_%26_RM54_(LDS_279A)%2C_Whitehall%2C_route_159%2C_9_December_2005.jpg/800px-Arriva_London_buses_VLA157_(LJ55_BSU)_%26_RM54_(LDS_279A)%2C_Whitehall%2C_route_159%2C_9_December_2005.jpg) |
| Also farewell to the Volvos on route 159 |
We
are now approaching the 10th anniversary of a fully accessible London Bus
service which coincides with the anniversary of the route 159 Routemaster
withdrawal to fully low floor buses. It also marks the end of Arriva London’s
service on Route 159 as it's handed over to Abellio whose contract starts on 12th December 2015.
From
London Bus Museum
Route
159 heritage service 9th December 2015
Wednesday 9 December
2015 marks 10 years of a fully accessible bus network in London. It also marks 10 years since the last
front-line service by London’s world famous Routemaster buses, on route 159.
To mark the
anniversary, the London Bus Museum is organising a free heritage operation on
route 159 on 9 December. The service
will feature one of London’s first accessible double-deckers, Stagecoach TA1,
now looked after by the London Bus Museum.
It will also feature a fleet of Routemasters and RT family buses,
provided by a range of operators, recalling the mix on the ‘last Routemaster
days’. Unfortunately, RM & RT buses running on this service are not
wheelchair accessible.
The service will run
alongside the current TfL service, operating between Marble Arch and Brixton
Station via Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall, from about noon
into the early evening. Buses will be
scheduled to run about every 10 minutes between Marble Arch and Lambeth North,
every 20 minutes to Brixton Station.
The Routemaster
Association is organising a private road run over route 159 on Saturday 12
December 2015, also marking the anniversary.
The buses will not be in service on this day.
Background
information;
·
The
Routemaster bus first entered service in 1956, and was the last of London’s
traditional open-platform double-deck buses, operated by a driver and a
conductor.
·
Following
replacement by one-person operated buses on all but central London trunk
routes, the remaining Routemasters were
phased out between 2003 and 2005, with the last running on route 159 at lunch
time on 9 December 2005. The day before,
and on the last day of previous route conversions, operations were joined by a
variety of heritage buses in a series of impromptu ‘festivals’.
·
TfL
route 159 runs between Marble Arch and Streatham Station. It is currently operated by Arriva but
operation changes on 12 December to Abellio, with the introduction of ‘New Routemasters’.
·
TfL
continued to operate Routemasters on heritage services in central London,
working alongside accessible buses. The
current operation is between Trafalgar Square and Tower Hill on a section of route 15.
You
can view the timetable of Route 159's running day on the 9th December here.
LOTS (London Omnibus
Traction Society) have reported:
“Wednesday 9 December:
10th anniversary of Route 159's conversion from Routemaster. Subject to
availability, 5xRT, 1xRTL, 1xRTW, 7xRM, 2xRML, and TA1 should work free extras
on the route. Perhaps one or two more if available, and there is no info about
which vehicle works which journeys – this will likely be just done on the day.
Saturday 12 December:
The Routemaster Association's commemorative road run using privately owned
vehicles (mainly class V) over route 159 on the 10th anniversary of its
conversion from Routemaster. Note that this is a private event with private
vehicles, passengers only carried by arrangement with the vehicle owners. Buses
gather at the Ace Cafe off the North Circular Road at Stonebridge (corner of
Beresford Avenue) from 9am, departing from 11am for a full run to Thornton
Heath and back. An evening 'Christmas Lights Tour' of central London is planned
from 5pm. Fuller details are now available on www.routemaster.org.uk”
159
Routemaster Anniversary
With one month to go
until the 159 Anniversary on the 12th December, our commemoration of the last
day of general Routemaster operation in London, we can now confirm the venue
for the start/end of the run will be The Ace Café on the North Circular, postcode
NW10 7UD. Dating back to 1938, the Ace Café has a long association with
transport history and being close to the old Park Royal Vehicles factory and
the northern end of the old 159 route the venue is ideally situated to host our
event.
We are asking owners
to arrive from 9am at the Ace café and, after time for coffee and photos, the
buses will be departing in pairs from 11am every 10 minutes for a return trip
to Thornton Heath Pond.
Once all the buses are
back at the Ace café we will be doing a Christmas Lights tour around central
London from 5pm. Owners are more than welcome to participate in all or part of
the days activities.
As space is going to
be limited at the Ace Café we are going to limit bus numbers so an early
confirmation of the attendance of your bus would be much appreciated. If you
are coming along with your Routemaster, please contact us by clicking here to
register your entry.
UPDATE
21st November:
With 3 weeks until the
159 Anniversary Run, we have the following Routemasters attending:
RMs 188, 291, 545,
548, 848, 1033, 1822, 2097.
RMLs 2276, 2364, 2366.
Also,
another event will be the end of the Volvo B7TL ALX400 (Arriva Fleetcode VLA)
and VDL DB250LF/DB300 Wright Pulsar Gemini (DW) for the route 159 service. The
route service will be handed over to Abellio from Battersea (QB) garage with
Wright New Routemaster buses. This means that the diesel emissions from route
159 will be eased by Euro 6 hybrid buses,
although TFL could have invested in hydrogen double deck buses to further
combat diesel emissions. I have nothing against the New Routemaster, no no, I
am glad the design is being shared to other manufacturers such as Alexander
Dennis with the Enviro400H City.
Incredibly,
it has taken 10 years for route 159 to see their ‘new Routemaster’ replacement
and it's happening on the anniversary of the withdrawal. The New Routemaster
buses though will have no rear platform with second crew member, instead it
will be a sliding rear door like they have on routes 149, 16 and 73.
The
New Routemaster project was about reinstating the rear platform, but it has
changed to a one person operation bus with open boarding like the old bendy
buses use to provide. I have made a quick video about the New Routemasters
fate…
Anyway,
I'll finish the article with two news reports about the withdrawal of the Route
159 Routemaster bus.
BBC
London News
Sky
News
If
you think the conversion of Route 159 to New Routemasters is a good thing then
let me know in the comments section below.
Please
follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest
and Google Plus which is @CLondoner92
External links
Report of the last day of Route 159 Routemaster service
(from Archive Wayback Machine)
Save the Routemaster website (from Archive
Wayback Machine)
Policy Exchange eBook on Replacing the Routemaster (I
believe this is obsolete)
Image attribution
"Arriva London buses VLA157 (LJ55 BSU) & RM54 (LDS 279A), Whitehall, route 159, 9 December 2005" by Jon Bennett - Originally posted to Flickr as The last day of the RM. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arriva_London_buses_VLA157_(LJ55_BSU)_%26_RM54_(LDS_279A),_Whitehall,_route_159,_9_December_2005.jpg#/media/File:Arriva_London_buses_VLA157_(LJ55_BSU)_%26_RM54_(LDS_279A),_Whitehall,_route_159,_9_December_2005.jpg
UPDATE: 8th December 2015
From London Bus Club
UPDATE: 8th December 2015
From London Bus Club
Wednesday 9
December 2015 marks 10 years of a fully accessible bus network in London.
It is also
10 years since Routemaster buses ceased operating on route 159, the last
front-line service by London’s world famous bus.
In addition,
Metroline will be running RML903 on route 139, the replacement route for the
northern section of the old 159.
Route 159
To mark the
anniversary, the London Bus Museum is organising a free heritage operation on
route 159 on 9 December. The service
will feature one of London’s first accessible double-deckers, Stagecoach TA1,
now looked after by the London Bus Museum.
It will also feature a fleet of Routemasters and RT family buses,
provided by a range of operators, recalling the mix on the ‘last Routemaster
days’. Unfortunately, RM & RT buses running on this service are not
wheelchair accessible.
The service
will run alongside the current TfL service, operating between Marble Arch and
Brixton Station via Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall, from
about noon into the early evening. Buses
will be scheduled to run about every 10 minutes between Marble Arch and Lambeth
North, every 20 minutes to Brixton Station.
In addition
to twelve Routemasters, buses on the free service are scheduled to include five
RTs, one RTL, one RTW and Dennis Trident TA1 “London’s first wheelchair
accessible double-decker”.
The London
Bus Museum will be providing, TA1, plus RML2760, RT3491 and RTL139 (with
RMC1461 in reserve).
A copy of
the timetable has also been posted in the Gallery section.
Route 139
In addition
to the buses on route 159, Metroline will operate their Routemaster RML903 on
route 139 (Trafalgar Square to West Hampstead) on 9 December. Route 139 was the replacement for the former
northern section of route 159 when the route was shortened in 1992.
The
timetable for the four Routemaster rounders on the 139 are additional to the
normal service, as follows:
West
Hampstead Trafalgar Square West Hampstead
0850 0940 1027
1035 1124 1211
1331 1420 1508
1522 1612 1704
