The death of Harry Blundred OBE, 75, in Barbados where he lived, has robbed the industry of what MET CEO David Leeder – once Harry’s assistant at Transit Holdings – describes as ‘the original disrupter’.
Says David: “He believed in Nicholas Ridley’s vision of a highly-responsive bus industry. He utterly believed in shaking up the market.”
And that he did. Although it was the National Bus Company (NBC) that played a key role in introducing minibuses in Exeter in 1984, once Harry – initially a sceptic – was convinced that the high-frequency, low-fare concept would work, he ran with it.
It led to a revolution that saw the widespread introduction of 16-seat minibuses across Britain in the mid-1980s.
Crucially, he also advocated simplified networks that responded to passenger demand. By 1990, the entire former Devon General network – which he and four others bought from NBC in an MBO in 1986 – was run with minibuses.
In 1987 he launched Thames Transit, in competition with City of Oxford Motor Services and introduced the Oxford Tube express coach route to London, initially every 20 minutes, but soon every 10 minutes.
The minibus revolution brought a rapid change in vehicle types not seen since London General ran its first petrol bus in 1903. Just nine years later it withdrew its last horse bus from its 9,000-strong fleet.
History, of which Harry was a key part, tells us never to ignore new ideas, however much at odds with the present they may seem.
