The brand London Transport came into being in 1933 and remained until 2000. Prior to 1933, the transport system in London was owned and managed by several independent and separate organisations. The Underground railways were developed and owned by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (est. 1902) and the Metropolitan Railway (est. 1863) whilst the Tram and Trolleybus networks were under the control of various local authorities and public companies. The London County Council operated tram routes within the County of London but its responsibility did not extend to the bus or tram routes that ran outside its area and it did not hold responsibility for the railways which also extended into neighbouring counties. From 1933, the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) was established in accordance with the 1933 London Passenger Transport Act and covered both the County of London and adjacent counties within a 48-km radius. For the first time services within the London area were amalgamated. A significant proportion of tram routes were brought under the responsibility of the LPTB, as were the Underground Electric Railways Company of London lines and the bus services; this became known as the London Passenger Transport Area. It was then that the familiar ‘roundel symbol’ (designed in 1918) and the tube map designed in 1931 were adopted by the LPTB. The second World War was to cause some disruption to the ongoing programme, resulting in delays and also the abandonment of some projects. During the post war years, the transport authority was the London Transport Executive until 1962. It was taken into public ownership and London Transport and British Railways were under the same jurisdiction for the first and only time. It was during this time that recruitment began directly from the Caribbean and work began on resolving war damage to stock and stations as well as the completion of projects previously delayed during the war. The post-war years also saw some major developments within London transport, including the withdrawal of both trams and trolleybuses and the introduction of the iconic AEC Routemaster bus in 1956. From 1963, the transport authority was the London Transport Board until 1969 and it reported directly to the Ministry of Transport and no longer held direct association with the management of British Railways. Public transport was not heavily invested in during this period and motor cars increased in popularity. Unprofitable railways across Britain were also closed. The 1960s also witnessed the opening of the underground Victoria line and also the introduction of the single-deck bus. From 1970, the Greater London Council was the transport authority and remained so until 1984. Control of green-coloured country buses and Green Line Coaches were passed on to London Country Bus Services which became part of the National Bus Company. As with many organisations during this period, London transport suffered a severe lack of funding from central government as well as major staff shortages. The inter-modal zonal ticketing system was also introduced in 1981. From 1984-2000 London Regional Transport was the transport authority and was also under direct state control, reporting to the Secretary of State for Transport. Under the London Regional Transport Act in the 1980s subsidiary companies were established to run Underground and bus services. This period also saw the inclusion of British Rail services into fare options and the opening of the Docklands Light Railway in 1987. From 2000 to the present day, the transport authority has been Transport for London (TfL). Unlike its predecessors, it has never been commonly known as London Transport and holds responsibility for many other transportation functions such as road management, taxi and private hire licensing and also cycling and walking. Responsibility for the Underground was not given until 2003. TfL have been the longest running transportation organisation in London to date.

GEC Traction (GECT) was formed in 1972 as part of the GEC Power Engineering Group following earlier amalgamations of the traction divisions of the General Electric Company (GEC), the English Electric Company (EE) and Associated Electrical Industries (AEI). A wholly owned subsidiary company of GEC, the company had offices and works, located at Trafford Park in Manchester, at Strand Road in Preston, and at Attercliffe Common, Sheffield. The headquarters of GEC Traction was Trafford Park, Manchester (previously the headquarters of English Electric-AEI Traction) with design of rotating machines at Preston and Sheffield, and manufacturing activities for control equipment at Manchester and Preston. GEC Traction designed and manufactured a full range of traction machines and control equipment for electric vehicles, including electric locomotives and multiple unit trains for main-line and mass-transit railway systems (dc up to 3,000 volts, and ac up to 50,000 volts), diesel-electric locomotives and trains, mining and industrial locomotives, tramcars and trolleybuses. GEC Traction was the leading supplier of traction equipment in the UK and had a wide market around the world, particularly in South Africa, Australasia, Hong Kong, South Korea, South America and Pakistan. In 1979 the Industrial Locomotive Division of the former English Electric which was based at Vulcan Works, Newton-le-Willows was merged into GEC Traction, which later became a separate company, GEC Industrial Locomotives Ltd. During the late 1980s and 1990s the firm underwent major rationalisation, involving closure of several sites including Attercliffe Common in Sheffield in 1985 and the company’s headquarters at Trafford Park in Manchester in 1998. The company name GEC Traction endured until a merger with the French Alsthom group in 1989, which created GEC Alsthom Traction, which was still a branch of the main company GEC Alsthom.

The General Electric Company (GEC) merged AEI Traction Division and English Electric Traction in 1969 after acquiring both companies to create English Electric – AEI Traction Limited. The headquarters were located at Trafford Park in Manchester. This subsidiary company was renamed GEC Traction Limited in 1972.