Private to State to Private

The early 21st century bus industry consolidation continues apace with news affecting one of England’s most unusual operators.

While Plymouth Citybus and Rossendale Transport continue to make news owing to their potential moves to the private sector, TfL owned 113-vehicle East Thames Buses will from September make history as the only post Transport Act 1985 former private sector operator to transfer to state control and back again. The TfL process was similar to that at Rossendale and Plymouth—though expressions of interest turned to a sale. The buyer is Go Ahead’s London General that, this week, lost the artics on its route 507 and will shortly do so on the 521. Go Ahead is now marginally London's biggest single operator.

Insignificant itself in terms of the London market, ETB has as large a fleet as Rossendale Transport. It was created by London Regional Transport in 1999 (the year of London's first SLF double decks) upon the collapse of Harris Buses Ltd because, at the time, no operator was immediately able to take over. First Group was interested before administration but not afterwards. Harris had entered the London bus market in 1997, grown rapidly to 75 vehicles and vanished almost as quickly.

What made successor ETB unique was that in 1999 it effectively become "nationalised" into *state*control. No other operator has done so since before the privatisation of 1986 and beyond. At the time of ETB’s creation, London Regional Transport was under the government and not a passenger transport authority. It was only one year later that LRT came under the newly created London Assembly.

Ten years on, how things change. TfL loses what is often referred to as its operator of last resort, a means of ensuring the market works as well as it should which, as the total number of London operators declines further, means the sale is a risk for TfL, but not a high one.

All management and staff will be TUPE-ed across, after which expect the usual rationalisation which, with a sale of assets, is expected to realise £30mil over nine years. TfL cite corporate support services cuts, lower operating contracts though economics of scale and no direct fleet replacement costs. In the case of the last, such costs are hidden within the contracts themselves.