tbtc
Veteran Member
These days, if a line is closed we sometimes see services diverted and sometimes we see replacement bus services - a lot of the time the existence of such buses is blamed on "privatisation"
I know that they didn't start post privatisation (although they seemed to become more high profile, maybe because Fraser Eagle were a convenient stick to beat TOCs with) but when did replacement bus services start? Were they something provided pre-1923? 1923-1948? At some time under BR?
Obviously in earlier years there were fewer services per mile of track, and lots more lines with (practically) no passenger services on them, so more scope to divert trains via different lines
(I've always known a railway that used some replacement buses, it's just part of the rigmarole, but was there ever an are when there were *no* replacement buses and every services over a closed bit of line was either diverted another way or the railway didn't provide any alternatives whatsoever?)
I know that they didn't start post privatisation (although they seemed to become more high profile, maybe because Fraser Eagle were a convenient stick to beat TOCs with) but when did replacement bus services start? Were they something provided pre-1923? 1923-1948? At some time under BR?
Obviously in earlier years there were fewer services per mile of track, and lots more lines with (practically) no passenger services on them, so more scope to divert trains via different lines
(I've always known a railway that used some replacement buses, it's just part of the rigmarole, but was there ever an are when there were *no* replacement buses and every services over a closed bit of line was either diverted another way or the railway didn't provide any alternatives whatsoever?)