Routemasters - say it ain't so???
 

I know this has come up several times, I've even posted on those threads... but I just saw in the Washington Post travel section (contest) that they have already retired them??? I hope this contest was a joke.. are they really already retired or is there a set date?

I'm bummed - on top of another piece of history consigned to the dustbin, this trip coming up is my friend's first trip to London! I was hoping they would still be around.

sigh.

I was in London three weeks ago and there where very few routemasters-so I think it is true-I missed them very much whenever I decided I wanted to go off this bus NOW-and no stop was in sight, so I had to stay on the very modern, maybe safer but soulless new bus...

Well I saw them on bus routes #12 (although not all of the buses on that route are them) and route #9.

But it is clear their days are severely numbered.

it's insanity. why can't they keep them at least on the tourist routes? like the trolleys in San Francisco?

There will still be double-decker buses. Several people die per year running onto and falling off those platforms and the Routemaster buses are inefficient in terms of staffing.

I understand that safety is important-but I think that the staff on the routemasters are efficent, maybe in a not so obvious way-if you have to travel at night the extra person on board gives one a good and safe feeling.
The staff is helpful to older people or the disabled persons, what could be difficult for them when just the driver is on board.
And they give friendly advice to tourists-they give a big city a friendly face and I will certainly miss the extra staff!!!
But that safety is better without the hop on/off platform is right! So it may be time to say goodby to the routemaster!

There is some talk that they will be retained on "heritage" routes, whatever they are! If you want to buy a Routemaster, go here http://www.routemaster.org.uk/rmnews.htm

Unfortunately it is true.
You can find more about this unsane decision also on this nice site :
www.londonbuspage.com

Has anyone asked one of those people who "fell off" what THEY think of these busses...or din't any of them survive?

I most assuredly agree they are not the safest thing in the world....you still see people jumping on and off at places that are not bus stops...it is easy to see somebody slipping and falling under the wheels.

In the 21st century given the traffic volume and other things, they really have see their day.

They aren't going to disappear immediately but thanks to a directorate from our so-called friends in the EU, we are being herded into a nanny state, where it would appear that everything is dangerous and must therefore be abolished.

WillTravel: My personal opinion is that if someone is incapable of recognising that attempting to board or jump off a moving vehicle carries considerable risk then, quite frankly, it's their own fault. I fail to see why I should have to pay for their stupidity.

This kind of lunacy is the reason that the majority of Brits, whilst we like to visit Continental Europe, do NOT wish to further our ties with it, be it economically or politically.

But this isn't a political thread so I shall rein in my venom! I too am greatly saddened by the now inevitible demise of the routemasters. Personally I hope that someone like Richard Branson (though he failed in his bid to keep Concorde going) will buy them all up and start a private bus company - but that's probably just wishful thinking. You will still be able to ride them on London bus tours etc though...

They need two people instead of one to run, they are dangerous, and are not very good for the environment either. Why on earth should they continue to run?
If they were running in the US they would have been phased out a long time ago, since all the people who fell off would have sued the transport authority.

Tulips: Maybe that's part of the reason I like them - they represent days of yore when people took responsibility for their own actions...

Doesn't the fact that they require two people to run mean that they keep people in jobs? Surely the fact that people can jump on and off means that they wait less time at bus stops and therefore belch out less exhaust fumes (OK, so I'm dodgy ground with this one but whatever..!)?

Have you no sense of romance?

SAVE THE ROUTEMASTERS!!!!

Tallulah...

Believe me I am not a nay sayer and I enjoy riding the buses in London especially the old routemasters.

But having said that, don't you think that given 21st century traffic, given the sickos who inhabit this planet that you can't just shrug your shoulders and say people who get hurt or killed on the routemasters have only themselves to blame?

I remember reading about 3 or 4 years ago about a Scandanavian woman who arrived in London and within several hours, somebody reached into the bus trying to grab her pocket book and she fell out under the wheels and lost her life.

Also the argument that it is a good thing to make work for people while perhaps a British thing, a symbol of I guess the best word is inefficiency.

And can't you have 2 people operating the new buses. During my last visit to London a couple of weeks ago, I got on a #9 bus on High Street Kensington. Evidentlhy the #9 line is phasing in the new buses and this bus was a new bus. Lo and behold, not only was there a driver but there was also a conductor with one of those conductor machines checking tickets etc.

Face it..they're quaint, they're very British but there is a no reality most unfortunately I guess.

xyz123 - Whilst I don't doubt that what happened to that woman was dreadful, it's hardly representative. And, to be honest, and this is MY point of view, I find it rather depressing that examples such as that are used in this kind of argument, as it only takes me back to my point about a nanny state that is determined to wrap us all up in cotton-wool. I don't want to be paranoid!!!

I heard the EU was about to ban all busses since a person could step in front of them at any time.

I used to hop on and off routemasters without falling off, but I really don't think the EEC can be blamed for this one. I've actually started taking the bus in Central London again since the congestion charge; they actually move on Oxford Street now! And there's always the charming taxis (they're not going to abolish those I hope?)

Tulips!!!!!!!!!!! SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

fan fan fan, I feel faint.

Tallulah, I agree.

degas, you are a card!

lecanard, thanks for the link.

Regarding disabled access: The Routemaster conductor may well be helpful to disabled people able to climb stairs with assistance (and considering how high the RM platform is, many need the help), but RMs are not wheelchair accessible.