The London General Omnibus Company or LGOC, was the principal 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...

 operator in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 between 1855 and 1933. It was also, for a short period between 1909 and 1912, a motor bus manufacturer

Bus manufacturing

Bus manufacturing is a specific sector of the automotive industry, which carries out the manufacturing of buses and coaches.-History:Bus manufacturing had its earliest origins in carriage building. Other bus manufacturers had their origins in truck manufacturing...

.

Overview

The London General Omnibus Company was founded in 1855 to amalgamate and regulate the many independent horse-drawn omnibus services then operating in London. Originally an Anglo-French enterprise, also known as the Compagnie Generale des Omnibus de Londres, the LGOC soon became the largest omnibus operator in London. It bought out hundreds of independently-owned buses and established a consistent level of service for its fleet. Within a year, the LGOC controlled 600 of London's 810 omnibuses.

LGOC began using motor omnibuses in 1902, and the last LGOC horse-drawn bus ran on 25 October 1911. In 1908 the LGOC bought the Road Car Company, the Vanguard Company, and its other main rivals, thereby gaining a virtual monopoly in London.

In 1912, the Underground Group

Underground Electric Railways Company of London

The Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited , known operationally as The Underground for much of its existence, was established in 1902. It was the holding company for the three deep-level "tube"A "tube" railway is an underground railway constructed in a circular tunnel by the use...

, which owned most of the London Underground

London Underground

The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...

, bought the LGOC. In 1933, the LGOC, along with the rest of the Underground Group, became part of the new London Passenger Transport Board

London Passenger Transport Board

The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for public transport in London, UK, and its environs from 1933 to 1948...

. The name London General fell into disuse, and London Transport instead became synonymous with the red London bus

Buses in London

The London Bus is one of London's principal icons, the archetypal red rear-entrance double-deck Routemaster being recognised worldwide. Although the Routemaster has now been largely phased out of service, with only two heritage routes still using the vehicles, the majority of buses in London are...

.

Manufacturing

LGOC began producing motor omnibuses for its own use in 1909 at works established in premises inherited from Vanguard at Blackhorse Lane, Walthamstow

Walthamstow

Walthamstow is a district of northeast London, England, located in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It is situated north-east of Charing Cross...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. The first model built was the LGOC X-type

LGOC X-type

-History:The X-type was the first bus built by London General Omnibus Co. Ltd . The manufacturing part of LGOC became AEC in June 1912.In 1908 LGOC merged with its two main rivals, London Motor Omnibus Co Ltd , and London Road Car Co. Ltd...

, which was designed by Frank Searle, LGOC's chief engineer. The X-type was followed by the LGOC B-type

LGOC B-type

The LGOC B-type is a model of double-decker bus that was introduced in London on 1910. It was both built and operated by the London General Omnibus Company .-History:...

, from the same designer.

After the Underground Group's acquisition of the LGOC in 1912, the bus manufacturing elements of the LGOC were split out to create the Associated Equipment Company (AEC).

Rebirth of the name

In the privatisation of London bus services

Privatisation of London bus services

The privatisation of London bus services was the progressive process of the transfer of operation of London Buses from public bodies to private companies....

 in the 1980s, London Transport created a series of shadow bus operating companies with names of geographic or historic significance, and one of these was christened London General

London General

London General is a bus company operating in Surrey ang Greater London. It is owned by the Go-Ahead Group and operates most buses under contract to London Buses...

 in honour of the LGOC. The new London General was initially privatised by management buy-out, and acquired by the Go-Ahead Group

Go-Ahead Group

The Go-Ahead Group plc is a rail and bus operating company that was created following the privatisation of the UK's train and bus industries. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-Early history:...

in 1996.