did not reflect the actual traffic patterns, and that it would cause unnecessary hardship and expense to passengers.[5] One innovation that the committee did suggest was the provision of special services in peak hours where there were very heavy traffic flows such as to and from the mainline railway termini. Dedicated "standee" vehicles would be used, which would have a much higher passenger capacity than conventional seated buses.[5]

The Chambers Committee had no powers to compel the London Transport Executive to carry out their recommendations, while the Transport and General Workers Union refused to co-operate. Instead, management attempted to press ahead with conversion of routes to driver-only operation. This met with little success, and in spite of the union recommending acceptance of the changes in exchange for a bonus scheme, it was rejected by the membership in 1959.[5]

By the early 1960s, the problems of the previous decade of traffic congestion and recruitment difficulties had intensified. In late 1962 the LTE ordered 33 front entrance Leyland Atlanteans suitable for one man operation. In addition 6 standee buses were ordered for an experimental central area service as recommended by the Chambers Committee.[5] On 1 January 1963 the London Transport Board replaced the executive, and entered negotiations with the unions to introduce a programme of service reforms. The union countered by submitting a claim for increased pay and a reduced working week, and by October 1963 had instituted a ban on overtime and rest day working.[5] In November 1963, in an attempt to break the deadlock, the Minister of Labour, Joseph Godber, announced that Professor Henry Phelps Brown of the London School of Economics would head a commission of inquiry.[10] The commission's terms of reference allowed them to review the pay and conditions of bus drivers and conductors in light of manpower requirements and working and operating conditions in London traffic. In making their report they were to pay "due regard to the possibilities of increasing the efficiency of London Transport's road services".[5] The committee made an interim report on 12 December recommending new rates of pay, which was rapidly implemented, leading to the ending of the overtime ban.[5][11] The final report of the committee was issued in April 1964.[12][13] The report led to an agreement for:

1. The operation of larger buses with more seats, with experimental introduction of front entrance vehicles
2. Extension of one man operation to suburban areas, and conversion of some country double deck routes to OMO using front entrance buses
3. Introduction of standee services as recommended by the Chambers Committee, with flat fares and automatic fare collecting equipment[5]

Following the agreement, the board brought small numbers of front entrance Daimler Fleetlines (XF Class) and Leyland Atlanteans (XA class) with the intention of carrying out trials of one man operation.[5][14]

On 18 April 1966 the first central area "standee" was introduced. "Red Arrow" Service 500 was a Monday-Friday service linking Victoria station to Park Lane in peak hours and to the shopping district of Oxford Street in off peak hours. In a break from tradition, the new buses were not designed specifically for London use, but were based on an existing manufacturer's model. The vehicles chosen were rear-engined 36 foot (11 m) long AEC Swifts, which London Transport christened Merlins.[15] These wore a special red and flake grey livery, and had a standing area for 48 passengers and a raised seating area at the rear for 25 passengers. Passengers entered by the front doors, where there twin coin-operated turnstiles (known as "passimeters"), with a flat fare of sixpence.[5][16]

Early drafts of the plan identified 38 suburban hubs where flat fare networks could be established. A new system of numbering was to be used for the networks, with two prefix letters identifying the geographical location. The number of centres was reduced to 36 in the final plan by the exclusion of Barnet and East Ham. Each centre was allocated up to ten route numbers prefixed by a single letter.[19]

The first phase of the plan came into effect on 7 September 1968 as follows:[20]

• Seven additional Red Arrow services were introduced, numbered 501–507. They served Waterloo, Victoria, Liverpool Street, Charing Cross and Marylebone stations. The only mainline terminus not served was London Bridge, due to construction works and congestion in the area. A number of existing double deck routes which entered central London were shortened as a result.
• A flat fare "satellite" network of six routes (W1–W6) based on Wood Green, and the consequent withdrawal or shortening of conventional routes in the area.
• Recasting of services in the Walthamstow area, with the new Walthamstow Central station on the new Victoria line as the hub. Seven new routes were created, and 19 existing ones altered. Of the 45 new buses introduced to the area, 15 were flat fare "standees" and 30 were 50 seater OMO with graduated fares.
• There were also some changes to services in the Potters Bar, Hampstead, Richmond and Kingston areas using existing vehicles.

The second phase of reshaping was carried out on 26 October 1968, and affected a number of routes in south east London. No new flat fare networks were created, but a number of existing routes were converted to OMO, and altered or shortened. Engineering works on the Blackwall Tunnel meant it was no longer accessible to double deckers, and Merlins were introduced as a consequence.[20]

On 23 November Merlins were introduced to the country area for the first time, with routes 305 and 305A from Uxbridge, and 430 from Reigate converting to OMO. The country buses did not have turnstiles, but used "autofare" ticket machines, which issued tickets to different values. Five Green Line routes converted to OMO on the same date.[20] On 30 November a flat fare network serving Ealing Broadway and Greenford (E1–E3) was introduced, while two north London routes (143 and 242) were converted to single deck OMO.[20]

At the end of 1968 London Transport carried out a review of the changes that had been introduced. While the Red Arrow routes had proven a success, it was clear that the remaining service and vehicle alterations were extremely unpopular with the travelling public. Hundreds of complaints had been received, and it was discovered that in most cases punctuality and reliability had actually worsened on the converted routes. Peak hour services suffered badly, failing to meet scheduled journey times. This was due to two factors: increased passenger boarding times (due to unfamiliarity with the fare collection system), and traffic congestion (the length of the buses prevented them from pulling into bus stops, forcing them to block the road).[16][25] Off-peak bus users (especially elderly passengers and those with children or shopping) on the suburban schemes also found the buses unsuitable due to the turnstiles.[25][27] The complicated fare collection equipment chosen by the London Transport Board contrasted with the simpler systems successfully introduced by many bus operators outside the capital at the same time.[27]

The experience of the 1968 changes led to some changes in vehicle orders for 1969. It was recognised that long single deckers had caused congestion, and that the flat fare system would not work in all cases. The inability of the passimeters to issue change also inconvenienced passengers. In order to address the first problem, a number of front entrance double deck Daimler Fleetlines were ordered. On some of the new routes "coarsened" rather than flat fares were to be introduced. The vehicles for these services were to have "split entrances", with two passenger streams. An illuminated screen displayed the various fares from the stop, while a central bar divided the entrance into two doorways. Passengers who had the correct change were to pass to the right and use the coin-operated entry gate, passengers who needed change were to use the left doorway and pay the driver.[25][28]

More country area routes were converted to OMO on 15 February. These were in the Hemel Hempstead and Watford areas. On the same day the remaining single deck Green Line services also became one man operated.[25]

15 March saw more Autofare Merlins introduced to the country area garages: Crawley, Dorking, Gravesend, Harlow and Windsor all received small numbers of the vehicle. A week later on 22 March a new Merlin-operated flat fare service (M1) was formed by the joining of parts of two existing services in the Morden area.[25]

On 10 May conventional route 212 serving Muswell Hill and Finsbury Park was replaced by a new Merlin flat fare route, W7, as part of the Wood Green network. Bromley-based route 138 was converted to conventional OMO on the same date.[25]

On 14 June route Route 20 in the Epping area was converted to Merlin OMO, at the same time absorbing route 20B. Alterations to the Red Arrow routes saw 505 rerouted and a new route 508 linking Marylebone Station with Central London was introduced. Three routes were converted to flat fare: 272 in the Stratford area became S1, Enfield route 128 became W8 and Harrow route 230 became H1.[25]

On 23 August the first "split entrance" Merlins entered service experimentally on routes 110 and 111 based at Hounslow garage. At the same time Airport Express A1, running non-stop from Hounslow West station to Heathrow Airport for a flat fare of one shilling, was introduced. Barnet route 84 and south east London route 122A converted to Merlin OMO.[25]

With currency decimalisation due in February 1971, it became necessary to replace the coin machines on the Red Arrow fleet as they only accepted sixpence pieces. The Red Arrow fleet was completely replaced on the night of 19 September partly by new vehicles and partly by existing buses transferred from suburban routes, each being equipped with newer coin machines that could accept decimal coinage in addition to 3d and 6d coins.[25]

With the opening of the third section of the Victoria line on 25 October, a number of services in Central London were altered. North London routes 79 and 79A converted to Merlin OMO. A number of country services became OMO on Sundays. On 27 October a Red Arrow 509 from Victoria to Kensington serving the museums of South Kensington.[25]

The first double deck route to become OMO was Route 233 serving the Roundshaw Estate near Croydon. XA class Leyland Atlanteans were fitted with periscopes so that the driver could view the upper deck. The vehicles were fitted with Johnson fareboxes, a simpler system of fare collection than the autofare system fitted to the Merlins.[25]

Apart from the electrical problems that afflicted the early Merlins, mechanical faults soon became apparent. Gearboxes, throttles and alternators all proved defective, while the 35 imperial gallons (160 L) fuel tanks were insufficient and buses sometimes ran out of fuel. The length of the chassis led to flexing and stress on the structure of the bodywork. The roof sections separated, the front domes became loose and cracks appeared around the windows, with windows occasionally falling out. Remedial work had to be carried out with strengthening straps and plates applied.[29]

By March 1969 it had become clear that the Merlin was unsuited to use in London, and orders were placed for shorter (33 foot (10 m) long) single deck buses. These were again on AEC chassis, and London Transport adopted the Swift name for the shorter vehicles. The first batch of a new class of OMO double deck bus were also placed. These DMS double-deckers were originally dubbed Londoners by LT, a name that was quickly abandoned.[25]

The final batch of Merlins were delivered in October 1969 bringing the total to 665, although they did not enter service until Spring 1970.[29]

More Swifts went into service in North West London in June 1970, displacing double-deck vehicles. By this time, it was necessary for the LTE to place orders for buses to be delivered in 1972. The Swifts had proved to be little better than the Merlins, and it was decided that all future deliveries were to be double-deck.[30] The first of the DMS double deckers entered service on 2 January 1971, the first of a batch of 1600 delivered throughout 1971 and 1972.[31]

In 1972, following reliability problems with services converted to OMO and flat fare, the LTE initiated a survey to examine the desirability of continuing the conversion programme on busy central London routes. The "Bus Operations Special Survey" or BOSS took six months to complete, and came to a clear conclusion that the busier routes could not practically be converted from crew operation. Boarding times would more than double, leading to longer journey times. This in turn would lead to loss of passenger traffic, necessitating an increase in the flat fare, leading to further loss of custom. Under the original reshaping plan, much of the AEC Routemaster fleet were due for withdrawal by 1975. It was now decided to continue their use indefinitely, and some of the new DMS double-deckers would now also be crew operated.[31]

By early 1973 the certificates of fitness of the 16 earliest Merlins were due to expire, requiring them to be overhauled. In the event only one (MBS 4) was completed, the overhaul taking 8 months to complete. Such was the cost of the refit, that it was decided to withdraw the remainder of the batch.[32] In the meantime the Merlins had started to display serious mechanical problems, with oil spillage onto the roads leading to complaints from local authorities and the Metropolitan Police. In August 1973 the GLC gave the LTE permission to withdraw the Merlins five years early, and to replace them with new double-deckers.[32]