London Country South East
|
|
| Parent |
National Bus Company (1986-88) Proudmutual (1988-94) British Bus (1994-96) Cowie Group |
|---|---|
| Founded | 7 September 1986 |
| Headquarters | Northfleet |
| Service area |
Kent Greater London |
| Service type | Bus operator |
| Depots | 4 |
| Fleet | 169 |
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 located in Northfleet. It was rebranded as Kentish Bus in 1987 and used this name for most of its existence. Its former garages and operations now form part of Arriva Southern Counties and Arriva London.
In the run-up to deregulation, London Country Bus Services was broken into four smaller companies on 7 September 1986.
London Country South East was the smallest of the four, with just 169 buses and garages in Dartford, Dunton Green, Northfleet and Swanley, with some London Regional Transport contracts operated from the former National Travel garages in Victoria and Catford, with the head office in an office in Dartford.
Bill Gunning, the former Traffic Manager of London Country Bus Service, became the new company's managing director. The company was renamed Kentish Bus & Coach in April 1987, and a new maroon and cream livery, loosely based on the colours of the erstwhile Colchester Corporation Transport, replaced the former London Country green. The head office was relocated to Northfleet.
On 15 March 1988, Kentish Bus was sold to Proudmutual Limited, the management buyout who already owned Northumbria Motor Services.
The company expanded its London operations significantly with a series of contract wins and acquisitions. The largest win was of London routes 22A, 22B and 55, taken from London Forest on 20 January 1990 with 43 new dual-door Northern Counties bodied Leyland Olympians were bought to operate the routes. Outside of London, the competing operations of Northfleet-based Mini Metro were taken over in January 1990.
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