Open top buses are used in the United Kingdom for sightseeing and seasonal summer services.
31-757: The Bath Bus Company is a bus operator in the United Kingdom which runs open top tours in Bath , Bristol and Cardiff , and the 'Bristol Air Decker' service between Bath and Bristol Airport . The company has been a subsidiary of the French RATP Group since 2011. Bath Bus Company was formed in May 1997 by Martin Curtis and three other former Badgerline managers. It commenced operating open top tours in Bath with Bristol VR Ts and an AEC Routemaster . It later diversified into
62-464: A management buyout . In December 1997, it was sold to Arriva and renamed The Original Tour . The other major London operators are The Big Bus Company that commenced in June 1991 and Golden Tours that commenced in 2012. Stage carriage services are operated to a published timetable. The operator's standard ticketing arrangements apply, including the use of day or season tickets if appropriate. Some of
93-644: A 'hop-on hop-off' ticket that allows multiple journeys during a specified period. Companies who operate such tours include: Open top buses are also often used in the UK for victory parades for sport teams, such as the Premier League champions, the England cricket team 's victory in The Ashes . Open top buses also see regular use as temporary viewing platforms at events such as The Derby or for promotional reasons. Private hire
124-695: A new generation of convertibles for most of its seaside fleets in 1978. These were Bristol VR Ts with Eastern Coach Works bodies. Unlike older buses they did not need a conductor as the driver could collect fares and issue tickets. They were initially allocated to Devon General, Western National , Southdown and Hants & Dorset , although they were later spread across a larger number of operators. Bristol Omnibus kept its older crew-operated buses at Weston-super-Mare until 1982. Various second-hand buses had their roofs removed to replace them in 1982 but two years later six new Leyland Olympians with convertible Charles H. Roe bodywork were purchased as replacements. It
155-890: A straight staircase, three-tier luggage racks and tables. Other nationalised operators in England and Wales who purchased the Bristol Lodekka included Brighton Hove & District , the Bristol Omnibus Company , Cumberland Motor Services , the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company , the Eastern National Omnibus Company , Hants & Dorset , Lincolnshire Road Car , Red & White Services , Southern Vectis , South Wales Transport , Luton & District , Thames Valley Traction , United Automobile Services , United Counties Omnibus , United Welsh,
186-770: A traditional half-cab design by Eastern Coach Works of Lowestoft , with the lower floor level allowing for a low overall body height. The earlier LD-series and the later FL and FS had a rear entrance platform, however the later FSF and FLF, equipped with rear air suspension , had a stepless forward entrance located behind the front axle and driver's cab, achieved via the reduction of the nearside chassis frame's height; early models had one-piece sliding doors, which were later replaced with faster four-leaf folding doors. Most Lodekkas were powered by five- or six-cylinder Gardner engines, with small number optioned with Bristol AVW or Leyland O.600 or O.680 engines. In accordance with Bristol Commercial Vehicles practice, chassis were designated by
217-642: A two or three letter code, followed by the number of engine cylinders and engine manufacturer. Example engine classifications Due to both Bristol Commercial Vehicles and Eastern Coach Works being bought into state ownership following the nationalisation of its parent the Tilling Group , Lodekkas could only be bought by the British Transport Commission 's bus subsidiaries, later becoming the Transport Holding Company . The design, though,
248-685: Is run by GENeco, a subsidiary of Wessex Water . The introduction of the Bath Clean Air Zone in March 2021 caused the Bath Bus Company to invest heavily in new buses for its services. The Bath Bus Company introduced a new tour in nearby Bristol on 17 May 2021 which was branded Tootbus Bath. Bristol tours had been operated by Rubicon Tours from 1994 until 2020. The Tootbus Bath brand would also appear later that year on some tours in Bath but others would retain
279-468: Is sometimes employed for occasions such as weddings, using the large number of preserved vehicles in the UK. [REDACTED] Media related to Open top buses in the United Kingdom at Wikimedia Commons Bristol Lodekka The Bristol Lodekka is a half-cab low-height step-free double-decker bus built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles in England. It was the first production bus design to have step-free access from passenger entrance throughout
310-558: The Bath Bus Company since 1997 and Ryan’s Coaches 'City Tour' and Regency Tours offered further competition. In January 1986 London Transport revamped its sightseeing division and launched the Original London Transport Sightseeing Tour brand, to operate a fleet of 50 modified open and closed topped AEC Routemaster buses, on sightseeing tours of London. In May 1992 London Coaches was privatised in
341-713: The Bristol Omnibus Company at Weston-super-Mare in 1950 and Devon General at Torquay in 1955. Longer-established routes were by now using convertible buses. These were buses that had detachable roofs so they could be operated as open top during the summer but as conventional buses at other times. By 1951 Brighton was operating ten permanent open top buses and eight convertibles. At Torquay nine Leyland Atlanteans with convertible Metro-Cammell bodies were placed into service in 1961. These were named after historic seafarers and known as 'Sea Dogs'. Weston-super-Mare received four Bristol FSs with convertible Eastern Coach Works bodies in 1961. The National Bus Company ordered
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#1732873371842372-547: The West Yorkshire Road Car Company , Western National , Western Welsh , and Wilts & Dorset . Scottish operators of the Bristol Lodekka, most of whom had never operated buses manufactured by Bristol before, included Scottish Motor Traction companies Central SMT , Western SMT and Scottish Omnibuses (later Eastern Scottish ), as well as W. Alexander & Sons in the company's Fife and Southern operating areas. The Scottish Motor Traction, as well as
403-511: The 1970s. London Transport purchased seven convertible Daimler Fleetlines from Bournemouth in October 1977 which were placed on a London sightseeing tour. While some city tours were operated just a couple of times each day by one vehicle, the more popular cities saw intense competition, especially after bus services were deregulated in 1986. Badgerline in Bath was carrying up to 150,000 passengers annually but rival tours have been operated by
434-622: The European programme dropped after 1996 due to low demand. Bristol Lodekkas are highly popular export vehicles for non-passenger-carrying use across Continental Europe and North America, with imports to the United States commencing in the late 1970s after the supply of genuine ex- London Transport AEC Regent III RTs had been exhausted; differing height regulations in several US states mean that only low-height double-deckers can be legally driven on public roads. Examples of these Lodekka operators in
465-961: The Scottish Bus Group were experiencing engineering problems with their new VRTs, the NBC decided they would exchange Lodekka FLFs to the SBG, receiving a similar number of VRTs in return. In the exchange, which took place at the Carlisle depot of Ribble Motor Services , 43 FLF Lodekkas were acquired by SBG companies from Eastern Counties, 12 were acquired from Thames Valley, eleven from Northern General, nine from United, seven from Brighton & Hove, four from United Counties, three from Southern Vectis and two from Bristol Omnibus. Surrey-based Top Deck Travel converted approximately 100 Bristol Lodekkas to 'deckerhome' campervans between 1973 and 1997 for use on cross-continent overland tours of Europe, Asia and North America, with
496-663: The United Kingdom as their standard double-decker bus between 1953 and 1968, with the largest Lodekka operator being Crosville Motor Services of North Wales; after the opening of a new bridge over the River Conwy to replace the weight-restricted Conwy Suspension Bridge , the operator purchased a total of 593 Lodekkas across nearly all chassis types, some of which were built as convertible open-top buses . Crosville also purchased eight LD6B coaches in 1954 for summer services linking North Wales seaside resorts with Merseyside , equipped with extended rear platforms, an offside emergency door,
527-663: The United States include a dress store in Portland , Oregon named 'Lodekka', making use of a Lodekka that was originally being converted into a living space in the nearby city of Springfield , as well as a party bus charter company 'Double Decker PDX' also operating in Portland, a cupcake bakery in Saratoga Springs , New York named Bettie's Cakes, and various other restaurants and catering services. A handful of overseas bus operators also exported second-hand Bristol Lodekkas from
558-569: The company opearting a peak fleet of over 60 across multiple continents during the 1980s. These Lodekkas were typically equipped with a kitchen area, a water tank, sound systems, bunk beds and convertible seating/storage areas, with the North American Lodekkas, making use of campsite power outlets, additionally equipped with a television, a microwave, and a toaster. Top Deck Travel's Lodekka tours of North America ceased operations in 1986 due to increasing insurance and regulatory pressures, with
589-597: The first operators to provide open top buses for its seaside routes was Brighton, Hove & District in 1936. While most operators rebuilt old vehicles for such services, Maidstone & District Motor Services purchased six new Leyland Tiran TD5s with open top bodies built by Weymann in 1939. World War II saw an end to leisure services for a while, for example it was 1949 before open top services resumed at Southend-on-Sea . As new buses became available for regular services more companies introduced new open top services using old buses with their roofs cut off, such as at
620-415: The lower deck. The purpose of the Bristol Lodekka's design was to replace the traditional step-entrance and side-gangway lowbridge double-deck bus layout that had been widely disliked by both bus passengers and bus operating companies. Bristol's design lowered the chassis frame, integrating it with a 58-seat Eastern Coach Works body and fitting a drop-centre rear axle that meant there were no steps from
651-518: The more familiar City Sightseeing branding. As well as open top bus tours in Bath, Bristol and Cardiff, the Bath Bus Company operates a service from Bath to Bristol Airport branded as 'Air Decker'. The fleet consisted of 36 buses in October 2014. Open top buses in the United Kingdom The first open top buses in the United Kingdom were regular double deck buses, but these were later replaced by buses with enclosed top decks. One of
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#1732873371842682-452: The operation of tendered services. In 1999, Bath Bus Company became a City Sightseeing franchisee. In June 2004, the business was purchased by Ensignbus , who transferred its existing City Sightseeing operations in Cardiff , Eastbourne and Windsor to become part of Bath Bus Company. In February 2011, the business was purchased by RATP Dev , the overseas division of RATP Group. A service
713-442: The rear entrance platform to the front of the lower-deck gangway. On the early LDX, LD and first five LDL models, positioning of longitudinal chassis members allowed the gangway itself to be lowered about 10 centimetres (3.9 in) into a well below the seating platforms, and a full flat floor was later developed for the last LDL type, which was built into all LDS and the F series Lodekkas that followed. All Lodekkas were built to
744-417: The services listed here also have some of the characteristics of the open top tours listed below, such as circular routes or publicity that describes the route for tourists. They would not normally carry guides or have recorded commentaries. Some routes operate all year round, but not necessarily with open top buses. Some services have a mixture of open and closed buses. Many of the routes only operate during
775-714: The split Alexander companies, were both folded into the Scottish Bus Group (SBG), who continued ordering Lodekkas until 1967. The formation of the National Bus Company (NBC) from the combined THC and British Electric Traction fleets in 1969 led to the arrival of more one-person operated and rear-engined buses, such as the Leyland Atlantean and the Lodekka's successor, the Bristol VRT . When its sister company
806-470: The warmer months of the year. Nearly all major cities in the United Kingdom are served by tour bus services, most using open top buses. Other picturesque rural areas and monuments are also served by open top tours, such as Stonehenge and the New Forest . Tour buses often charge a premium fare and carry either a tour guide or offer a recorded commentary. They are usually circular routes and generally offer
837-582: Was attractive to privately-owned operators, leading to Bristol licensing the Lodekka design to Dennis Brothers Limited , who sold their variation of the design as the Dennis Loline . Equipped with a Gardner 6LW engine and a five-speed version of the reverse-drive gearbox used in the Dennis Hefty commercial chassis, this arrangement allowed for these operators to purchase buses built to a low-floor design. The first prototype Bristol Lodekka (chassis no. LDX001)
868-460: Was delivered to Bristol Tramways & Carriage Company Ltd in 1949, then an integral part of Bristol Commercial Vehicles. It was allocated fleet no. LC5000 and registered LHY 949, operating primarily on Bristol 's 36 service between Old Market and Knowle but also toured around numerous British Transport Commission bus subsidiaries. West Yorkshire Road Car Company took delivery of the second prototype Lodekka (chassis no. LDX002) in 1950. This
899-658: Was nearly twenty years before further open top buses came into production in the United Kingdom. In 1998 six Volvo B10Ms bodied by East Lancashire Coachbuilders for a city tour in Paris, France, but new vehicles for British operators soon followed. These included Lothian Buses who received four permanent open top Alexander ALX300 bodies on Dennis Trident chassis in 2000 and Yellow Buses in Bournemouth who purchased three Volvo B7TLs with convertible East Lancashire Coachbuilders bodies. City tours started to become popular during
930-610: Was originally allocated fleet number 822, later renumbered DX1 under West Yorkshire's April 1954 renumbering scheme, and was registered JWT 712. This bus mainly operated on Harrogate bus route 36 between Harrogate and Leeds , though it was also toured around British Transport Commission subsidiaries and was displayed at the Festival of Britain 's South Bank Exhibition in 1951. Despite the sales restrictions imposed on both Bristol Commercial Vehicles and ECW, over 5,000 production Lodekkas were built for use by nationalised bus companies across
961-513: Was started in March 2013 that linked Bath with Bristol Airport and branded 'Air Decker'. It offered through ticketing with Abus services in the Bristol area. On 21 November 2014, the company began a short-term service between Bristol and Bath using the country's first bus powered entirely by human and food waste . The biomethane gas is generated at Bristol sewage treatment works in Avonmouth , which