In message , Rizla
Ranger UK writes

I have questions for those with knowledge
of bus services during the 1930's - 1950's


During this period, were there Nightbuses?

Remember that many routes were actually operated by trams and then by
trolley-buses back in those days.

If yes, were there many, or just a few routes?
If so, what were these routes?

In London, my 1931 timetable shows all-night trams on 9 LCC routes, from
Victoria Embankment to:
Battersea (*)
Tooting via Streatham,
Tooting via Clapham,
New Cross Gate
Downham.
Going north, from Holborn/Bloomsbury to:
Hampstead (*)
Highgate (*)
Stamford Hill
Poplar.

All half-hourly, except those marked (*) which were hourly - although
not all routes operated at precise regular intervals.

I don't know what, if any, all-night services were provided by other
companies, such as London United or the local council systems.

I don't see much sign of LGOC operating all-night buses in the 1920s,
but it is possible they had started such services by the '30s - perhaps
someone else will know.

After trolley-buses replaced trams, all-night services were maintained
on most routes (and a few new routes were introduced) - mostly hourly,
but more frequent on the Stamford Hill and Poplar (now extended to
Barking) routes. Since some of the tram routes above were replaced by
buses, I think it likely that all-night buses were in operation by now.

What times did these buses operate between

Between last tram of the normal service and first of the next morning -
roughly 01:00 to 04:45, although some routes started at around 00:15.

and was the fare pricing the same as daytime operations?

I don't have any evidence to the contrary.

During this period, what were 'Workmans Tickets'?

Reduced-price tickets for early travel on the outward journey.

I've heard this was a special pricing system for workers in the Docks
etc.

Not especially.

Were there a list of prescribed occupations which qualified for
'workmans ticket'

No. You just had to leave for work before 08:00 in most places.

How much below the standard fare did this price fall?

Often half price - a return ticket for the price of a single.

It is worth remembering that many of these all-night services operated
primarily for night workers and early-starters (those working in the
newspaper and transport industries, for example) rather than for
late-night revellers.

I suspect that workmen's tickets date back a very long way. Their origin
was probably in Gladstone's 1844 "parliamentary trains" act, which
required railway companies to transport third-class passengers for no
more than a penny a mile - this supposedly being some sort of recompense
for the thousands of low-paid workers displaced when railways tore down
inner-city properties.

Most companies fulfilled the letter of the law by running very
early-morning services for workers at these reduced rates. The bus and
tram companies adopted similar ticketing (although with a later time
limit) because they were in competition for inner-city passengers. I
don't know when workmen's tickets ended - I would guess by about 1960.

--
Paul Terry