The London Merlins

In the 1960s, buffeted by falling ridership and increased operating costs, London Transport resolved to reshape its bus operations altogether. The success of the pioneering short-hop, flat-fare Red Arrow route 500 in 1966 prompted the Reshaping Plan, which aimed to introduce enough similar one-man-operated single-deckers to replace LT’s RT and Routemaster families. No longer able to develop its own chassis to meet London’s tough, stop-start traffic conditions, LT chose AEC’s existing Swift, adopting the name Merlin from an abortive export version. However, the entry into service of the resulting MB, MBA and MBS classes from 1968 proved fraught. Passengers struggled with the new automatic fare-collection (AFC) equipment and the Merlins proved very unreliable in London service. Only those on Red Arrow services or inherited by London Country lived out full lifespans, lasting until 1981.This is a reappraisal of one of LT’s unhappier types and analyses the circumstances that necessitated their introduction.