London Country names its team for New Year start
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• The NBC subsidiary that will operate the ex-London Transport green bus services, London Country Bus Services Ltd., announced its leading executives and its administrative setup on Monday. As already reported, the managing director of London Country will be Mr. C. R. Buckley, an executive board member of the parent National Bus Company. Now it is revealed that the general manager will be Mr. G. Fernyhough, the traffic manager Mr. H. F. C. Adcock, the chief engineer Mr. A. L.A. Stimpson and the company secretary Mr. D. W. Passmore. This team will head a staff of 5,500 operating a fleet of 1,300 green buses and coaches in the country belt around London—and including the Green Line express coach services.
On Tuesday, explaining London Country's role, Mr Buckley told CM that the company would certainly be looking keenly at the prospects for private hire and excursions, but was not going in for luxury coach tours—at least not initially.
Headquarters offices of the new company —which comes officially into effective existence on January 1 next year—will be at Bell Street, Reigate. Fleet name will be London Country, and the existing green will be retained. The inherited LTB bus stop signs will be replaced by the MoT-recommended standard sign—but only as the old posts become due for renewal.
As well as the Reigate offices, premises will be occupied at nearby Redhill, and a new bus overhaul works will eventually be built—but the location is not decided. London Country also intends to set up driver training schools, but will first be busy setting up a selfcontained organization to support the bus fleet it will inherit.
Significantly, the opening statement concerning London Country makes the point that bus fares are almost wholly linked to staff wages awards and "the major burden of wage increases must be passed on to passengers". But fares levels and standards of service are still being discussed, says the NBC. There are hopes that services and through facilities may be improved by liaison with other NBC companies and BR. There will be quarterly joint meetings.
About 40 per cent of LTB green buses are already one-man-operated, and Mr. Fernyhough said on Tuesday that the aim was eventual 100 per cent o-m-o. London Country intends to move as fast as possible to a younger fleet, and will next year get 138 33ft AEC /MCW single-deckers orginally ordered by LTB. These are the 35-seat, 25-standee o-m-o models. In 1971 it will receive 90 more Swift single-deckers,' plus 90 Park Royal bodied double-deckers, almost certainly Fleetlines.
A new symbol to replace the LT bull's-eye was being chosen by NBC and London Country management this week. In the new operating pattern from January, London's country bus and coach undertaking will, in effect, revert to the situation prior to 1933, when the northern services were run by the Northern Omnibus Company and the southern ones by East Surrey Traction Co. and Autocar Services.
Mr. Fernyhough, the new general manager, moves to London Country from LTB, where he has been operating manager of the country services since 1954; he is 59. Mr. Adcock, too, is with LTB, having been appointed traffic manager of the country services in March this year after 20 years as a divisional superintendent. Another long-serving London Transport man is Mr. L. A. Stimpson, who was an apprentice at Chiswick works in 1941, but is now divisional engineer for country buses and coaches. His assistant engineer, however, comes from Midland General; Mr. A. McAndrew is assistant engineer there now, having joined in 1959. Also from far afield is Mr. Passmore, who has been secretary and accountant of Devon General since 1961.