Author: Ray Hobbs
Publisher: Ian Allan Publishing
Format: Hardback
Pages: 80
In July 1933, the creation of the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) saw, for the first time, a unified provider of public transport for the Greater London area. Amongst the constituents of the LPTB were London General Country Services Ltd and Green Line Coaches Ltd, which became the Country Bus & Coach Department of the LPTB.
The LPTB’s area of operation was further extended into Gravesend and Dartford by the acquisition of services previously operated there by Maidstone & District. For some 50 years, London Transport’s red and green buses became a familiar sight, both within that part of Kent which later formed part of Greater London, but also in those parts of the county, such as Tonbridge, Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells, which were outside the GLC area. Although, in 1970, the creation of London Country subtly altered the relationship, it was not until the mid-1980s with deregulation and privatisation that the traditional link with London Transport disappeared.
This book is a colourful tribute to the many and varied London Transport (LT) operations in Kent, from the late 1950s through to the early 1970s. In some 85 colour illustrations, the majority previously unpublished, this book explores LT services in both the urban and rural parts of Kent to provide the reader with a fascinating survey of bus and coach services in this part of the Garden of England.