"Commer" Commercial Cars Ltd Luton



The Buses that started the Corporation

These four vehicles took 4 days to be delivered from Luton to Widnes in 1909. There was no motorways, roads were in general very poor and at a height of 16ft 6ins "still very high for a vehicle nowadays" quite a few tree branches had to be cut down to get to Widnes. In the picture of the four buses being delivered the first bus can be seen with a timber projection on the front to test the height of bridges, trees, overhangs etc on route. The buses were unique with their covered top double decked bodies and were certainly the first in England, probably the world. The wheelbase was 7ft 6ins wide "a wider wheelbase was requested but declined due to the Heavy Motor Vehicle Act" and the bus ran on solid rubber tyres, they carried 34 seated passengers. Cost of each bus was £844 and they were numbered 1,2,3 &4. The buses were put to work on Good Friday April 9th with a service from the Transporter Bridge through the town centre to Peel House Lane. Services to Farnworth, Appleton, Halton View and Rainhill soon followed. In the first six months of service an average of over 15,000 passengers were carried each week, with just over £80 in bus fares per week collected.