Birmingham Buses Part 2

Birmingham City Transport had to serve out the Second World War with a large bus fleet and a tramway system which was originally due for withdrawal in 1944 and which had to be kept going until sufficient new buses were able to replace them. This occurred on 4 July 1953, some two years after the Coventry Road trolleybus route, with its excellently maintained fleet of just 74 vehicles, was closed. The resultant post-war bus fleet of some 1747 vehicles not only saw off all forms of electric traction in the City but also, nearly all of the pre-war bus fleet. This was a blessing in disguise as by the late 1950s passenger numbers had dropped dramatically and B.C.T. had to face the problem of having too many middle-aged buses in excellent condition yet requiring to meet the needs of increased wages for the platform staff, increase the capacity of the buses and reduce frequencies while still trying to maintain passenger numbers.

From 1955 until 1962, the Transport Department tried out many demonstration vehicles usually on the arduous 14 group of services to Lea Hall and this resulted in the undertaking ordering in 1962 some 300 Daimler “Fleetlines” which at the time was the largest order for buses ever made by a municipality. Throughout the 1960s, the rear-engined, front entrance “Fleetline” became the standard Birmingham bus although the single-deck fleet was augmented by lightweight Ford buses for express services and A.E.C. “Swifts” for high capacity “Standee” work. Birmingham City Transport was at the forefront of One-Man-Operation. On the formation of the compulsorily created West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive on 1 October 1969, the excellently maintained B.C.T. fleet which was handed over formed the backbone for many years of the new operator.

This book examines not only the chronological development of the Birmingham bus from the introduction of “utility” vehicles in 1942 through the “Standard” era and into the age of the “Fleetline”, but also considers the geographical, historical and social aspects in the post-war expansion of the City of Birmingham.