Trolleybuses in London
|
|
| Operation | |
|---|---|
| Locale | London, England |
| Open | 16 May 1931 |
| Close | 8 May 1962 |
| Status | Closed |
| Routes | 68 |
| Operator(s) |
London United Tramways (1931–1933) London Passenger Transport Board (1933–1947) London Transport Executive (1947–1962) |
| Infrastructure | |
| Stock | 1,811 (maximum) |
Trolleybuses served the London Passenger Transport Area from 1931 until 1962. For much of its existence, the London system was the largest in the world. It peaked at 68 routes, with a maximum fleet of 1,811 trolleybuses.
The first 60 trolleybuses were operated by London United Tramways (LUT), from Fulwell bus garage in south-west London. They were nicknamed "Diddlers" and first ran on 16 May 1931.
In 1933 LUT was absorbed into the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) along with other tram operators. The LPTB decided to replace all trams with trolleybuses. This started in October 1935 with two more former LUT routes, and continued in stages until June 1940, when it was suspended because of World War II. By then nearly all the trams north of the River Thames had been replaced, but there were still 1,100 trams in use in South London. In 1946 it was decided that the remaining trams would be replaced by diesel buses. Trolleybuses were bigger than diesel buses (70 seats compared to 56), and so more diesel buses would be required. It was thought, however, that there would be fewer uncollected fares on the smaller vehicles.
In 1948 a new batch of 77 trolleybuses replaced the Diddlers and trolleybuses that had been destroyed by enemy action. A further 50 new trolleybuses were delivered in 1952 to replace the oldest vehicles, which were then 16 years old.
In 1954, it was announced that all trolleybuses were to be replaced with the exception of the post-war vehicles, which would be retained until about 1970 and run over the original LUT routes. Conversion began in 1959, using AEC Regent III RT buses for the first three stages and new AEC Routemasters for the remainder.
A consortium of Spanish operators bought the post-war vehicles. The former LUT routes were the last to be converted to diesel buses, on 8 May 1962.
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