The best bus service beyond London?
An article in my latest issue of BUSES Magazine features the Leeds City Transport timetables of the 1960s. During that period, I was a teenager living just outside Hull, some 50 miles to the east. It was my fervent wish then to move down to London as soon as I could. Had the London dream not worked out, Leeds would have been my second choice as a favourite city.
Both London and Leeds were ace bus cities. The red double deckers of London Transport were world-renowned, LT a template for top-quality service provision, running a well-presented fleet mainly comprising AEC RTs and Routemasters. Leeds City Transport was an exemplary municipal operator, AEC Regents forming the backbone of the fleet, but with good numbers of Leyland’s and Daimlers too. The buses mostly carried handsome bodywork by the local supplier, Charles H. Roe of Crossgates Works, Leeds.
Although Leeds City Transport could have showcased more modern vehicles, it chose a bus that had clocked up more than a decade of service for this 1964 timetable. LCT 668 (PUA668) was an AEC Regent III with Roe H58R bodywork, new in 1952. It is seen in one of Leeds leafier suburbs. The bus served with LCT until 1969.
Leeds City Transport, AEC, the Roe Crossgates Works are all gone today. First Group provides today’s bus routes with vastly more modern vehicles. Perhaps transport enthusiasts now growing up will one day view today’s Leeds scene with comparable nostalgia in future decades.
The best bus service beyond London?
An article in my latest issue of BUSES Magazine features the Leeds City Transport timetables of the 1960s. During that period, I was a teenager living just outside Hull, some 50 miles to the east. It was my fervent wish then to move down to London as soon as I could. Had the London dream not worked out, Leeds would have been my second choice as a favourite city.
Both London and Leeds were ace bus cities. The red double deckers of London Transport were world-renowned, LT a template for top-quality service provision, running a well-presented fleet mainly comprising AEC RTs and Routemasters. Leeds City Transport was an exemplary municipal operator, AEC Regents forming the backbone of the fleet, but with good numbers of Leyland’s and Daimlers too. The buses mostly carried handsome bodywork by the local supplier, Charles H. Roe of Crossgates Works, Leeds.
Although Leeds City Transport could have showcased more modern vehicles, it chose a bus that had clocked up more than a decade of service for this 1964 timetable. LCT 668 (PUA668) was an AEC Regent III with Roe H58R bodywork, new in 1952. It is seen in one of Leeds leafier suburbs. The bus served with LCT until 1969.
Leeds City Transport, AEC, the Roe Crossgates Works are all gone today. First Group provides today’s bus routes with vastly more modern vehicles. Perhaps transport enthusiasts now growing up will one day view today’s Leeds scene with comparable nostalgia in future decades.