A large majority of the RT family were supplied by AEC.  However, as part of its requirement to use more than one supplier, London Transport also purchased over 2,100 Leyland Titans.  The RTL class were designed to carry bodies identical to the RT, whilst the 500 members of the RTW class were London's first eight-feet wide double-deckers. 

 

The prototype RTL, RTL501, appeared in 1948 and was the only RTL to carry a roof-box body when new.  It was numbered 501 as it was originally intended that the RTWs would be numbered in the same sequence. 

 

Among the early garages to receive RTLs was Sutton, where new buses replaced Daimlers, but a policy of standardisation of each area on either Leylands or AECs meant that these gave way to RTs within a year, from when the only RTLs operating in our area were from garages such as Putney, Stockwell or Clapham.

 

The Leylands were not as long-lived as the RTs, being less popular with drivers, as they were considered to be noisier and have heavier steering than the RT.  The last RTL in service was RTL543 on the 176 from Willesden in November 1968.