I just read something online saying that all of the routemasters in London had been retired. Does this mean there are no longer any double decker buses running in London or does this refer to a specific type of double decker?

It seems they still run on two "heritage routes" in central London, route 9 and route 15.

All of the sightseeing companies use modern double-deckers, so you'll see some tall ones.

It's a specific type of double decker, the traditional one we saw so many times in postcards of London Anyway, a couple of them still run as touristic buses. There are double decker buses, modern ones.

The Heritage Routes was the key phrase..thanks.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/download...s-brochure.pdf

The majority of buses that run in central London are still double decker buses but modern ones...you enter in the front, show the driver your ticket (on most routes tickets have to be bought before entering the bus) and take a seat...you exit by the middle door....

What they have done is they have gotten rid of the vast majority of what were called routemaster buses..those with the open platform at the rear that carried a conductor...quite frankly in modern traffic I found them to be dangerous with the open platform and about three or four years ago, a Scandanavian tourist was pulled off the bus by a purse snatcher on her first day in London and fell under the wheels killing her.

Several of the bus lines, such as the #12, have become very long articulated single decker buses...lack all the charm.

And of course the site seeing companies with the 24 hour hop on and off tickets still run double decker buses with an open top but quite frankly for a fraction of the cost, you can take regular city buses (#15 is a great route all the way from Oxford Street to the Tower of Londno) although you won't get the commentary!

There was a lot of "keep the route master" protests here when they were fased out but the reason they have gone is that London is trying (how hard is a matter of opinion) to make its transport accesible to those of us with disabilities, and incidentally those with baby strollers as well.

The majority of double dedecker busus were not route masters anyway.

The principal reason for retiring the Routemasters was economic: first, they require two people to operate, and second, the cost to operate and maintain them was exorbitant.

Routemaster was a brand name for a bus manufactured by AEC, just like Midget was used as a name for a car by MG or Mustang by Ford, etc. It isn't a generic name for all elderly rear entrance double deckers it's just that most of London's recently retired buses were, in fact, Routemasters.

Not to worry, all of the buses are double deckers. The "Routemasters" are older models. The newer, more modern ones have larger windows, more comfortable seats, better stairs and spaces for luggage and strollers.

On every trip to London, we just loved hopping on any bus route and riding it all about - especially late at night when your chances of front seats on the upper deck are better.

The newer buses also have flat screens with all sorts of interesting info, including the weather forecast.

There has been much debate and much emotion since about 1995, and I am glad this enquiry has sent me to Google, for lines of debate: thank you.

When on Google I entered Transport for London, a useful site that gives the views of our active mayor, Ken Livingstone, with routemaster I found three useful sites. The valuable Wikipedia gives a history, with reasons. It is true that we dropped all Routemasters except the two historic lines, but there were good grounds. If you enter Independent Living Busses Google gives a link to the views of the disabled – or would do so, except that the page comes from 2000 and I think has been deleted. When, you enter TFL Traffic Management Stakeholder you see that the operators of this bus have conceded that there is a problem with dirty air. And at various blogs you read that the whole thing is yet another example of the beaurocrats of the European Union interfering in our sovereign rights. For our neocons the combination of leftist mayor and bad foreigners is a sitting duck.

From 1992 to about 2002 I was cycling, and deplored the bendy uses, hard to overtake, easy to get caught by. From about 2002 I am disabled, and I have just bought a folding self-pushed wheelchair, which goes on all busses except Routemasters, so I now see Ken Livingstone’s point. I do think the present position, with the two historic lines, is about right. In thirty years these too will close for lack of spares, but you, our guests, can still buy at the airport a week’s travel card for tube, bus and local train, climb to the upper front seat, and watch London toll past you from Kensington via royal parks and Trafalgar Square to the Tower, and hop off anywhere that looks good.

So as ever I can say: welcome to London.

Ben Haines
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