New Routemaster.

[Drain Jockey]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... roads.html

[Bedford-29]

This thing ain`t a Routemaster it looks like a Atlantean on steroids and that is insulting the Atlantean.The true Routemaster are in these two in the pictures from Wikipedia these old buses were also built for BEA the airways company.

[Brendan03]

I've been quite interested in this project. They're actually quite lovely looking buses in my opinion. Hopefully they prove to be reliable and well liked.

I think it's quite nice that London should have it's own unique design. It only emphasizes Transport for London's unique and strong identity.

[boronia]

This thing ain`t a Routemaster .

Quite correct, it has no relationship to an RM whatsoever.

No one is calling it a "new RT" which was also a London exclusive design, built in greater numbers than the RM.

[Newcastle Flyer]

I wish these so called transport journalists (words used lightly) would stop calling buses by their route number. It's bus LT2, doing their route 38!

This thing ain`t a Routemaster it looks like a Atlantean on steroids and that is insulting the Atlantean.

Nope, you are wrong, it's insulting to both the true Routemaster & Atlanteans!

It ain't a true Routemaster without that famous half-cub.

Excuse me, 3 doors??

Wonder what a better name they should have

PS: Typical, a "glitch" (wonder if that should read "It's best if we keep the rear doors shut, due to the crowd for safety reasons" ie: deliberate)

[tbc1983]

NF, it's not the first rigid bus to have 3 doors.




Cheers!

[Rclasstramcar]

It ain't a true Routemaster without that famous half-cub.

FYI it's half cab. Nit picking .

Cheers,
Ben

[boronia]

NF, it's not the first rigid bus to have 3 doors.
Cheers!

Even "backward" Adelaide had them in the 50s, and many cities in Europe.

London trialled a 3 door decker back in the 70s, but it was a failure.

[Newcastle Flyer]

£1.4 Million (about $AS2.1 Million) just for one bus & if remember seats 87 passengers, and they claim their was a glitch, making keep the rear platform doors closed, . . ?

[boronia]

It was built by the Irish.

Anyway, Newcastle based Aussies aren't doing too well building Waratah trains that work properly, are they?

[Newcastle Flyer]

It was built by the Irish.

You should see a train track in forget name of the book, with a kink in it - somewhere in Ireland!

Anyway, Newcastle based Aussies aren't doing too well building Waratah trains that work properly, are they?

Arrgggh, that'll teach Sydney to depend on areas outside and to take away services outside Sydney - and also for taking some STA buses that Sydney still should have given back! (rubs hands together !)

Wonder if their is a more suitable non-insulting to RM's name for it. It only has two small features of a Routemaster that is seen.

PS: What's this thread doing in the lunch room, and not overseas transport?

[08 XDi]

It was built by the Irish.

Anyway, Newcastle based Aussies aren't doing too well building Waratah trains that work properly, are they?

Calling what they do at Cardiff "building" is being overly generous I think.

[Alex on the Bus]

I don't know why someone would have been so stupid as to have committed to such a hare-brained project as the New Routemaster (well, actually I do - it's that dimwit Boris Johnston). Wrightbus already had something of a modern classic with the Gemini double-deck body (the "Nokia" buses) - they should have worked from there rather than attempting the faux-retro look. Keep the hybrid drive and the rear staircase, drop the middle door and have a more conventional door at the rear like - gasp - they do on the Continent and you would have had the ideal London bus. The new design could be best described as the Al Murray of buses: yearning for a time when you could drink ten pints of heavy, jump on an open platform and belt the living daylights out of someone who happened to be a couple of shades darker than yourself.

[Skindog the Hawk]

For such a "technologically advanced" vehicle, you'd wonder why they still operate on desto rolls, rather than LED or flipdots...

SD.

[Alex on the Bus]

For such a "technologically advanced" vehicle, you'd wonder why they still operate on desto rolls, rather than LED or flipdots...

TfL specifications - apparently they're not convinced that electronic displays are clear enough from a distance. Probably made more sense when intermediate points were still included on blinds - now only ultimate destinations are displayed, which could easily be displayed in dot-matrix form (although TfL will still insist on making the display show text in New Johnstone).

[Nugget]

For such a "technologically advanced" vehicle, you'd wonder why they still operate on desto rolls, rather than LED or flipdots...

SD.

Also given the way TfL and the contracts work its likely that there are only two different places on the roll, each termini basically.

[Alex on the Bus]

Also given the way TfL and the contracts work its likely that there are only two different places on the roll, each termini basically.

While the buses are usually acquired for a particular route, and TfL often specifies what type of bus is required for a route contract (mini, midi, full-size single deck, double-deck, even the number of doors in certain cases) and expect operators to stick to that specification (except in emergencies), the operators generally have the ability to choose the actual vehicles purchased and normally prefer to operate a consistent type across their contracts. As a result, buses will often have blinds for all destinations served by a particular depot (and possibly other depots held by the same operator or group). I wouldn't surprised if the New Routemaster had a blind featuring all destinations served by Arriva in North London, or at least those routes operated by double-deckers.

[Newcastle Flyer]

Boris Johnson, being interviewed on David Letterman said about improving London's public transport system that "we have a wonderful new bus"

By the way, he shouldn't cut his own hair!

[tbc1983]

Not just his hair.........................

Cheers!

[Newcastle Flyer]

Does Boris need a hairdresser or should he keep doing his hair himself?

[Swift]

They toallay miss the point. You can't manufacture a classic icon from the 1950s today. It has to come from there.
Really , it was an achievement that the RML lasted in public service as long as it did. They were meant to be all gone by 1982 but such was their powerful iconic status thay just couldn't suddenly put them out to pasture, so , thanks to re engining, they lasted in public service into the 2000s untile Australian style over cautious regulation decided that we couldn't use these buses after 50 years of successful daily service.
I'm surprised there wasn't a cottage industry in keeping the AEC 590 engines on the RM/RMLs going.
The sound they made was as much of an icon as their appearance, even if on a subliminal level with the general public.
Perhaps if they had kept all 2000 or so of the RMs in service today, it would have been worth while to manufacture aftermarket parts to keep them in perpetual service!

[system improver]

How many are in service? I believe they are around 50% more expensive than other DDs. Why would a private operator purchase them without subsidy?

[Nugget]

The Borismaster has arrived in New York City.

http://leondaniels.blogspot.co.uk/

[gka472l]

There are to be 608 of these in all by 2016. Fleet as at 15 March 2014 below.

All except LT1-3 carry LTZ1*** registrations (LT4 is LT1004, LT608 will be LTZ1608).
LT1-3 currently on tour in various parts of the world
LT4-8 Arriva London, route 38
LT9-40 Metroline, routes 24/390
LT41-68 Go Ahead London, route 11
LT69-94 London United, route 9
LT95-117 Metroline, routes 24/390
LT118/9 Go Ahead London, route 11
LT120-47 London United, route 148
LT148-73 London United, route 10 (converts 26 April 2014, batch in course of delivery), LT150 is already in service on route 9 in a special 'Year of the bus' silver livery, I photted it a few days ago when I visityed London http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmc1947/13018487655, but will go onto the 10.
LT174-206 Stagecoach, route 8, converts in June.

HTH

[crazyturbo76]

How many are in service? I believe they are around 50% more expensive than other DDs. Why would a private operator purchase them without subsidy?

From my sources a New Routemaster costs £354,500 (around A$700,000) compared to £326,000 (around $650,000) for a contemporary standard bus like an Alexander Dennis Enviro400. So in reality they are only 9 percent more expensive to buy than other contemporaries.

KPMG did an independent review on London Buses a few years ago and they stated that not many operators were willing to buy "Borismasters" because of their high residual value risk; they recommended that buses be leased off via a leasing company or extend the contracts of buses on routes-Transport for London (TfL)'s limited capital means they can't simply own the buses and lease them off to the franchisees.