East Kent Road Car Company
Encyclopedia
The East Kent Road Car Company Ltd was a bus company formed in 1916 and based in Canterbury
, Kent
. The company operated bus
and coach
services in Kent. In 1993 it was one of the first companies to be acquired by the Stagecoach Group
, which eventually rebranded the operation as Stagecoach in East Kent, and made it part of the Stagecoach South East
bus division.
East Kent serves the area after which it was named and at one time also served part of East Sussex
, operations in Rye
and Hastings
passing to Maidstone & District Motor Services Ltd
in return for that company's Ashford
interests). Since acquisition by the Stagecoach Group
, the company has made some radical alterations to its traditional route network, linking some services into long distance circulars.
), Margate Canterbury & District), Ramsgate Motor Coaches, and Folkestone & District. The new company began trading on 1 September 1916. From 1928, the Southern Railway became a significant shareholder
in the company. From 1929, an arrangement was made with the British Post Office where letter boxes would be installed on some vehicles. Moving into the 1930s saw the take overs of the tramways of Dover and Thanet, tram
s were quickly replaced with motor buses.
During the Second World War, East Kent vehicles were regular targets for enemy aircraft and the long range guns across The Channel on the French coast before the fall of France. To try to combat this, the cream-coloured parts of the buses were repainted grey to help make them less visible. The company experienced many losses during this time, especially at Dover where the garage suffered a direct hit in 1942, killing several staff. Lots of the vehicles had been loaned or contracted away, some stationed in the Midlands
; coupled with those written off by enemy action, it led to severe shortages. This was alleviated somewhat with the delivery of 10 Guy
Arabs with utility Park Royal
bodywork.
coaches and 60 Dennis Lancet single decker service buses. These arrived between 1946 and 1949. In September 1946, East Kent ordered 50 Leyland Titan PD1As with Leyland bodywork. These were delivered in 1947 and 1948. East Kent was one of many operators to use rebodied buses as a way to extend their service life. Prewar Leyland Titans went to ECW
for this treatment whilst 28 Leyland Titan TD5s were rebuilt as coaches by Beadle at Dartford. The company began to standardise on Guy Arabs for double decker buses and AEC Reliance
s for single deckers and coaches although Dennises and Leylands were also acquired. In the mid-1950s, two of the company's bus stations were rebuilt, Folkestone and Canterbury - both surviving today in refurbished form.
In the late 1950s, East Kent launched its first open top bus service with some of the wartime Guys converted. Painted in the reverse cream and red livery, they operated out of Thanet garage. Later Herne Bay, Dover and Folkestone also operated open top vehicles. Around this time the first AEC Regent V
s arrived. These were delivered to Thanet and were bodied by Park Royal to a full front, front entrance design and arrived in 1959. Later AEC Regents reverted to the half cab layout but all were bodied by Park Royal and many would survive into the late 1970s and early 1980s. AEC also became the main supplier of single deck buses and coaches too with batches of BET
style bodied Reliances entering the fleet as well as Park Royal, Plaxton
and Duple
bodied coaches.
s with Park Royal bodywork for Thanet garage. These were also the Company's first OMO (one man operated) double deckers. Later on some AEC Regents were also converted to OMO to reduce the cost of having 2 crew on each bus but these tended to be used only at peak hours. In 1971 the last buses were delivered in the traditional maroon and cream livery, these were 12 AEC Swift
s with Alexander
bodywork. Leyland National
s started to enter the fleet in the 1970s bringing with them the National Bus Company standard livery of Poppy Red and white. In the mid-1970s the Bristol VRT entered the fleet, the first batch having 14'6" ECW bodywork. Later batches had rare Willowbrook bodies before the final batch reverted to the standard 13'8" ECW body, by that time the NBC's standard vehicle. These cleared the last of the AEC Regents from normal passenger service in the early 1980s although some had a swangsong on the park and ride for the Open Golf and Sandwich, whilst others were used on contracts and for driver training.
s from Northern General
arrived. These were later replaced by more Atlanteans from Greater Manchester Transport. The Company's first new double deckers for nearly 7 years arrived in the form of 10 MCW Metrobus
es. Meanwhile 2 new MCW Hi-Liner
coaches were purchased for the coaching fleet. More Metrobuses arrived the following year some fitted with coach seating. Later when MCW ceased production the Company turned to once again to Leyland for new buses, these being Olympians
with Northern Counties bodywork.
1991 saw East Kent celebrate 75 years of service and MCW Metrobus 7755 (E755UKR) was repainted in the traditional livery. In the summer of 1993 the management sold out to a bid from the Perth
-based transport group, Stagecoach Group
. The coaching side of the business was soon sold off by Stagecoach as was 2 garages and part of Westwood (Thanet) garage for redevelopment. The then standard Stagecoach livery began to creep into the East Kent. Eventually the maroon and cream was lost to the dreaded stripes. Despite this Stagecoach invested heavily in new vehicles and upgrading routes. East Kent also gained the contract for operating the Canterbury Park and Ride around this time, a service they still operated until late 2008 when they lost it to Kent Top Travel
.
During 2002 Canterbury bus station was given a makeover and in 2004 Folkestone bus station was refurbished too. Low-floor buses on branded routes have become a big part of Stagecoach's business plans. It has also introduced a new livery and the company now trades as Stagecoach in East Kent, although the legal lettering remains unchanged. Today, branded routes such as The Loop, The Diamond, The Triangle, The Link, The Stars and The Heart operate in every major town in the area with low-floor, easy-access buses. The old East Kent habit of referring to the buses as cars still survives.
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. The company operated bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
and coach
Coach (vehicle)
A coach is a large motor vehicle, a type of bus, used for conveying passengers on excursions and on longer distance express coach scheduled transport between cities - or even between countries...
services in Kent. In 1993 it was one of the first companies to be acquired by the Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...
, which eventually rebranded the operation as Stagecoach in East Kent, and made it part of the Stagecoach South East
Stagecoach South East
Stagecoach South East is an operating division of the Stagecoach Group. The headquarters of the division are situated in Canterbury, England....
bus division.
East Kent serves the area after which it was named and at one time also served part of East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
, operations in Rye
Rye, East Sussex
Rye is a small town in East Sussex, England, which stands approximately two miles from the open sea and is at the confluence of three rivers: the Rother, the Tillingham and the Brede...
and Hastings
Hastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
passing to Maidstone & District Motor Services Ltd
Maidstone & District Motor Services Ltd
Maidstone & District Motor Services Ltd was a bus company based in Maidstone, Kent. The company operated bus and coach services in Mid and West Kent and East Sussex from 1911 until 1998. The company's surviving operations were absorbed into Arriva Southern Counties.-Early years:In 1908 a hired...
in return for that company's Ashford
Ashford, Kent
Ashford is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. In 2005 it was voted the fourth best place to live in the United Kingdom. It lies on the Great Stour river, the M20 motorway, and the South Eastern Main Line and High Speed 1 railways. Its agricultural market is one of the most...
interests). Since acquisition by the Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...
, the company has made some radical alterations to its traditional route network, linking some services into long distance circulars.
Formation
East Kent Road Car Company Limited was officially formed on 11 August 1916. It was an amalgamation of Deal & District Motor Services, Wacher & Co (Herne BayHerne Bay, Kent
Herne Bay is a seaside town in Kent, South East England, with a population of 35,188. On the south coast of the Thames Estuary, it is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government district...
), Margate Canterbury & District), Ramsgate Motor Coaches, and Folkestone & District. The new company began trading on 1 September 1916. From 1928, the Southern Railway became a significant shareholder
Shareholder
A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or institution that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders own the stock, but not the corporation itself ....
in the company. From 1929, an arrangement was made with the British Post Office where letter boxes would be installed on some vehicles. Moving into the 1930s saw the take overs of the tramways of Dover and Thanet, tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
s were quickly replaced with motor buses.
During the Second World War, East Kent vehicles were regular targets for enemy aircraft and the long range guns across The Channel on the French coast before the fall of France. To try to combat this, the cream-coloured parts of the buses were repainted grey to help make them less visible. The company experienced many losses during this time, especially at Dover where the garage suffered a direct hit in 1942, killing several staff. Lots of the vehicles had been loaned or contracted away, some stationed in the Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
; coupled with those written off by enemy action, it led to severe shortages. This was alleviated somewhat with the delivery of 10 Guy
Guy Motors
Guy Motors was a British company based in Fallings Park, Wolverhampton that made cars, lorries, buses, and trolleybuses.-History:Guy Motors Ltd was founded in 1914 by Sydney Guy who had been the Works Manager of nearby Sunbeam. A factory was built on the site at Fallings Park, Wolverhampton...
Arabs with utility Park Royal
Park Royal Vehicles
Dating its origins back to 1889, Park Royal Vehicles along with its Leeds-based subsidiary Charles H. Roe was one of Britain's leading coachbuilders and bus manufacturers based at Park Royal, west London, UK.-Associated Commercial Vehicles:...
bodywork.
Post-war
After the war, orders were placed for 50 Leyland Tiger PS1Leyland Tiger (front-engined)
The Leyland Tiger was a heavyweight half-cab single-decker bus and coach chassis built by Leyland Motors between 1927 and 1968, except the period of World War II....
coaches and 60 Dennis Lancet single decker service buses. These arrived between 1946 and 1949. In September 1946, East Kent ordered 50 Leyland Titan PD1As with Leyland bodywork. These were delivered in 1947 and 1948. East Kent was one of many operators to use rebodied buses as a way to extend their service life. Prewar Leyland Titans went to ECW
Eastern Coach Works
Eastern Coach Works Ltd was a bus and railbus body building company based in Lowestoft, England.-History:The company can trace its roots back to 1912, when United Automobile Services was founded in the town to run bus services. United began a coach building business at the Lowestoft site in 1920...
for this treatment whilst 28 Leyland Titan TD5s were rebuilt as coaches by Beadle at Dartford. The company began to standardise on Guy Arabs for double decker buses and AEC Reliance
AEC Reliance
The AEC Reliance was a single-deck bus or coach chassis with a mid-underfloor-mounted engine, built by AEC in Southall, west London, England between 1953 and 1979. The name had previously been used between 1928 and 1931 for another single-deck bus chassis....
s for single deckers and coaches although Dennises and Leylands were also acquired. In the mid-1950s, two of the company's bus stations were rebuilt, Folkestone and Canterbury - both surviving today in refurbished form.
In the late 1950s, East Kent launched its first open top bus service with some of the wartime Guys converted. Painted in the reverse cream and red livery, they operated out of Thanet garage. Later Herne Bay, Dover and Folkestone also operated open top vehicles. Around this time the first AEC Regent V
AEC Regent V
The AEC Regent V was a front-engined double-decker bus built by the Associated Equipment Company between 1954 and 1969. It was the last version of AEC Regent series double-decker and built as the successor of the AEC Regent III .The Regent V had AEC's own frontal design and concealed radiator as...
s arrived. These were delivered to Thanet and were bodied by Park Royal to a full front, front entrance design and arrived in 1959. Later AEC Regents reverted to the half cab layout but all were bodied by Park Royal and many would survive into the late 1970s and early 1980s. AEC also became the main supplier of single deck buses and coaches too with batches of BET
British Electric Traction
British Electric Traction Company Limited, renamed BET plc in 1985, was a large British industrial conglomerate. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Rentokil in 1996, and the merged company is now known as Rentokil Initial.- Early history :The company was founded as...
style bodied Reliances entering the fleet as well as Park Royal, Plaxton
Plaxton
Plaxton is a builder of bus and coach vehicle bodies based in Scarborough, England.-History:The Plaxton of today is the successor to a business founded in Scarborough in 1907 by Frederick William Plaxton.-Beginnings:...
and Duple
Duple Coachbuilders
Duple was best known as a British manufacturer of coach and bus bodywork from 1919 until 1989.-History:Duple Bodies & Motors Ltd was formed in 1919 by Herbert White in Hornsey, London...
bodied coaches.
National Bus Company
East Kent was taken over by the National Bus Company on 1 January 1969, during this time the company's first rear engined double deckers arrived. These were 20 Daimler FleetlineDaimler Fleetline
The Daimler Fleetline is a rear-engined double-decker bus chassis built between 1960 and 1973 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, and from 1973 until 1980 in Farington, Lancashire, England. However, the last complete vehicle did not enter service until 1983...
s with Park Royal bodywork for Thanet garage. These were also the Company's first OMO (one man operated) double deckers. Later on some AEC Regents were also converted to OMO to reduce the cost of having 2 crew on each bus but these tended to be used only at peak hours. In 1971 the last buses were delivered in the traditional maroon and cream livery, these were 12 AEC Swift
AEC Swift
The AEC Swift was a rear-engined single-deck bus chassis built by AEC between 1964 and 1974. The chassis design was closely related to the Leyland Panther...
s with Alexander
Walter Alexander Coachbuilders
Walter Alexander Coachbuilders was a Scottish bus coachbuilder and operater based in Falkirk.-History:Walter Alexander, notice a lack expasion by the Falkirk and District Tramways Company's especially in to Grangemouth which never hdd a tram line. In 1913 Alexander's Motor Service was created to...
bodywork. Leyland National
Leyland National
The Leyland National is a British single-deck bus built in large quantities between 1972 and 1985. It was developed as a joint project between two UK nationalised industries - the National Bus Company and British Leyland. Buses were constructed at a specially built factory at the Lillyhall...
s started to enter the fleet in the 1970s bringing with them the National Bus Company standard livery of Poppy Red and white. In the mid-1970s the Bristol VRT entered the fleet, the first batch having 14'6" ECW bodywork. Later batches had rare Willowbrook bodies before the final batch reverted to the standard 13'8" ECW body, by that time the NBC's standard vehicle. These cleared the last of the AEC Regents from normal passenger service in the early 1980s although some had a swangsong on the park and ride for the Open Golf and Sandwich, whilst others were used on contracts and for driver training.
Deregulation
On Sunday 26 October 1986, all the bus companies were deregulated. East Kent management entered into negotiations with the NBC sales team in October 1986 and following some hot competition from a French bidder, the company was sold to management team on 5 March 1987. The NBC 'double arrow' was quickly removed from the vehicles to be replaced by a red EK in a white box. A new livery was introduced of cherry red and cream but it would take several years to completely remove all the NBC livery. Minibuses had entered the fleet in a big way, cutting a dash in bold yellow 'Minilink' livery. These vehicles were used to boost ailing passenger numbers by serving estates not accessible to larger vehicles and offering a better frequency of service. Also to help cover a new route network introduced, 12 Leyland AtlanteanLeyland Atlantean
The Leyland Atlantean is a model of double-decker bus built by Leyland in the United Kingdom from 1958 to 1986....
s from Northern General
Northern General Transport Company
The Northern General Transport Company was the original founding company of what is now Go-Ahead Group.It originated in the early 1900s when Gateshead and District Tramways asked Parliament's permission to extend their Tramway, which finished at Low Fell, to Chester-le-Street. Parliament denied the...
arrived. These were later replaced by more Atlanteans from Greater Manchester Transport. The Company's first new double deckers for nearly 7 years arrived in the form of 10 MCW Metrobus
MCW Metrobus
The MCW Metrobus is a double decker bus model manufactured by MCW from 1977 until 1989, with over 4,000 examples built. The original MkI model was superseded by the MkII model in 1981/1982, although production of the original MkI continued for London Transport until 1985...
es. Meanwhile 2 new MCW Hi-Liner
MCW Metroliner
The MCW Metroliner was a coach built by Metro Cammell Weymann in the 1980s. The Metroliner was available as a standard single-deck coach, or the more numerous and striking multi-axle double-deck coach....
coaches were purchased for the coaching fleet. More Metrobuses arrived the following year some fitted with coach seating. Later when MCW ceased production the Company turned to once again to Leyland for new buses, these being Olympians
Leyland Olympian
The Leyland Olympian was a double-decker bus built by British Leyland/Leyland Bus in the United Kingdom from 1980 to 1993. It was the last Leyland bus model in production before the demise of Leyland Bus.-Construction:...
with Northern Counties bodywork.
1991 saw East Kent celebrate 75 years of service and MCW Metrobus 7755 (E755UKR) was repainted in the traditional livery. In the summer of 1993 the management sold out to a bid from the Perth
Perth, Scotland
Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
-based transport group, Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...
. The coaching side of the business was soon sold off by Stagecoach as was 2 garages and part of Westwood (Thanet) garage for redevelopment. The then standard Stagecoach livery began to creep into the East Kent. Eventually the maroon and cream was lost to the dreaded stripes. Despite this Stagecoach invested heavily in new vehicles and upgrading routes. East Kent also gained the contract for operating the Canterbury Park and Ride around this time, a service they still operated until late 2008 when they lost it to Kent Top Travel
Kent Top Travel
Kent Top Temps Ltd trading as KENT TOP TRAVEL is a bus operator in Kent, England, wholly owned by Kent County Council . The majority of Kent Top Travel's route portfolio comprises rural, evening and Sunday services let under competitive tender in open competition with private bus operators...
.
During 2002 Canterbury bus station was given a makeover and in 2004 Folkestone bus station was refurbished too. Low-floor buses on branded routes have become a big part of Stagecoach's business plans. It has also introduced a new livery and the company now trades as Stagecoach in East Kent, although the legal lettering remains unchanged. Today, branded routes such as The Loop, The Diamond, The Triangle, The Link, The Stars and The Heart operate in every major town in the area with low-floor, easy-access buses. The old East Kent habit of referring to the buses as cars still survives.