London Routemasters retired on 9th December 2005
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London's bade farewell to its much-loved Routemaster red Double Decker bus.
The Routemaster has been around for half a century, and has been synonymous with the city as the Big Ben.
The Routemaster, London's iconic, double decker buses where passengers jumped on and off via an open platform at the back of the bus, will be taken out of service on 9th December 2005, Friday.
The last Routemaster bus was built in 1968. The distinctive red buses, complete with conductors, cord-pull bell and an open rear platform which allowed passengers to jump on and off even when the bus was moving, are viewed by many as irreplaceable classics.
At midday, on Friday, the last Routemaster, number 159 (Marble Arch to Brixton Garage), rang an end to an era of the Routemasters.
Officials for Transport for London, say the buses are impractical and inefficient, not to mention unsafe with three or four fatalities every year
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yup, they are very nice buses.
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Watched the news article, goodness
Anyway they would be on sp rts -
This will remember the nostalgia of those DDs in London since they were on London roads for over 35 years!
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I saw these bus models on sale at Toys R Us (Suntec).
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This photo was taken by me when i was in London this Feb.
got to board it as well.
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oh no!
i wun b in time to catch dem in service.... -
judging by the pix provided by lemon1974, the bus looks quite short in length. what is it's length actually?
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The bus with RM plate disappears into Brixton Garage after its last deployment on Route 159 (Arriva London)
It's history can be found here. -
according toOriginally posted by sinicker:judging by the pix provided by lemon1974, the bus looks quite short in length. what is it's length actually?
Routemaste Homepage , the length is 30 feet long, which is around 9.144M... -
Are the RMs being repalced by the Citaro Gs (aka "Fire Chariots")?
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It's really a sad thing that the Routemasters have retired! I still recalled of looking through a few of them over a pictorial book when I was 5 and now they are gone. Sigh... a heritage that would be wiped out to become the non-existence.
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i do hear of heritage routes that will have these buses running as perm
159 the route seems to be mentioned here.
so don;t worry they are not gone yet. at least.
source of rhis heritage 159 route: i hear frm windy one lar but it appears to be true yeh yeh!
ZYX -
oh my goodness. That is really near my uni. Towards Angel Islington somemore, heh. I can see lots of buses I normally take.Originally posted by lemon1974:This photo was taken by me when i was in London this Feb.
got to board it as well.
Anyways the main route which uses the routemasters, no. 38 mainly, was replaced late nov if i am not mistaken. I take the 38 to school sometimes and honestly, while the routemaster is an icon, it IS rather uneconomical, uncomfortable(too hot in summer, too cold in winter) and a bit dangerous. I often wondered how many people fell off and got injured or died while hanging on the back, or trying to jump on and off while its in motion. -
i doubt so they will be used on public routes. But I still see them around, as tour buses for company which operates sightseeing tours around London.Originally posted by ZYX2005:i do hear of heritage routes that will have these buses running as perm
159 the route seems to be mentioned here.
so don;t worry they are not gone yet. at least.
source of rhis heritage 159 route: i hear frm windy one lar but it appears to be true yeh yeh!
ZYX -
we have to buy tickets before boarding the buses? where to buy them?
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there are little red boxes that dispenses tickets. but half the time they're broken anyways. now that some of the old routemasters routes are bendy buses, people can hop on FOC, because bording from all 3 doors r allowed here.Originally posted by 105090:we have to buy tickets before boarding the buses? where to buy them? -
Was it the MB O530G Citaros that you are referring to the Bendies in London?Originally posted by HENG@:there are little red boxes that dispenses tickets. but half the time they're broken anyways. now that some of the old routemasters routes are bendy buses, people can hop on FOC, because bording from all 3 doors r allowed here. -
i wouldn't know. i have no interests in buses other than them being on time.Originally posted by Apex-LW'21:Was it the MB O530G Citaros that you are referring to the Bendies in London? -
Extracted from www.routemaster.org.uk/rmnews.htmOriginally posted by ZYX2005:i do hear of heritage routes that will have these buses running as perm
159 the route seems to be mentioned here.
so don;t worry they are not gone yet. at least.
source of rhis heritage 159 route: i hear frm windy one lar but it appears to be true yeh yeh!
ZYX
The 2 Heritage Routes, announced in September, are now in operation.
Heritage Route 15: Trafalgar Square - Strand - Fleet Street - Ludgate Hill - Cannon Street - Eastcheap - Tower Hill (Operator - Stagecoach)
Bus Route 9: Royal Albert Hall - Kensington Road - Knightsbridge - Piccadilly - Trafalgar Square - Strand - Aldwych (Operator - First)
As we predicted, the buses are the TfL-owned ones that were refurbished with modern 'clean' engines 2 or 3 years ago.
Also as predicted, 10 buses operate the routes (5 on each) with 6 others held in reserve, giving a total of 16.
The routes will run from 0930 to 1800, seven days a week with a 15 minute service interval.
The routes will employ a total crew of 50 and all the usual London ticketing arrangements will apply i.e. there will not be any special fares.
So, good news at last and let us hope that these will be successful ventures. Please support them so that RM operation can continue in London beyond December 9th. -
Not all are being replaced by the bendysOriginally posted by iveco:Are the RMs being repalced by the Citaro Gs (aka "Fire Chariots")?
Extracted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Routemaster
Timetable
Withdrawals commenced on the dates below as the routes' five-year contracts expired.
Route 15: 29 August 2003
Route 11: 31 October 2003
Route 23: 14 November 2003
Route 94: 23 January 2004
Route 6: 26 March 2004
Route 98: 26 March 2004
Route 8: 4 June 2004
Route 7: 2 July 2004
Route 137: 9 July 2004
Route 9: 3 September 2004
Route 390: 3 September 2004
Route 73: 3 September 2004, replaced by bendy buses
Route 12: 5 November 2004, replaced by bendy buses
Route 36: 28 January 2005
Route 19: 1 April 2005
Route 14: 22 July 2005
Route 22: 22 July 2005
Route 13: 21 October 2005
Route 38: 28 October 2005, replaced by bendy buses
Route 159: 9 December 2005, departed Marble Arch at 12:10
The 159 route was the final one to be withdrawn. All Routemasters (with the exception of heritage routes) have now ceased operations. -
Originally posted by lemon1974:
Brochure of Routemaster can be downloaded here:
Extracted from www.routemaster.org.uk/rmnews.htm
The 2 Heritage Routes, announced in September, are now in operation.
[b]Heritage Route 15: Trafalgar Square - Strand - Fleet Street - Ludgate Hill - Cannon Street - Eastcheap - Tower Hill (Operator - Stagecoach)
Bus Route 9: Royal Albert Hall - Kensington Road - Knightsbridge - Piccadilly - Trafalgar Square - Strand - Aldwych (Operator - First)
As we predicted, the buses are the TfL-owned ones that were refurbished with modern 'clean' engines 2 or 3 years ago.
Also as predicted, 10 buses operate the routes (5 on each) with 6 others held in reserve, giving a total of 16.
The routes will run from 0930 to 1800, seven days a week with a 15 minute service interval.
The routes will employ a total crew of 50 and all the usual London ticketing arrangements will apply i.e. there will not be any special fares.
So, good news at last and let us hope that these will be successful ventures. Please support them so that RM operation can continue in London beyond December 9th.[/b]
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/downloads/heritage-bus-routes-brochure.pdf -
Originally posted by lemon1974:
Was it the MB O530G Citaros that served these 3 routes?
Not all are being replaced by the bendys
[b]Extracted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Routemaster
Timetable
Withdrawals commenced on the dates below as the routes' five-year contracts expired.
Route 73: 3 September 2004, replaced by bendy buses
Route 12: 5 November 2004, replaced by bendy buses
Route 38: 28 October 2005, replaced by bendy buses
Route 159: 9 December 2005, departed Marble Arch at 12:10
[/b] -
have taken this photo in Feb 2005. Not sure abt the exact model of this MB Bendy bus. Also not sure whether this model is being used to replaced the routemaster on certain routes.Originally posted by Apex-LW'21:Was it the MB O530G Citaros that you are referring to the Bendies in London?
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The Routemaster's will be long withdrawn if it is in Singapore. It is over 20 years!