As Britain entered the 1990s, the character of East London was changing rapidly. The docks, once the mainstay of the area, had closed and the London Docklands Development Corporation was building a vast new financial district on the Isle of Dogs--Docklands. Further east, the new London City Airport, a university campus and new housing and shopping developments had arisen in Beckton. There was massive investment in transport infrastructure to serve these developments with new rail and bus links, rail and bus stations. Meanwhile the effects of deregulation, introduced in 1985, were transforming bus services, with many new operators bringing a wide variety of liveries and fleet names in place of the once red monopoly of London Transport. Then in 1994 came privatization with the sell-off of London Transport in area slices. With all this variety, it was an exciting time to be a bus enthusiast--but it was not to last.