New Routemasters are now in service on route 137
TfL issued a press release on the conversion of Route 137 to New Routemasters.
Transport for London (TfL) has today announced that the next bus route to be served entirely by New Routemaster buses will be the 137.From Saturday 6 December there will be phased conversion of the route, which is operated by Arriva, and runs between Oxford Circus and Streatham Hill, via Marble Arch, Hyde Park Corner, Knightsbridge, Sloane Square, Chelsea Bridge, Battersea Park and Clapham Common. The route will be running entirely with New Routemaster buses by the end of December.During peaks hours, 31 of these state of the art buses will be in passenger service to carry the 22,000 people who travel on the route each week day.Route 137 will operate with the rear platform closed when the bus is moving, with large numbers of passengers able to quickly board and alight using all three sets of doors and two staircases at bus stops. Every London bus route is different and as these buses are rolled out across the capital TfL will consider the best possible operating arrangements on a route by route basis. As the Mayor has previously made clear, there will not be a requirement to have a conductor on every bus at all times. New Routemasters already operate without a conductor on routes 8,148 and 453.To date, nine bus routes in London are being served by more than 300 New Routemasters. The conversion of route 137 will be another step towards the delivery of 800 New Routemasters on London's streets by 2016, reducing CO2 emissions in the capital by around 27,500 tonnes a year.The introduction of New Routemaster buses is part of a comprehensive programme to reduce emissions from London's bus fleet which includes 1,700 hybrids on the street by 2016, accelerating the introduction of ultra low emission Euro VI buses and retrofitting 1,800 older buses to reduce their NOx emissions by up to 88 per cent.
Footnote:
The TfL Board approved the purchase of a further 200 New Routemaster buses on 5 November 2014. These buses improve the journey experience of passengers, enhance air quality, reduce vehicle noise and cut emissions with associated health benefits. The buses will be built by Wrightbus in Northern Ireland with many of the component parts also manufactured in the UK, creating jobs and stimulating the economy.
Source
According to the London Vehicle Finder, a small number of New Routemasters is currently in operation. So what it means that they are being phased into service ahead of schedule.
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