Take a pictorial ride on red buses back in time

12:16pm Wednesday 15th August 2001

Transport anoraks will be able to relive the golden age of the tram and trolleybus in Croydon in a new book which brings to life the post-war images of London's red bus.

Croydon's role in the changing face of public transport is featured in the book, Streets of London, which was published last month.

Readers are taken on a pictorial journey through the history of the capital's evolving bus and transports them to a world with minimal traffic, no litter or graffiti and little road markings - sights which are alien in today's Croydon streets.

Streets of London is the portrayal, in colour, of the capital's trams, trolleybuses and motor buses in post-war scenes which convey the atmosphere of the era.

Trolleybuses were introduced primarily to replace trams because, having electric traction, they were able to use much of the tram infrastructure. The electric tram, successor of the horse tram, had entered London service in 1901.

But despite upgrading and the introduction of some new vehicles the system was, by the mid-1930s, becoming time-expired and inconvenient.

Trams normally travelled down the centre of the road, causing traffic congestion and risking passenger safety.

Trolleybuses, not being confined to rails, offered increased speed and comfort, as well as being able to pull up, like buses, at the kerb. But, like trams, they could not overtake one another.

The book's author Kevin McCormack, who lives in Ashtead, is no stranger to London transport history.

He is already the author of three other books dedicated to the London bus.

Streets of London is priced £14.99, published by Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN number: 0711027749.