Buses are the most widespread and most commonly used form of public transport in the United Kingdom. In Great Britain, bus transportation is owned and governed by private sector companies (subject to government regulation), except in Greater London.
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The legal identity of London Buses is London Bus Services Limited (LBSL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London.
But 1929 was also the year a Suffolk-based Dennis bus, known as 'Ermintrude,' first entered service and the vehicle – reputed to be the oldest working bus in the UK – is still going strong nearly 100 years later.
However the Conservative manifesto in 1992 promised to privatise the railway and Prime Minister John Major went for it. We were told that British Rail's natural monopoly was the problem and promised cheaper fares, better services and less cost for the taxpayer. Privatisation has failed on every front.
The current operator, London Underground Limited (LUL), is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL), the statutory corporation responsible for the transport network in London.
Yes, in fact many people do, either as individuals or groups, as well as private companies. As long as it passes all the relevant safety standards, you can even run it on a railway. Most are run on privatly owned lines.
General secretary of the RMT Mick Lynch told the New Statesman: “Unlike trains in the rest of Europe, which tend to be publicly owned and have cheaper fares, most UK trains are privatised, which means that a profit has to be paid out, reducing the scope for fare cuts.”
The reason behind their colour dates to the early 1900s, when the transport system was operated by different rival companies. London General Omnibus Company (or L.G.O.C.) owned most of the buses and in 1907 painted its entire fleet red to stand out from competitors.
Bus Manufacturers throughout the UKThere are many makes and models of buses on routes in the UK but there are three British bus manufacturers in operation. These are Alexander Dennis, Wrightbus (who built the new Routemaster) and Optare.
TfL, however, estimates that a standard hybrid diesel-electric double-deck bus is in the region of £300,000. The latest New Routemaster with Euro VI engine costs £349,500.
'Transport for London, which includes London Underground, doesn't make a profit,' he says. 'We reinvest all our income in running and improving transport in London.
In England you can get a bus pass for free travel when you reach the State Pension age. If you live in London, you can travel free on buses, tubes and other transport when you're 60, but only within London. In Wales you can get a bus pass when you reach 60.
The UK has three main bus manufacturers: Alexander Dennis in Falkirk, Scotland and in Scarborough; Switch Mobility, formerly known as Optare, which is based in Sherburn in Elmet in my constituency; and Wrightbus in Northern Ireland.