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Night Buses, Workmans Tickets (history question)
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 |
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