The London General Omnibus Company or LGOC, was the principal bus operator in London between 1855 and 1933. It was also, for a short period between 1909 and 1912, a motor bus manufacturer. [1]
The London General Omnibus Company or LGOC, was the principal bus operator in London between 1855 and 1933. It was also, for a short period between 1909 and 1912, a motor bus manufacturer. [1]
The London General Omnibus Company was founded in 1855 to amalgamate and regulate the many independent horse-drawn omnibus services then operating in London. Originally an Anglo-French enterprise, also known as the Compagnie Generale des Omnibus de Londres, the LGOC soon became the largest omnibus operator in London. It bought out hundreds of independently owned buses and established a consistent level of service for its fleet. Within a year, the LGOC controlled 600 of London's 810 omnibuses. [2]
Under its chairman Sir John Pound, in 1902 it looked at an option to purchase a competitor, the Star Omnibus Company, but it was unable to complete negotiations. LGOC began using motor omnibuses in 1902, and the last LGOC horse-drawn bus ran on 25 October 1911. [3]
In 1908 the LGOC bought the Road Car Company, the Vanguard Company, and its other main rivals, thereby gaining a virtual monopoly in London. [4]
The merger of these three companies (the Road Car Company was also known as Union Jack owing to its habit of flying the British flag on its vehicles) gave the new and enlarged LGOC the most experienced operating and engineering personnel of any operator - and perhaps manufacturer - in the country at the time. [5]
The LGOC absorbed the Great Eastern London Motor Omnibus Company (previously known as London Motor Omnibus Company) in March 1911. [6]
In 1912, the Underground Group, which owned most of the London Underground, bought the LGOC. This followed the start of negotiations between the two companies in 1910 that finally led to the publication of an official statement regarding the proposed terms of the merger on 19 January 1912. [7] By early February 1912 the majority of shareholders in the LGOC had accepted the terms. [8] This in time allowed increasing co-ordination between LGOC bus and tube services, with integrated fares, such as was seen with the opening of the bus station adjacent to Hammersmith station in April 1914. [7]
In 1933, the LGOC, along with the rest of the Underground Group, became part of the new London Passenger Transport Board. The name London General fell into disuse, and London Transport instead became synonymous with the red London bus. [9] [10]
LGOC began producing motor omnibuses for its own use in 1909 at works established in premises inherited from Vanguard at Blackhorse Lane, Walthamstow, London. The first model built was the LGOC X-type, which was designed by Frank Searle, LGOC's chief engineer. The X-type was followed by the LGOC B-type, from the same designer. [9] [11]
After the Underground Group's acquisition of the LGOC in 1912, the bus manufacturing elements of the LGOC were split out to create the Associated Equipment Company (AEC).
In the privatisation of London bus services in the 1990s, London Transport created a series of shadow bus operating companies with names of geographic or historic significance, and one of these was christened London General in honour of the LGOC. The new London General was initially privatised by management buy-out, and acquired by the Go-Ahead Group in 1996.
“Did you see that bus parked outside the theatre as you came in? It had ‘Private’ on the front. Looked very lonely, it did. I can remember when it was a General!” -Michael Flanders, "A Transport of Delight," At The Drop Of A Hat, 1957
The London General Omnibus Company was featured in the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Isambard Kingdom Brunel, played by actor Kenneth Branagh, was depicted arriving in a green horse-drawn London General Omnibus Company Limited bus at the start of the ceremony. [12]
In the video game Assassin's Creed Syndicate published by Ubisoft in 2015, assassins come to the aid of Edward Hodson Bayley and company, who was said to be responsible for the founding of the united London General Omnibus Company in the storyline campaign, supplying omnibuses for the city.
A bus is a public transport road vehicle designed to carry significantly more passengers than the average cars or vans. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers, although the average bus usually carries between 30 to 100. The most common type is the single-deck rigid bus, with larger loads for double-decker and articulated buses, and smaller loads for midibuses and minibuses, while coaches are used for longer-distance services. Many types of buses, such as city transit buses and inter-city coaches, charge a fare. Other types, such as elementary or secondary school buses or shuttle buses within a post-secondary education campus, do not charge a fare. In many jurisdictions, bus drivers require a special large vehicle licence above and beyond a regular driving licence.
London Buses route 11 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Fulham Broadway and Liverpool Street, it is operated by London General.
Buses have been used as a mode of public transport in London since 1829, when George Shillibeer started operating a horse-drawn omnibus service from Paddington to the City of London. In the decades since their introduction, the red London bus has become a symbol of the city.
Associated Equipment Company (AEC) was a British vehicle manufacturer that built buses, motorcoaches and trucks from 1912 until 1979. The name Associated Equipment Company was hardly ever used; instead it traded under the AEC and ACLO brands.
The London Transport Museum is a transport museum based in Covent Garden, London. The museum mainly hosts exhibits related to the heritage of London's transport, as well as conserving and explaining the history of it. The majority of the museum's exhibits originated in the collections of London Transport, but, since the creation of Transport for London (TfL) in 2000, the remit of the museum has expanded to cover all aspects of transportation in the city.
The LGOC B-type is a model of double-decker bus that was introduced in London in 1910. It was both built and operated by the London General Omnibus Company (LGOC).
The LGOC X-type is an early model of London double-decker bus.
Green Line is a commuter coach brand in the Home counties of England. It is owned by Reading Buses.
The AEC K-type was a type of bus chassis built by Associated Equipment Company (AEC) from 1919 until 1926, mainly for use in London by the London General Omnibus Company (LGOC).
London Buses route 24 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Pimlico and Hampstead Heath, it is operated by Abellio London.
A steam bus is a bus powered by a steam engine. Early steam-powered vehicles designed for carrying passengers were more usually known as steam carriages, although this term was sometimes used to describe other early experimental vehicles too.
The Oxford Bus Museum is a transport museum at Long Hanborough, West Oxfordshire, England, about 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Witney and 7 miles (11 km) northwest of the city of Oxford. The museum houses a collection of 40 historic buses and coaches, the remains of four horse trams and a replica City of Oxford Tramways Company tram.
The Ipswich Transport Museum is a museum in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, devoted principally to the history of transport and engineering objects made or used in its local area.
The Bristol Omnibus Company was a dominant bus operator in Bristol, and was one of the oldest bus companies in the United Kingdom. It ran buses over a wide area of Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and neighbouring counties.
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.
Buses play a major role in the public transport of the United Kingdom, as well as seeing extensive private use. While rail transport has increased over the past twenty years due to road congestion, the same does not apply to buses, which have generally been used less, apart from in London where their use has increased significantly. Bus transport is heavily subsidised, with subsidy accounting for around 45 per cent of operator revenue, especially in London.
In common with cars and trucks, preservation of buses in the United Kingdom is a hobby activity enjoyed by many people, both actively or passively. The active preservation and operation of preserved buses is undertaken by private individuals, organised trusts or societies, and even commercial operators. The preserved bus fleet in the UK includes dating from the earliest pre-war models right up to models manufactured after the year 2000.
A horse-bus or horse-drawn omnibus was a large, enclosed, and sprung horse-drawn vehicle used for passenger transport before the introduction of motor vehicles. It was mainly used in the late 19th century in both the United States and Europe, and was one of the most common means of transportation in cities. In a typical arrangement, two wooden benches along the sides of the passenger cabin held several sitting passengers facing each other. The driver sat on a separate, front-facing bench, typically in an elevated position outside the passengers' enclosed cabin. In the main age of horse buses, many of them were double-decker buses. On the upper deck, which was uncovered, the longitudinal benches were arranged back to back.
Birch Brothers was a bus and coach operator in south east England.
Frank Searle CBE, DSO, MIME was a British transport entrepreneur, a locomotive engineer who moved from steam to omnibuses, the motor industry and airlines.
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