London Buses Review of 1998

This time a quarter of a century ago, London was three years on from the privatisation of its red buses. The resulting independent companies were now dividing and regrouping amongst themselves, often submitting to takeovers from big groups armed with venture capital. There were also spectacular collapses as other firms found they could not hack the pitiless hurly-burly of London’s tendering arena, with unlimited variety offered by the rushing to assist on the stricken routes of still more companies again. As low-floor single-deckers (mostly Dennis Dart SLFs) and mostly Volvo Olympian double-deckers continued to make inroads into the still large fleets of MCW Metrobuses and Leyland Titans distributed between the post-London Buses Ltd companies, the picture was gradually beginning to change. The rush to be the first manufacturer to put out the first low-floor double-decker was also well under way, with unlimited opportunities for the winner.