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The London Bendy Bus (Hardback)

Transport > Buses Transport > London Transport World History > UK & Ireland > England > London

By Matthew Wharmby
Imprint: Pen & Sword Transport
Pages: 112
Illustrations: 150
ISBN: 9781783831722
Published: 9th March 2016

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Between 2002 and 2006 six of London’s bus companies put into service 390 articulated ‘bendy’ buses on twelve routes for transport in London.

During what turned out to be a foreshortened nine years in service, the Mercedes-Benz Citaro G buses familiar on the continent and worldwide earned an unenviable reputation in London; according to who you read and who you believed, they caught fire at the drop of a hat, they maimed cyclists, they drained revenue from the system due to their susceptibility to fare evasion, they transported already long-suffering passengers in standing crush loads like cattle and they contributed to the extinction of the Routemaster from frontline service. In short, it was often referred to as ‘the bus we hated’.

This account is an attempt by a long-time detractor of the bendy buses to set the vehicles in their proper context – not quite to rehabilitate them, but to be as fair as is possible towards a mode of transport which felt about as un-British as could be.

I was initially drawn to this book by the title.

For those members of the transport fraternity who like their irony heavy, or who relish the intellectual challenge of mining intermingled seams of varying yield, this could well fit the bill.

Paul Stanton

This is a well-researched book that tells an important and fascinating story, and I for one congratulate Matthew for having the courage to tell it.

Coach & Bus Week, July 2016 - Andy Izatt

... It is a history that needed documenting and it is well documented here... It is a useful, attractively produced book on an interesting topic.

Buses Magazine, June 2016 – Stephen Morris

About Matthew Wharmby

MATTHEW WHARMBY is an author, photographer and editor who specialises in London bus history. His published books include Routemaster Requiem and Routemaster Retrospective (with Geoff Rixon), London Transport 1970-1984 (with R.C. Riley), The London Titan and The London Metrobus. He has also written many articles for Buses, Bus & Coach Preservation, Classic Bus and London Bus Magazine. This is his twelfth book for Pen and Sword; the others are London Transport’s Last Buses: Leyland Olympians L 1-263, The London Bendy Bus, The London Enviro400, The London DMS, The London LS, Last Years of the London Titan, Last Years of the London Metrobus, The London Volvo B9TL and B5LH, The London Dennis Trident, The London Volvo B7TL and (with John Laker), London Buses 1970-80.

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