London Transport in the 1920s

The 1920s were a decade of considerable change in London. In public transport terms it was the last complete decade of unfettered competition prior to the creation of the London Passenger Transport Board. There were myriad operators - some large like the tramway network of the London County Council and the bus routes operated by the London General Omnibus Company, with others having only a handful of routes or vehicles. It was an age when the bus started to grow in importance as vast number of army surplus vehicles became available and easily converted and when the growth in suburbs grew ever more important and with this the concomitant rise in commuting to and from central London. It was an age when mass popular entertainment - football and the cinema, for example - became more prevalent, again imposing new strains and stresses on London's public transport. It was in the 1920s that the final great extensions to the city's tramway network occurred and when the Underground network was still developing under the aegis of the private companies that had promoted the lines and had built them. This book really starts the story of London Transport from its very earliest days, adding to a series which is building into the most comprehensive coverage of the capital's transport history. Michael Baker writes in a lively, readable style and the text is enlivened with a selection of nostalgic and atmospheric period photographs and some interesting personal anecdotes.