50 Years Ago Today

[riverside]

50 Years ago today 31/12/66,(which was also a Saturday,) a massive programme of bus route changes took place, the likes of which would not happen today. At the time I was just 9 years old but remember it well as a significant day. Changes happened all around London as bus crews moved from a 5 and a half day working week to a five day working week. In Hammersmith where I lived the main features were the withdrawal of the old RM operated 268 from Shepherds Bush Garage, partially replaced by a a daily service on the Riverside operated 255 that had been just a Monday to Friday operation since October 1965. The highlight for me as a small boy was the 'new' 33 route, however later that day some of the Mortlake crews at the Brook Green Hotel stand told me that this was not a new route but a resurrected route as the 33 had plied similar roads before the 1958 bus strike and its temporary migration to East London in the mid sixties.

Before this date I had been used to seeing not only the main 73 service running daily between Stoke Newington and Richmond but also 73s working between Brook Green Hotel and Hounslow(Bus Station) with regular through buses running between Stoke Newington and Hounslow on a Sunday. As long as London Transport retained a Christmas Day service the 73 continued to operate on that day not just on the main section of route between Stoke Newington and Hammersmith but also a Mortlake operated service between Hammermith (Brook Green Hotel) and Hounslow(Bus Station). Such memories make the proposed routing of the 73 between Stoke Newington and Oxford Circus seem very short indeed.

In West London another memorable change on that last day of 1966 was the extension of the 17 on Sundays from Camberwell Green to South Kensington via route 45 that was withdrawn on that day, meaning that the 17 ran from North Finchley to South Kensington via a large swathe of South London.

In this era of route franchising and stakeholder consultations such large scale and radical changes could not now take place. Many old LOTS publications detail the extent of the changes on the day. The next significant date was 7/9/68 when the Reshaping Plan got into full swing introducing Red Arrow Routes 501-507 and extensively changing routes in East and North East London in connection with the opening of the Victoria Line. This change was probably similar to the changes that will eventually occur with the opening of Crossrail(sorry your Maj), Elizabeth Line. Being in West London 7/9/68 did not have a major impact in terms of actual buses but it was significant in that the daily RT operated 90c was replaced by one man operated RFs on the new 290 plying between Hammersmith(Met. Station)---a new terminal---and Richmond(Wakefield Terrace) operated by the old Twickenham Garage. Although only operated by 4 buses this was the first one man operated central bus service in a large part of inner West London.

Tailoring bus services to public need or operational convenience(you take your pick) on this scale could not happen today. A good thing or a bad thing, again I will leave you to judge, however, today brings back many personal memories of rushing to the Brook Green stand to see RMs on the 'new' 33.

[planesandtrains]

Obviously scaled down (unfortunately) but I guess that means my local route is 50 years old. Happy birthday route 33.

[John tuthill]

Dec 31, 2016 14:55:35 GMT planesandtrains said:

Obviously scaled down (unfortunately) but I guess that means my local route is 50 years old. Happy birthday route 33.

And a little reminder of better days
Ian Armstrong's Bus Route page

Attachment Deleted

[riverside]

50 years ago today New Year's Day was also a Friday, but unlike nowadays an ordinary working day. In the evening I went for a very short ride on RM 1129, something that normally would not be of any significance, but took on a historic aspect because of the momentous event that was to take place the next day. This was to be my last ride on a RM on route 220. Tomorrow everything was about to change.

Saturday 2nd January 1971 dawned cold and foggy. As a 13 year old I was interested to experience the future of buses in London. The 220(and also the 95), had been chosen as the guinea pigs to experiment with double deck OPO(as it then was)operation, on busy routes. The batch of 50 experimental atlanteans had been converted to OPO the previous year but were assigned to routes such as the 233, 234/234B and P3. The 220 and 95 were the big test, after which London bus operation would never be the same.

Nice new shiny buses with pristine interiors appearing out of the fog were always going to be welcomed on a cold day. Lodon Transport had at the last moment christened the new DMS class 'The Londoner', a name that never gained currency, probably because passengers very quickly experienced the drawbacks of the DMS. The 220 was a phenomenally busy route. Why it was ever chosen to be the first to be subjected to untried technology I will never know. To be fair to London Transport, passengers were partly to blame for the unpopularity of the DMS. Split boarding(as had been tried with the MBSs on the 110/111 in 1969 and then from the introduction of the SMS in 1970)was designed to speed up boarding. In the event, for whatever reason, passengers seemed to completely ignore the turnstile option, with 90% of passengers waiting to pay the driver. Dwell times at bus stops considerably increased. Remember this was a time of graduated fares with change being given. Journeys on the 220 tended to be very slow with significant bunching.

In theory the DMS could carry 89 passengers(21 of whom would be standing), compared to 69(with 5 standing) on a RM.The PVR on the 220 was thus reduced, when if anything it should have been increased or remained the same,taking into account the coincidant withdrawal between Tooting S.R. and Mitcham Fair Green of the 220. So not only did passengers have slower buses, but there were also less of them. In my local area there had already been a notable decline in bus service when the longstanding and historic 11 was cut back from Shepherds Bush to Hammersmith(Brook Green Hotel) the previous April. Also from 2nd January 1971, any assistance offered by the still crew operated 255 between Hammersmith and Wandsworth was less hard to come by as that route also suffered a PVR reduction. Indeed on a Saturday the 255 was the only RML route around Hammersmith but was now reduced to a 35 minute frequency! Worse was to come in June 1972 when the 255 was withdrawn altogether.The 220 did get an increase to compromise but at the same time the 295 was handed over to the DMS.

I've already stated that I can't understand why such a major change was not introduced on a number of quieter routes so that teething problems could be dealt with in a less pressurised environment. A sign of LT's desperation to introduce the DMS was the fact that they did so under the old LSD monetary system, even though D Day (Decimalisation Day) was only a few weeks away on 15th February 1971. So the AFC fare equipment was introduced on January 2nd and then had to be converted to the new currency on February 15th. Why not wait? Passengers trying to get to grips with the new currency also led to more delays at stops. Sadly unlike the 5, 55 or 106, the 220 was never to convert back to crew operation.

Although as a local a ride on the 220 was not an experience to be savoured, the changeover was of extreme importance to London bus services. Economics dictated that one person operation was the future, but unfortunately it took a long time for technology to come up with an answer that seemed to meet with passenger approval. In my opinion it was only with the introduction of the Oyster Card that journeys speeded up and passengers felt more at ease with paying for bus travel. It took approximately 30 years but the goal pioneered on 2/1/71 eventually bore fruit.

Like anybody I can only offer my own opinion, coloured by my experiences. I do recall that an old edition of a London Bus Magazine included an article by somebody who was singing the praises of the DMS on the 220. Even though I thought the bodywork was ugly, the buses unreliable and the passenger experience poor it cannot be denied that DMS 1(thanks to the hard work of Neil Goodrich and others), deserves its place in the London Transport Museum. Our modern experience of bus travel owes a great deal to what happened on that foggy morning as brand new buses emerged from Shepherds Bush and Brixton Garages for the 220 and 95.

[rm1422]

My memory as to why everyone ignored the turnstile entrance was because it invariaby failed to let you through after taking your cash.  They were disasterously introduced on the 85 making a journey from Roehampton bus rush hour 74 or regular daytime 30 RM's a far better option.

[wirewiper]

The 220 was probably picked as its OMO conversion was a matter of urgency, given the difficulties in recruiting bus crews in West London at the time. It also gave S its first OMO route, which enabled its more senior drivers to move on to better-paid work.

Although the DMS was not a success in London and most were withdrawn prematurely, many were snapped up by operators outside London who operated them successfully. Indeed a number came back into service under route tendering, which saw new entrants to the London bus market offering DMS operation as a cheap option (London Buslines on route 81 and Metrobus on route 61 for example). London Transport's problems may have been due to a shortage of skilled mechanics at the garages, and London Transport's overhaul system which was designed around RTs and Routemasters.

[southlondonbus]

They managed to clock up thou 22 years in total service with the last arriving in 1978 so in some ways were rather under rated about how successful they could have been.

[riverside]

Jan 1, 2021 14:49:55 GMT rm1422 said:

My memory as to why everyone ignored the turnstile entrance was because it invariaby failed to let you through after taking your cash.  They were disasterously introduced on the 85 making a journey from Roehampton bus rush hour 74 or regular daytime 30 RM's a far better option.

Yes Putney got a double whammy 50 years ago today as concurrent with the introduction of the DMS to the 220, the 85 was also converted to SMS. Thankfully the 85A remained RM operated for another couple of years. Tooting got a triple dose of chaos as along with the 95 and 220 DMS conversion the 181 went over from RT to SMS.

Despite the traumas of the conversions, the events of 50 years ago started the journey to what became an excellent bus service in the first decade of the this century, dominated by one person operated double deckers utilising a relatively speedy method of boarding. London got there in the end. It is such a pity to see that even if Covid was out of the equation, at the present time those who are in charge politically and managerially of London's transport system do not appear to fully appreciate the contribution buses make to efficiently moving people around the conurbation.

[twobellstogo]

Jan 2, 2021 12:03:21 GMT riverside said:

Jan 1, 2021 14:49:55 GMT rm1422 said:

My memory as to why everyone ignored the turnstile entrance was because it invariaby failed to let you through after taking your cash.  They were disasterously introduced on the 85 making a journey from Roehampton bus rush hour 74 or regular daytime 30 RM's a far better option.

Yes Putney got a double whammy 50 years ago today as concurrent with the introduction of the DMS to the 220, the 85 was also converted to SMS. Thankfully the 85A remained RM operated for another couple of years. Tooting got a triple dose of chaos as along with the 95 and 220 DMS conversion the 181 went over from RT to SMS.

Despite the traumas of the conversions, the events of 50 years ago started the journey to what became an excellent bus service in the first decade of the this century, dominated by one person operated double deckers utilising a relatively speedy method of boarding. London got there in the end. It is such a pity to see that even if Covid was out of the equation, at the present time those who are in charge politically and managerially of London's transport system do not appear to fully appreciate the contribution buses make to efficiently moving people around the conurbation.

If allowed, it would be nice for there to be some sort of DMS bus rally/event this year. Like it or not, the DMS is a significant bus in London’s transport history.