[hawkinspeter]

From: https://londonist.com/london/transport/dartford-tunnel-bike-bus

[quote]These days, cyclists have plenty of ways to get their trusty metal steeds from one side of the Thames to the other — bike lanes on bridges, for one. But there’s one cycle-friendly river crossing that’s no longer in use — and we really wish we’d seen it when it was.

The Dartford Tunnel Cycle Service was a special bus service used for just a couple of years in the 1960s, to get cyclists and their bikes across the river at the Dartford Crossing, the most easterly Thames crossing.

When the Dartford Tunnel opened in November 1963, joining Kent to Essex via a road beneath the river, traffic volumes were significantly lower than they are today. But it was still thought that the subaquatic journey was too dangerous to be done on a pushbike. At the time, there was only one tunnel — the second was added in 1980, and the neighbouring bridge didn’t open until 1991 — so initially, traffic ran in both directions in a single shaft.

Two years before the tunnel was due to open, London Transport, responsible for the crossing at the time, commissioned five specially designed double decker buses, to convey cyclists and their bikes from one side to the other. Handily, these were made just down the road, at the Ford Dagenham plant.[/quote]

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[IanMSpencer]

I like the specialist cycling
I like the specialist cycling outfits the ladies are wearing, I wonder if the shoes are Shimano.

[EK Spinner]

Fascinating pictures

Fascinating pictures

Interesting, it would appear you can load & climb aboard from either side, I can’t imagine there were any doublesided loading bays as that would be a tight squeeze to get the bus in.

 

[IanMSpencer]

Ah, a platform, one picture
Ah, a platform, one picture paints a thousand words.

[Hirsute]

There is still a service you
There is still a service you can use for free
https://www.gov.uk/dartford-crossing-bike

[hawkinspeter]

Found this article on the BBC

Found this article on the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-24984705

Also found this pic of it in action:

[IanMSpencer]

It seems to have a running
It seems to have a running board to allow you to step up to get your bike in the rack – must have been fun, none of your 6.8kg in those days.

[HoarseMann]

Those halcyon days where you

Those halcyon days where you could leave your bike out of sight, safe in the knowledge nobody would nick it whilst you were sitting on the top deck of the bus and when accessibility meant a ladder before you got to the stairs.

[Author]

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