The Motor Traction Company’s omnibus--An electric omnibus--The Central
London Railway--The London County Council omnibuses--The “corridor
’bus”--The latest omnibus struggle--Present omnibus routes
On October 9, 1899, the Motor Traction Company, Limited, placed
an oil-motor omnibus on the roads. No horseless omnibus had been
licensed in London for over sixty years, and, naturally, considerable
interest was taken in the new venture. A trial run over the course,
from Kennington Park to Victoria Station, _viâ_ Westminster Bridge,
had been made a week earlier. On that occasion the weather was very
unpropitious, but the passengers were cheerful and drank success to the
trip in a glass of wine. Then, midst cheers and blowing of trumpets,
the motor omnibus started on its journey. It was a successful run, and,
as already stated, on October 9, the omnibus began to earn money.
In appearance it resembled an ordinary omnibus robbed of its horses
and pole. The driver had a covered seat low down in the front. The
body of the vehicle was painted white, and the lower and storage part
blue. While the omnibus was travelling no great fault could be found
with it, but its warmest admirers could not say truthfully that when it
stopped the sensation was pleasant. It vibrated abominably, and when
I had my first ride on it, I echoed inwardly the hope expressed by a
fellow-passenger that there was no bilious person present.
In the spring of 1900 the motor omnibus was running from Kennington to
Oxford Circus, but, towards the end of the year, it disappeared from
the London streets.
Some months before the Motor Traction Company’s omnibus was placed on
the roads an electric ’bus, belonging to a company which was being
floated, ran, on many afternoons, from Marble Arch to Notting-hill
Gate. It was not licensed, and therefore all rides were free. This
omnibus carried no outside passengers, an omission which would have
doomed it to failure had it entered into competition with other
omnibuses.
The proprietors of horse-drawn omnibuses have been accused of want of
enterprise because they have not yet adopted motor vehicles, against
which they are said to have a prejudice. But these accusations are
absurd. Omnibus proprietors are convinced that when a really reliable
electric ’bus has been invented, it will pay them to adopt it. So far
that omnibus has not been discovered, although for two or three years
the proprietors have examined carefully every vehicle brought before
them.
In the spring of 1900 the Central London Railway was opened, and proved
to be the most formidable rival that omnibuses have had since the
introduction of tramways. The new electric railway runs from Shepherd’s
Bush to the Bank, the fare for the whole journey being twopence. The
omnibus fare for the same distance was fivepence. The London General
Omnibus Company, which has practically a monopoly of the road between
Shepherd’s Bush and Marble Arch, soon felt the effects of the Central
London Railway’s cheap fares and quick travelling, and found it
necessary to transfer many of their Shepherd’s Bush omnibuses to other
routes.
With other electric railways projected, it is said, by some people,
that the long-continued prosperity of omnibuses is drawing to a close.
There seems, however, to be no real reason for such an assertion.
The District and Metropolitan Railways, when first opened, inflicted
greater damage to the omnibuses than the Central London has done, and
yet to-day their directors complain of omnibus competition. Railway
directors bemoaning omnibus competition! Shillibeer was not, after all,
wrong in believing that omnibuses could compete successfully with a
railway.
The prosperity of electric railways by no means implies ruin to
omnibuses. In fact, omnibus proprietors will, no doubt, before long,
regard electric railways as their benefactors, for having removed a
difficulty which has faced them for many years. The rapid growth of the
population of London has made it necessary for the number of omnibuses
to be increased every year, but the streets are already uncomfortably
crowded with vehicles, and it will be impossible to continue adding to
them at the same rate as heretofore. The electric railways, by carrying
a portion of the public, will make an increase of omnibuses unnecessary.
The Central London Railway is not, however, the only formidable rival
of omnibus proprietors which has recently sprung into existence. In
1898 the London County Council, authorised by the Tramways Act of
1896, took over the business of the London Tramways Company, Limited.
This company, having failed to obtain statutory powers to run their
trams over Blackfriars, Waterloo, and Westminster Bridges, started
a service of halfpenny omnibuses connecting their termini with,
respectively, Farringdon Road, Somerset House, and Trafalgar Square.
The London County Council, on taking over the trams, extended the two
latter omnibus routes by running their vehicles along the Strand, thus
connecting their tram terminus south of Westminster Bridge with the
terminus south of Waterloo Bridge. Until then the lowest fare for a
ride along the Strand was a penny, but the County Council omnibuses
took passengers from Trafalgar Square over Waterloo Bridge for a
halfpenny. Naturally they were well patronised, and the old-established
omnibus proprietors found an alarming decrease in their profits.
The two big omnibus companies were the smallest sufferers by this
competition. The London Road Car Company has no omnibuses crossing
the bridges referred to, and the London General Omnibus Company is
less represented in the south of London than in any other part of the
metropolis. The action of the County Council was, therefore, felt
chiefly by individual proprietors, who objected strongly to the rates,
to which they contributed, being used for the purpose of injuring their
business. They contended that the County Council had no more right to
become omnibus proprietors than they had to start business as linen
drapers or tobacconists, and, after taking counsel’s opinion, sought
an injunction to put a stop to the competition. Mr. Justice Cozens
Hardy decided that the County Council were only authorised to purchase
and work tramways, and as they could not confine their omnibuses to
tramway passengers--for omnibuses came under the regulation applying to
hackney-carriages, and were bound to take any passenger who paid his
fare--their service was unlawful. He refused to grant an injunction
pending the hearing of an appeal, but ordered the London County Council
to pay the costs of the action.
In the Appeal Court, Lords Justices Rigby, Vaughan-Williams and
Stirling held that the Council had no power to run the omnibuses, and
dismissed the appeal with costs. An injunction was granted restraining
the London County Council from continuing the omnibuses, the operation
of the injunction being, however, suspended, provided that notice of an
appeal to the House of Lords was given within a month.
After this decision the proprietors offered to take over the London
County Council omnibuses and run them at the same fares and times,
but the offer was declined and the appeal was carried to the House of
Lords. At the time of writing the appeal has not been heard.
To the London County Council belongs the credit of having started
all-night omnibuses, which were a great boon to many scores of workers
in Fleet Street and Covent Garden. It may, however, be taken for
granted that the venture was not a profitable one.
A new omnibus, called “the corridor ’bus,” was placed on the Putney and
Liverpool Street road in 1900, by Mr. William Berg. From the outside
the vehicle appears to be similar to the ordinary omnibus, but the
inside seats are arranged crossways and some of the passengers sit back
to back. The windows are fitted with blinds--a much-needed innovation.
I have heard that one of the smaller omnibus companies intends to adopt
“the corridor ’bus.”
One of the keenest struggles between rival omnibus companies that has
been witnessed for some years began in May last. It originated in
the following way:--some twelve years ago the London General Omnibus
Company opened a line of omnibuses from Kilburn to the Redcliffe Arms,
Fulham Road. These omnibuses, which were painted blue, tapped Harrow
Road, Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill Gate, Kensington High Street,
and Earl’s Court, and, before long, the line became one of the best
patronised in London. But about a week before Whit Monday the London
Road Car Company started a service of twenty-five orange-coloured
omnibuses from Putney to Brondesbury, which traversed the entire route
of the blue ’buses. The London General Omnibus Company immediately
extended the journey of some of its “blues,” making them run from
Brondesbury to Putney, and its drivers at once began to oppose their
“orange” rivals. The London Road Car Company then displayed in its
omnibuses a “No Monopoly” protest, stating that a determined attempt
was being made to run its cars off the road, and appealing to the
public to “rally round the flag.” A few weeks later a leaflet, headed
“No Surrender!” was distributed in the districts through which the
“oranges” and “blues” passed. It bore an illustration of a smart,
well-patronised Putney and Brondesbury Road Car being followed by an
almost empty knife-board omnibus. Beneath this amusing, but somewhat
misleading, illustration were the following lines:--
“Welcome, welcome London Road-Car, beard the mammoth God of Shares,
Pioneers of all improvements, handsome cars and cheaper fares;
No more ‘tubs’ and foreign gee-gees, onward, Road-Car, spread the
light,
No more sixpence any distance after eight on Sunday night.
“‘No more turning back,’ said Buller, to the gallant rank and file;
No white flag was ever hoisted by the ‘Dubs’ from Erin’s isle;
Strike no flag, and give no quarter, for with them it’s ‘outing-dues,’
Good luck to the ‘orange blossoms,’ for we’ve long since had the
‘blues.’
“Stand no nursing, Road-Car drivers, you’ve a right as well as they,
Forward, valiant standard-bearers, bravo “D” and “B” and “J.”
Come to stay’s the public verdict, bull-dog pluck cannot be beat,
Men and masters, pull together, no surrender! no retreat!
“To the public I’m appealing; forward help this gallant band,
’Neath the grand old flag of England in your thousands take your
stand;
Trace to them all known improvements, now, as in the days of yore,
When a change is really needed, they’ll send five-and-twenty more.”
“CEAD A MILLE FAILTHE.”
“D” and “B” and “J” are Mr. Duff, the manager of the Road Car Company,
and Messrs. Bristow and Jones, two other officials.
The London Road Car Company has certainly, during its comparatively
short career, been more enterprising than its rivals in providing
for the comfort of the omnibus-travelling public; but it is scarcely
entitled to much sympathy in connection with the Putney and Brondesbury
struggle, considering that, not many years ago, it meted out to a
small company treatment similar to that of which it now complains. It
compelled that company--which also issued an appeal to the public--to
submit to its terms, in spite of the fact that, unlike the London
General Omnibus Company and other companies who are members of the
various associations, it does not pay compensation for placing its
omnibuses on a route which another company has planned and worked into
success.
It is somewhat surprising that the London General Omnibus Company
and the proprietors associated with it have not thought it advisable
to publish periodically, for the convenience of the public, a list
of their routes. Visitors to London are frequently in need of such a
guide. The following is a list of omnibus lines which run through or
into London.
Acton and Charing Cross (_viâ_ Shepherd’s Bush, Bayswater Road, Oxford
Street, and Regent Street).
Baker-street Station and Victoria (_viâ_ Baker Street, Grosvenor
Square, and Hyde Park Corner).
Baker-street Station and Waterloo (_viâ_ Baker Street, Bond Street,
and Westminster Bridge).
Barnes and Uxbridge Road (_viâ_ Hammersmith Broadway).
Barnes Common and Liverpool Street (_viâ_ Putney Bridge, Walham Green,
Brompton Road, Piccadilly, and Strand).
Barnsbury and Brixton (_viâ_ Liverpool Road, General Post Office, and
Blackfriars Bridge).
Battersea and South Hackney (_viâ_ King’s Road, Chelsea, Sloane
Street, Piccadilly, Strand, Bank, and Bethnal-green Road).
Blackwall and Piccadilly Circus (_viâ_ Commercial Road, Shoreditch,
Bank, and Strand).
Bow and Oxford Circus (_viâ_ Mile End Road, Bank, and Strand).
Brixton and Gracechurch Street (_viâ_ Kennington and London Bridge).
Brixton and Oxford Circus (_viâ_ Kennington, Westminster Bridge, and
Piccadilly Circus).
Brixton and Paddington Station (_viâ_ Kennington, Elephant and Castle,
Blackfriars Bridge, Gray’s-inn Road, Euston Road, and Marylebone Road).
Camberwell and Camden Town (_viâ_ Elephant and Castle, Waterloo
Bridge, Strand, Oxford Circus, and Portland Road.)
Camberwell and Clapham Common (_viâ_ Loughboro’ Junction and Brixton).
Camberwell and King’s Cross (_viâ_ Elephant and Castle, Waterloo
Bridge, and Gray’s-inn Road).
Camberwell and Shoreditch Church (_viâ_ Elephant and Castle, London
Bridge, and Liverpool-street Station).
Camden Town and Kent Road (_viâ_ Elephant and Castle, Waterloo Bridge,
Strand, Oxford Circus, and Portland Road).
Chalk Farm and Victoria (_viâ_ Hampstead Road, Tottenham-court Road,
Charing Cross, and Victoria Street).
Child’s Hill and Charing Cross (_viâ_ Finchley Road, Baker Street,
Wigmore Street, Oxford Circus, and Piccadilly Circus).
Clapham Common and Victoria (_viâ_ Battersea Bridge and
Buckingham-palace Road).
Clapham Junction and Hyde Park (_viâ_ Albert Bridge, King’s Road,
Chelsea, and Sloane Street).
Clapham Junction and Shepherd’s Bush (_viâ_ Albert Bridge, King’s
Road, Sloane Street, Kensington Church, and Notting-hill Gate).
Clapton and Elephant and Castle (_viâ_ Dalston Junction, Kingsland
Road, Shoreditch, and London Bridge).
Clapton and Finsbury-park Station (_viâ_ Stoke Newington, Green Lanes,
and Brownswood Park).
Cricklewood and Charing Cross (_viâ_ Kilburn, Oxford Circus, and
Piccadilly Circus).
Ealing and Tottenham-court Road (_viâ_ Acton, Shepherd’s Bush,
Bayswater Road, and Oxford Street).
Earl’s Court and Elephant and Castle (_viâ_ Cromwell Road, Sloane
Street, Victoria Station, Vauxhall Bridge, and Kennington).
Elephant and Castle and Islington (_viâ_ London Bridge, Bank, General
Post Office, and Goswell Road).
Farringdon Road and Blackfriars Bridge (_viâ_ Ludgate Circus).
Finchley and Charing Cross (_viâ_ East Finchley, Highgate Archway,
Junction Road, Camden Town, Hampstead Road, and Tottenham-court Road).
Finchley and Oxford Circus (_viâ_ Church End, Child’s Hill, Swiss
Cottage, Baker Street, and Wigmore Street).
Finchley Road (North Star) and Fulham Road (_viâ_ Kilburn, Harrow
Road, Westbourne Grove, Notting-hill Gate, Kensington, and
Earl’s-court Road).
Finsbury Park and Kent Road (_viâ_ Highbury Barn, Upper Street, New
North Road, Bank, and Elephant and Castle).
Finsbury Park and Victoria (_viâ_ Seven Sisters’ Road, Camden Road,
Hampstead Road, Tottenham-court Road, Charing Cross, and Victoria
Street).
Fulham and Bethnal Green (_viâ_ Walham Green, King’s Road, Chelsea,
Sloane Square, Victoria Station, Whitehall, Strand, and Bank).
Fulham and Liverpool Street (as above).
Fulham and Oxford Circus (_viâ_ King’s Road, Chelsea, Sloane Street,
and Piccadilly).
Gospel Oak and Victoria (_viâ_ Ferdinand Road, Hampstead Road, Charing
Cross, and Victoria Street).
Gower-street Station and Edgware-road Station (_viâ_ Tottenham-court
Road, Oxford Street, and Edgware Road).
Hammersmith and Caledonian Road (_viâ_ Kensington, Piccadilly,
Tottenham Court Road, and Euston Road).
Hammersmith and Liverpool Street (_viâ_ Kensington, Piccadilly,
Strand, and Bank).
Hammersmith and Walham Green (_viâ_ Fulham).
Hammersmith and Wandsworth (_viâ_ Fulham, Walham Green, and Wandsworth
Bridge).
Hampstead and Oxford Street (_viâ_ Haverstock Hill, Hampstead Road,
and Tottenham-court Road).
Hanwell and Oxford Circus (_viâ_ Ealing, Acton, Shepherd’s Bush,
Bayswater Road, and Oxford Street).
Harlesden and Charing Cross (_viâ_ Kensal Green, Harrow Road,
Paddington Station, Edgware Road, and Oxford Circus).
Hendon and Oxford Circus (_viâ_ Golder’s Hill, Child’s Hill, St.
John’s Wood, Baker-street Station, and Wigmore Street).
Highbury Barn and Putney Bridge (_viâ_ Upper Street, Rosebery Avenue,
Shaftesbury Avenue, Piccadilly, Sloane Street, King’s Road, and
Parsons Green).
Highgate and London Bridge (_viâ_ Holloway Road, Upper Street, and
City Road).
Highgate and Victoria (_viâ_ Junction Road, Camden Town,
Tottenham-court Road, Charing Cross, and Victoria Street).
Holloway and Bayswater (_viâ_ Camden Road, St. John’s-wood Road, Maida
Vale, Westbourne Grove, and Queen’s Road).
Holloway and Fulham (_viâ_ Caledonian Road, Euston Road, Portland
Road Station, Oxford Circus, Piccadilly, South Kensington and West
Kensington).
Hornsey Rise and Sloane Square (_viâ_ Islington, Euston Road, Baker
Street, Park Lane and Sloane Street).
Hornsey Rise and Victoria (_viâ_ Seven Sisters’ Road, Upper Street,
Gray’s-inn Road, Chancery Lane, Strand, and Victoria Street).
Islington and Kensington (_viâ_ Pentonville Road, Euston Road,
Marylebone Road, Westbourne Grove, and Notting-hill Gate).
Kensal Green and London Bridge (_viâ_ Harrow Road, Paddington Station,
Edgware Road, Oxford Street, Holborn, and Bank).
Kentish Town and Elephant and Castle (_viâ_ College Road, Gray’s-inn
Road, Holborn, and Blackfriars Bridge).
Kentish Town and London Bridge (_viâ_ College Road, Gray’s-inn Road,
and Holborn).
Kilburn and Charing Cross (_viâ_ Maida Vale, Oxford Street, and Regent
Street).
Kilburn and Liverpool Street (_viâ_ Maida Vale, Oxford Street,
Holborn, and Bank).
Kilburn and London Bridge (_viâ_ Maida Vale, Oxford Street, Holborn,
and Bank).
Kilburn and Victoria (_viâ_ Maida Vale, Edgware Road, and Park Lane).
Kilburn and Willesden Junction (_viâ_ Willesden Lane and Harlesden).
Knightsbridge and Battersea Bridge (_viâ_ Sloane Street).
Mile End and West Brompton (_viâ_ Bank, Holborn, Shaftesbury Avenue,
Piccadilly, and Brompton Road).
Moorgate-street Station and London-bridge Station (_viâ_ Bank).
Muswell Hill and Charing Cross (_viâ_ Highgate Archway, Camden Town,
and Tottenham-court Road).
Notting Hill and Liverpool Street (_viâ_ Westbourne Grove, Paddington
Station, Oxford Street, Holborn, and Bank).
Notting Hill and London Bridge (_viâ_ Portobello Road, Westbourne
Grove, Paddington Station, Oxford Street, Regent Street, Strand, and
Cannon Street).
Old Ford and Bank (_viâ_ Bethnal-green Road, and Shoreditch).
Old Ford and Oxford Circus (_viâ_ Bethnal-green Road, Bank, and
Holborn).
Paddington Station and London Bridge (_viâ_ Praed Street, Edgware
Road, Oxford Street, Regent Street, and Strand).
Peckham and Oxford Circus (_viâ_ Camberwell, Westminster Bridge, and
Regent Street).
Peckham and Victoria (_viâ_ Camberwell, Kennington, and Vauxhall
Bridge).
Putney and Brondesbury (_viâ_ Fulham Road, Earl’s Court Road,
Kensington, Notting-hill Gate, Westbourne Grove, Harrow Road, and
Kilburn).
Putney and Liverpool Street (_viâ_ Walham Green, Brompton Road,
Piccadilly, Strand, and Bank).
St. John’s Wood and Camberwell (_viâ_ Baker Street, Oxford Street,
Regent Street, Westminster Bridge, and Elephant and Castle).
St. John’s Wood and Kent Road (as above).
St. John’s Wood and London Bridge (_viâ_ Baker Street, Oxford Street,
Holborn, and Bank).
Shepherd’s Bush, and Burdett Road, Mile End (_viâ_ Bayswater Road,
Oxford Street, Holborn, Bank, and Mile-end Road).
Shepherd’s Bush and Liverpool Street (_viâ_ Bayswater Road, Oxford
Street, Holborn, and Bank).
Shepherd’s Bush and Walham Green (_viâ_ Olympia and West Kensington).
South Hackney and Bank (_viâ_ Hackney Road).
Stamford Hill and Elephant and Castle (_viâ_ Kingsland Road,
Shoreditch, Bank, and London Bridge).
Starch Green and Liverpool Street (_viâ_ Shepherd’s Bush, Bayswater
Road, Oxford Street, Holborn, and Bank).
Stoke Newington and Victoria (_viâ_ Newington Green, Essex Road,
Angel, Gray’s-inn Road, Chancery Lane, Strand, and Victoria Street).
Summer’s Town and Hammersmith (_viâ_ Earlsfield, Wandsworth Bridge,
and Walham Green).
Tollington Park and London Bridge (_viâ_ Seven Sisters’ Road, Upper
Street, City Road, and Bank).
Tollington Park and Victoria (_viâ_ Seven Sisters’ Road, Upper Street,
Gray’s-inn Road, Chancery Lane, Strand, and Victoria Street). Another
route (_viâ_ King’s Cross, Bond Street, and Piccadilly).
Tulse Hill and King’s Cross (_viâ_ Herne Hill, Loughboro’ Junction,
Camberwell Green, Elephant and Castle, Waterloo Bridge, Chancery Lane,
and Gray’s Inn Road).
Turnham Green and Clapham Junction (_viâ_ Goldhawk Road, Bayswater
Road, Notting-hill Gate, Kensington Church, and Sloane Street).
Turnham Green and Liverpool Street (_viâ_ Hammersmith Broadway,
Kensington, Piccadilly, Strand, and Bank).
Victoria and King’s Cross (_viâ_ Hyde Park Corner, Piccadilly, Long
Acre, Southampton Row, and Russell Square). Another route (_viâ_ Hyde
Park Corner, Piccadilly, Bond Street, Oxford Street, Tottenham-court
Road, and Euston Road).
Victoria and Liverpool Street (_viâ_ Victoria Street, Strand, Fleet
Street, and Bank).
Walham Green and Islington (_viâ_ Brompton Road, Piccadilly, Regent
Street, Portland-road Station, Euston Road, and Pentonville Road).
Walham Green and Highbury (_viâ_ Piccadilly, Euston Road, Pentonville
Road, and Upper Street).
Wandsworth and Liverpool Street (_viâ_ King’s Road, Chelsea, Victoria,
Strand, and Bank).
Waterloo Station and Liverpool Street (_viâ_ Blackfriars Bridge and
Bank).
Waterloo Station and Westminster Bridge (_viâ_ Strand).
Westbourne Grove and Victoria (_viâ_ Praed Street, Edgware Road, and
Park Lane).
West Hampstead and Elephant and Castle (_viâ_ Abbey Road, Eyre Arms,
Baker Street, Oxford Street, Regent Street, and Westminster Bridge).
West Hampstead and Fulham Road (_viâ_ Kilburn, Westbourne Grove,
Notting-hill Gate, Kensington, and Earl’s-court Road).
West Kensington and London Bridge (_viâ_ South Kensington, Brompton
Road, Piccadilly, Holborn, and Bank).
West Kensington and Shoreditch (_viâ_ South Kensington, Strand, Bank,
and Liverpool Street).
West Kilburn and Charing Cross (_viâ_ Shirland Road, Edgware Road,
Oxford Street, and Regent Street).
West Kilburn and London Bridge (_viâ_ Shirland Road, Edgware Road,
Oxford Street, Holborn, and Bank).
West Kilburn and Victoria (_viâ_ Shirland Road, Edgware Road, and Park
Lane).
West Norwood and Oxford Circus (_viâ_ Kennington, Westminster Bridge,
and Piccadilly Circus).
Westminster and Liverpool Street (_viâ_ Moreton Street, Great Smith
Street, Whitehall, Strand, and Bank).
Willesden and Charing Cross (_viâ_ Willesden Lane, Salusbury Road,
Shirland Road, Edgware Road, and Oxford Street).
Willesden and Victoria (_viâ_ Willesden Lane, Salusbury Road, Shirland
Road, Edgware Road, and Park Lane).
Wormwood Scrubbs and Liverpool Street (_viâ_ Notting Hill, Westbourne
Grove, Praed Street, Oxford Street, Holborn, and Bank).
Wormwood Scrubbs and London Bridge (_viâ_ Notting Hill, Westbourne
Grove, Praed Street, Oxford Street, Holborn, and Bank).
During the summer months many omnibuses are taken off the City Roads
on Sundays, and run into the suburbs. The chief of these Sunday routes
are:--
Bank and Romford Road (_viâ_ Bow and Stratford).
Charing Cross and Richmond (_viâ_ Kensington, Hammersmith, Chiswick,
and Kew Bridge).
Kensal Green and Richmond (_viâ_ Shepherd’s Bush, Barnes, Mortlake).
Oxford Circus and Hayes Common (_viâ_ Shepherd’s Bush, Acton, Ealing,
and Hanwell).
Oxford Circus and Welsh Harp (_viâ_ Kilburn and Cricklewood).
Stoke Newington and Hadley Woods (_viâ_ Wood Green and Southgate).
Tottenham-court Road and Stonebridge Park (_viâ_ Kensal Green and
Harlesden).