London General Omnibus Company

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Manufacturing 3 Rebirth of the name 4 Gallery 5 See also 6 References

[edit] Overview

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.^[1]

LGOC began using motor omnibuses in 1902, and the last LGOC horse-drawn bus ran on 25 October 1911. In 1908 the LGOC bought the Road Car Company, the Vanguard Company, and all its other main rivals, thereby gaining an almost total monopoly in London.^[2]

In 1912 the Underground Group, which at that time owned most of the London Underground, bought the LGOC. 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.^[3][4]

[edit] Manufacturing

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.^[3][5]

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).

[edit] Rebirth of the name

In the privatisation of London bus services in the 1980s, 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.

[edit] Gallery

LGOC B-type

LGOC X-type

Contemporary London General bus

[edit] See also

• Buses in London

[edit] References

1. ^ From omnibus to ecobus, 1829-1850. London's Transport Museum. Retrieved on July 3, 2007.
2. ^ From omnibus to ecobus, 1901-1913, 3rd page. London's Transport Museum. Retrieved on July 3, 2007.
3. ^ ^{a b} From omnibus to ecobus, 1919-1938, 4th page. London's Transport Museum. Retrieved on July 3, 2007.
4. ^ From omnibus to ecobus, 1919-1938, 3rd page. London's Transport Museum. Retrieved on July 3, 2007.
5. ^ Thackray, Brian (2004). AEC Vehicles: Origins to 1929. Venture Publications Ltd. ISBN 1-898432-44-9

v • d • e  History of bus transport in the United Kingdom General Charabanc · John Greenwood Organisations British Electric Traction · British Transport Commission · Defunct manufacturers · Former PTE bus operators · National Bus Company (UK) · Scottish Bus Group · Transport Holding Company · Tilling Group · Ulster Transport Authority Regulation Bus deregulation · Former municipal bus companies · History of the PTE bus operations London History of transport in London (1933-2003) · Former London bus operators · London Country Bus Services · London Omnibus Traction Society · London General Omnibus Company · Privatisation of London bus services · Routemaster Parliamentary Acts London Traffic Act 1924 · Transport Act 1947 · Transport Act 1962 · Transport Act 1968 · London Regional Transport Act 1984 · Transport Act 1985