Members and friends of the bus industry ensured that former London Country manager and Institute of Transport Administration President Alan Whittington was honoured for decades of service to the sector at his funeral on 28 January.
Mr Whittington died in December 2025. His funeral was held at Walpole St Peter Church in Norfolk within a few hundred yards of where he lived. He has been described as a dedicated leader and a passionate advocate for the transport sector, with his vision, expertise and commitment having shaped the Institute and inspired countless fellow professionals.
Three preserved buses were present at his funeral. Leading the procession was a London Country AEC Regal IV single-deck from the RF class, a bus that Mr Whittington regularly drove on rural routes, followed by an AEC Regent III double-deck from the RT class. It was his bus when he served as a London Country driving instructor.
Both are owned by Wesley Tierney and were driven from Stansted to West Norfolk for the funeral. They ran a park-and-ride service from King’s Lynn to accommodate the number of people wishing to pay their respects to Mr Whittington.
Bringing up the rear and carrying his coffin was an AEC Routemaster owned by Arriva UK Bus Managing Director Martijn Gilbert and looked after by Ensignbus Hire.
An Ensign driver brought the bus from Purfleet and the team there had created a ‘bearer’ in the lower saloon above the rear axle to convey Mr Whittington on his final journey for the few hundred yards to the church.
That was accomplished by the removal of some hand poles and permitted the coffin to be loaded via the emergency door on the coach-specification Routemaster.
After a career at London Country that included work as a driver, driving instructor, training manager and finally acting depot manager, he established his own business, Professional Transport Services. He ran it for 34 years until his death.
