Buses, trams and commercial vehicles: general interest

First appearing in 1972, National Express coaches have become a familiar site on the UK's roads, and are very much a part of popular culture, celebrated in songs and on television.

When London first applied as a contender to stage the 2012 Olympic Games, there was cynical speculation as to whether the transport infrastructure could cope should it win.

Heralded as one of the best examples in the bus and coach industry of deregulation working in almost textbook fashion, Oxford has enjoyed an excellent and dynamic transport system.

This book covers the ever-changing bus scene in and around Perth, the Fair City.

This book covers the operations of Jersey Motor Transport from the late 1980s, as well as looking at how the island's bus scene has developed over the last three decades, including the Easylink and Connex era.

Merseyside is an area with a colourful bus history.

Manchester and its surrounds, such as Bolton, Wigan, Rochdale, Oldham and Stockport, have always been a haven for bus enthusiasts, with a wide variety of operators and liveries to be seen.

During the mid-1990s Nottingham's scene was dominated by Nottingham City Transport and the Wellglade group that included Trent buses and Barton buses.

Philip Wallis visited West and East Yorkshire with his camera in 1962.

There have always been small buses used by bus companies for a variety of reasons, but in the 1970s a number of companies employed van-derived minibuses on experimental services such as Dial-a Ride schemes.

Preston Corporation Tramways began operation of electric trams in June 1904, and they exclusively served the town until 1922.

In the early 1980s Potteries Motor Traction was part of the state-owned National Bus Company with all vehicles in standard NBC poppy red livery.

Shuttle Buses, based in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, celebrates thirty years in business in 2020.

Scania's first venture into the British double-decker bus market came in 1973, when with partner MCW, based in Birmingham, they produced the 'Metropolitan' double-decker.

The London to Brighton Historic Commercial Vehicle run is one of the premier events in the calendar for preserved commercial vehicle owners and enthusiasts alike.

Birmingham City Transport's association with Crossley Motors came about after 1945, when BCT required a large number of buses to be delivered quickly, with many manufacturers unable to fulfil orders in the aftermath of the war.

The Alexander ALX400 was the first low-floor bus body built in the United Kingdom, first appearing in 1997.

Plaxton launched the President model in 1997 but construction of the type did not commence until 1999.

The Blackpool Electric Tramway Company commenced operation of a conduit system of railed vehicles along the Promenade between Cocker Street and Station Road on 29 September 1885.

The transport scene in Northampton was dominated for many decades by Corporation-owned Northampton Transport.

What happens to old buses at the end of their career, when they are replaced by newer vehicles?

Like most European countries, Belgium's main towns and cities developed their own tramway networks.

From its launch in 1958, the Leyland Atlantean played a pivotal role in the British bus industry.

In 2018, five gas buses using Scania NU280D chassis with stylish AD E40D MMC City bodywork were presented by Nottingham City Council.

From 1914 until 1969, when it was absorbed into WMPTE, Birmingham City Transport had various periods when they hired buses for evaluation.

The North East is a region of great geographic, economic and social contrasts.

This book, the first ever written on the subject of Leyland buses in Israel, tells the story of the company's decades-long partnership with the state of Israel.

This book offers a chronological view from the oldest colour images to the latest buses.

Following the 1920s, bus transport experienced several decades of strong growth with an explosion of new operators and bus types.

Between the 1930s and 1960s, during the peak of Britain's railways, road hauliers were in stiff competition to transport goods.

The design of buses and coaches is constantly changing as new technology is developed and environmentally friendly and emission-related legislation evolves.

The history of Ballymena-based Wrightbus dates back to 1946, when the company began producing lorries, vans and mobile libraries largely for Ulster customers.

The AEC Regal IVs and Regent IIIs, or to give them their class prefix letters RFs and RTs, are among the most revered buses to have served London over the years.

The AEC Regal IVs and Regent IIIs, or to give them their class prefix letters RFs and RTs, are among the most revered buses to have served London over the years.

In the 1980s Great Britain had steadily seen an influx of foreign manufacturers, a trend that was to eventually see the demise of all the major UK makes.

Road tankers come in many forms, with certain goods very often dictating the type and shape.

It is not possible to save and restore all lorries that have come to the end of their working life.

ERF Limited was formed in 1933 when Edwin Richard Foden founded the company with his son Dennis.

Until the last quarter of the twentieth century Maltese buses had generally had locally constructed bodywork, often a modified chassis of UK or American origin.

London's traditional Night Bus network was once small, infrequent and little used.

In the days before privatisation, many bus companies adapted old buses for a variety of specialist uses as service vehicles.

As part of the National Bus Company, Hants & Dorset Motor Service once served a large diverse area, stretching from the remote chalk uplands of North Hampshire, across Salisbury Plain through rural East Dorset to the coastal resorts of Swanage, Poole and Bournemouth, and the heavily populated areas of Southampton and Winchester.

The Isles of Lewis and Harris are unique in that they are made up of a number of small private bus and coach operations tendered for by the local council.

East Lancashire Coachbuilders was first registered in October 1934 when two former Massey Bros of Wigan employees decided to set up their own company in Blackburn.

The final two decades of the twentieth century saw great changes in the bus and coach industry in Great Britain.

The low-floor bus was first introduced to the streets of London in 1994 with a fleet of sixty single-decks entering services with London Buses Limited, passing quickly to the new privatised operators.

The larger bus operators, whether municipal or company owned, have traditionally trained their own new drivers.

Bus garages, or depots if that is your preferred nomenclature, come in all shapes and sizes and have their origins in the tram depots that were established by the various tramway companies of the pre-electrification era.