TfL to Trial Bus Passenger Counting Systems (Again) and Revive the Routemaster's 'Ding Ding' Sound to Improve Bus Safety

Earlier this year (2025), I revealed that Transport for London (TfL) would be trialling new features to improve safety for bus passengers, including details about the revival of the ‘ding ding’ sound, which could become part of the new bus safety standard if the trials prove successful.

Let's Discuss the Rear Open Platform of a Bus

Last Updated: 18th May 2026

The open platform of various double-deck buses

The open platform had been the most unique and controversial feature, especially when it was in use in London for regular passenger services.

I'm not an expert in history, especially with the (double-deck) trams and trolleybuses prior to 1962.

If we go back a century, trams, trolleybuses, and buses had open platforms (or steps) where anyone could board and enter at any time, similar to the hail-and-ride system.

This was especially true for horse buses, where fixed bus stop points were unknown. Essentially, it was hail-and-ride everywhere at the time.

The Proposed Successors to the AEC Routemaster Before the Three-Door, Two-Staircase Hybrid New Routemaster Bus

This article explores the development of various proposed successors to the AEC Routemaster throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, before the Conservative Party candidate Boris Johnson proposed the New Routemaster during his 2008 London Mayoral Election.

XRM (Experimental Routemaster)

The front-entrance AEC Routemaster’s (FRM1) launch in December 1966 was met with a sense of pessimism. It was quickly seen as outdated, even before it entered production, and there were growing arguments against London Transport (LT) continuing to design its own vehicles. The introduction of the New Bus Grant scheme, which provided generous subsidies for off-the-shelf vehicles, further weakened the case for bespoke bus designs. This shift towards ready-made models led to the failure of several new bus types, such as the Merlins, Swifts, and Fleetlines, which were plagued by high maintenance costs. Despite this, there remained a strong belief that only London Transport could design buses suited to the city's needs, which resulted in a bias against new models before they had been tested.

TfL Publishes Average Dwell Times for New Routemasters (All-Door & Open Boarding) To Compare With Other Bus Types in London

It’s been a while since I posted an article on my website and some of my followers on Twitter may have seen my tweets linking to some interesting Freedom of Information requests that I found on the Transport for London (TfL) website.

The FOI requests worthy of an article are the ones concerning the average dwell times for New Routemasters in comparison to other buses on the London Bus network.

What are dwell times?

The definition from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Glossary states: “The period in which a vehicle or train discharges and takes on passengers at a stop, including opening and closing doors and time spent standing.”

Let’s take a look at the Freedom of Information releases published by TfL:

Why TfL Withdrew Heritage AEC Routemasters by Axing Route 15H - Can I Still Ride Them in London?

This is a follow up to my previous article in which Transport for London (TfL) revealed in a Freedom of Information request the withdrawal of the last heritage Route 15H served with AEC Routemasters.

This article shows the Freedom of Information responses by TfL and the Greater London Authority - also the Mayor’s answers on why the last AEC Routemasters have been withdrawn by not renewing the contract for Route 15H last year (2020).

 

Let’s take a look at the Freedom of Information request to TfL and how they responded on 6 May 2021 with regards to the withdrawal of Route 15H.

 

TfL Ref: 0088-2022

06 May 2021

 

Some of your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require. You asked:

 

The following question have been answered under the FOIA -

 

2, How much did TfL pay to refurbish the AEC Routemasters for route 15H?

TfL Confirm The Last AEC Routemasters For Route 15 Withdrawn

A Freedom of Information request revealed TfL have confirmed the withdrawal of AEC Routemasters by not renewing the route 15H contract.

Route 15H was the very last route to be served with AEC Routemasters after the withdrawal of 9H in 2014.

The Coronavirus pandemic affected the route 15H service hence the reason they haven’t appeared on route 15 last year (2020), which quietly led to the withdrawal of the route.

London Buses brings back route branding for Barkingside routes

I never expected to see this happen.

Routes 128, 150, 167, 169, 247, 275 and 462 will have ‘branded buses’ as part of the trial to promote the bus services which serve the Barkingside area.

The route numbers will have their own colour to designate their particular service. It will also appear on timetables, route tiles on bus stop flag posts and new livery with each route being identified by a colour with route description on the side and rear of the bus.

London Buses also promote the frequency of the bus service, for example “up to every 12 minutes” for route 128, which is seen on the side of the bus. The bus spider maps will also be updated to the specific route colour.

Ride the classic AEC Routemaster on Route 15 – they’re still running!

Not many commuters and tourists are aware that the vintage ‘AEC Routemasters’ are still operating on route 15 between Charing Cross and Tower Hill/Tower of London.

TfL haven’t given much publicity to the AEC Routemasters on route 15, but they do mention them in the last paragraph on the New Routemaster page on their website and also the ‘where can I use contactless’ page.

REVEALED: Short New Routemaster is unveiled

Yes the New Routemaster is getting small,.

The London Bus Club has produced an exclusive report on the short New Routemaster bus which is manufactured by Wrightbus and has a reduced length of around 10.1 metres. This news comes in as a surprise.

10 year Anniversary of Route 159 AEC Routemaster withdrawal

08/12/2015: Update is below 'image attributions'

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.

10 Years of route 15H and also the "Enviro400H" City launch

Having returned from my trip now, I will update you on the latest bus news including the Route 15H anniversary. The following events are happening on 14^th November 2015.

10 years of Heritage route 15

The contract of routes 15H and 9H started on 12^th November 2005, but the official operation began on 14^th November 2005.

The 'Heritage Routes' buses are AEC Routemaster buses which had been refurbished with new engines and lighting by Marshall back in 2001. This is why they sound like Dennis Darts, because of the refurbishment.

The main Route 15 had full operation of AEC Routemasters which started on the 1st April 1964 and ended on 30th August 2003. They were replaced by ALX400 Dennis Tridents as part of TFL’s policy to make 100% of bus services low floor and accessible. Before the mainstream withdrawal of AEC Routemasters the route also had preserved Routemaster buses such as the green RMC1461 (461CLT) which featured a rear door instead of an open platform.

Consultation response on Route 15H

Recently I received an email from TFL Consultations regarding Route 15H frequency change.

The purpose of the consultation is to change the frequency of the service from 15 to 20 minutes to maintain the services reliability. 85 stakeholders (including me) took part on the consultation.

Taken from ‘Response to the main issues raised’:

TfL's response to  main issues raised

There was opposition to the proposal to reduce the frequency of the Heritage Routemaster 15.

This included the following:

BBC London Online Commuter game found on Archive.org

I remember playing the Commuter game on the BBC London site 10 years ago. This is one of my favourite online games that I remembered playing till it got taken down somewhere in 2008 (according to Archive.org.) But thankfully Archive.org has saved an archive of the game as well as the webpage so you can play the online game over again.

End of the line for AEC Routemaster's on Route 9

New Routemaster and AEC Routemaster on route 9

Creative Commons Image

Route 9 has been called "London's oldest existing bus route" and the origins of the route can be traced back as far as 1856. The route was first introduced on the 1st November 1908 and was operated by the London General Omnibus Company. In 1933, London Transport gained control of the route as well as other bus routes in London.