HC Deb 14 April 1993 vol 222 cc558-9W
Mr. Dowd

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many passenger journeys were made on London Buses Ltd. for each year since 1979.

Mr. Norris

The available information is shown in the table. The figures for London Buses Ltd. exclude passengers carried on tendered services, as this information is not readily available. Figures for London Transport bus services comprise all services operated by London Buses Ltd., tendered and non-tendered, together with tendered routes operated by other companies.

Passenger journeys
Millions
London Buses Ltd. (non-tendered services) London Transport bus services
1979 1,234 1,234
1980 1,183 1,183
1981 1,079 1,079
1982 1,039 1,039
1983 1,089 1,089
1984–851 1,153 1,153
1985–86 1,139 1,146
1986–87 1,094 1,158
1987–88 1,072 1,211
1988–89 985 1,206
1989–90 920 1,183
1990–91 846 1,180
1991–92 745 1,149
1 Since 1985–86 London Transport have put an increasing number of routes in their bus network out to tender.

Mr. Dowd

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of London buses are beyond their current design life; and how many will be beyond their design life by 1996.

Mr. Norris

Some 13 per cent. of London Buses Ltd.'s vehicles are currently beyond their original design life. The majority of these are the popular Routemaster vehicles, with an average age of 28 years. There is a refurbishment programme under way to extend the life of 500 Routemaster vehicles into the next century at a cost of £10 million. All vehicles are regularly maintained to ensure their reliability and continued safe operation. It is not possible to forecast the position for 1996.

Mr. Dowd

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much bus mileage the managing directors of London Buses Ltd. subsidiaries expect to be lost as a result of his Department's proposals for deregulation; and what efforts he has made to maintain the current level of mileage.

Mr. Norris

It is not for me to comment on the views of the managing directors of the subsidiaries of London Buses Ltd.

Upon deregulation we shall establish a central bus authority to ensure that routes which are socially necessary but which are not operated commercially are provided on a subsidised basis. As a guide, deregulation outside London has led to an increase of 20 per cent. in bus mileage.