Red Bus . London
The old Routemaster buses are definitely a design icon of London transport. They are the buses where you could jump on and off at the back. There was a ticket inspector to sell you a ticket on-board (from a machine they had hung round their neck), and the driver was tucked away in a cab at the front.
Unfortunately they went out of general service at the end of 2005 as they were not accessible to all (most new buses have lower floors and wider door opening for wheelchairs and baby strollers).
Don't despair that you missed your opportunity to ride on one of these design classics, because they've been saved on two London Heritage routes: routes no.9 and no.15.
To assuage media coverage given to the withdrawal of London's classic Routemaster fleet, Mayor of London Ken Livingstone promised to introduce a "heritage" Routemaster operation.
After hopes that this would be operated commercially, the operation eventually materialised as tendered short workings on two existing routes, and one of those is the 9. This approach ensured that passengers in wheelchairs or with other mobility problems would be offered alternatives to the Routemaster buses, which are not accessible.
texture by . lenabem-anna/
Red Bus . London
The old Routemaster buses are definitely a design icon of London transport. They are the buses where you could jump on and off at the back. There was a ticket inspector to sell you a ticket on-board (from a machine they had hung round their neck), and the driver was tucked away in a cab at the front.
Unfortunately they went out of general service at the end of 2005 as they were not accessible to all (most new buses have lower floors and wider door opening for wheelchairs and baby strollers).
Don't despair that you missed your opportunity to ride on one of these design classics, because they've been saved on two London Heritage routes: routes no.9 and no.15.
To assuage media coverage given to the withdrawal of London's classic Routemaster fleet, Mayor of London Ken Livingstone promised to introduce a "heritage" Routemaster operation.
After hopes that this would be operated commercially, the operation eventually materialised as tendered short workings on two existing routes, and one of those is the 9. This approach ensured that passengers in wheelchairs or with other mobility problems would be offered alternatives to the Routemaster buses, which are not accessible.
texture by . lenabem-anna/