HISTORY OF DOUBLE DECKER BUS

This is my first post of my blog, I´m telling you about  London buses.

The introduction date of the very first commercial double decker bus (just like the first bus itself) seems to be open to some debate.Generally what is agreed upon is that commercial buses were first widely introduced in the 1820′s, they were horse drawn as you would expect.

These early buses were called ‘Omnibuses‘ and ran in France and England, and it wasn’t until 1847 when Adams & Co of Fairfield works, manufactured a vehicle with a clerestory roof with built in upper seats running the length of the bus.  These were first operated by the Economic Conveyance Company of London, and to encourage people to use these  the fare was half of the cost of sitting inside.

These open top double decker horse drawn buses were not initially popular . But with the time these buses became more novel with innovations such as a staircase to make access to the top deck easier, along with forward facing garden seats rather than longitudinal bench seats, and this encouraged more ladies to ride them.

The last ever horse drawn bus in London ceased operating on 4th August 1914, but continued in more rural areas in the UK until 1932.The first motorised double decker was the NS Type (picture on the left) which was introduced in 1923 and was the first to feature a full covered top deck. It built by the A.E.C. (Associated Equipment Company) was considered luxurious at the time with upholstered seats rather than the wooden benches, and the closed in top deck enabled buses to compete on level terms with the trams that had become popular as a cheaper alternative, and with lots of new urban development, the freedom of the bus to adapt to new routes unlike the tram or train meant it grew in popularity very rapidly. The NS Type stayed in production until it was withdrawn in1937.