The Secret and Unbuilt Variants of the New Routemaster

Between 2010 and 2018, London's bus network saw the introduction of 1,000 three-door, two-staircase New Routemasters (NRM), alongside a small production run of nine two-door, single-staircase Wright SRMs ("Son of Routemaster").

Several readers noticed in my previous article that I compiled a directory of publicly accessible links regarding the New Routemaster bus. Fascinatingly, a Freedom of Information (FOI) release on the Greater London Authority website has revealed some incredible, little-known details about what could have been for the NRM fleet.

10 year anniversary of the New Routemaster design – How it has improved bus designs over the years

It has been 10 years since TfL, the London Mayor (now currently Prime Minister) Boris Johnson and Heatherwick Studios unveiled the final design of the most controversial three-door, two-staircase hybrid bus known as the New Routemaster,back in 2010.

We take a look at the press release from TfL when they unveiled the final design of the New Routemaster on 17^th May 2010.

From TfL press release

The final design of the New Bus for London, based on the much-loved Routemaster, was today unveiled by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and London's Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy.

Pioneering design

The bus will use the latest green technology. It will be 15 per cent more fuel efficient than existing hybrid buses, and 40 per cent more efficient than conventional diesel double decks and much quieter on the streets.

Wrightbus has gone in to administration!

I know I haven't been posting for a month, but I have to break this sad news.

Wrightbus, who notably manufactured 1,000 of the three door, two staircase hybrid New Routemaster buses, 6 Volvo B5LH with SRM bodywork and 2 Volvo B5LHC with SRM bodywork has gone in to administration due to cash flow problems which has affected thousands of jobs.

Why the Wrightbus SRM failed and Alexander Dennis’ Enviro400 City is gaining success

This is my essay about the failure of the Wrightbus SRM bodywork and the success of Alexander Dennis’ City bodywork. The purpose of this essay is not to discredit Wrightbus and their SRM design.

Wrightbus and Alexander Dennis developed and manufactured their own New Routemaster spin-offs as part of TfL's challenge to succeed the New Routemaster bus designed by Heatherwick Studios.

The SRM has only been sold in two drivelines which are the Volvo B5LH and B5LHC. Yet other bus operators (in London and elsewhere) haven’t shown much interest using the SRM for their services.

Opinion: Design criticisms of Wrightbus Gemini 3 and SRM

This is more of an 'essay' type article because I have some criticisms with the design of the Wrightbus double deck products such as the Gemini 3 and SRM. I have criticised the Wrightbus double deck products in my previous articles and therefore I will lay out my ideas which could possibly inspire the manufacturer to make changes.

The zero emission 'New Routemaster spin-off' Enviro400EV City finally entered service on London Buses Route 43

Finally, after a very long wait, the spin-off of the New Routemaster, the pure electric Enviro400EV City which is jointly manufactured by Alexander Dennis and BYD has entered in to service on London Bus route 43 as of 1st July 2019.

Bus designs have evolved to reflect similarity to the New Routemaster bus and I’d like to say a new chapter has started with the iconic Enviro400 City which has gone pure electric.

According to London Vehicle Finder, the first five of the BYD Alexander Dennis Enviro400EV City entered service on route 43 on 1st July 2019 - here's the mini fleet list.

Class 717’s for Great Northern, Enviro400H City buses for Route 20 and London Bus Tender awards

The Class 717’s have finally entered service on National Rail’s Great Northern routes serving the Moorgate branch.

Extract from Govia

For the first time in 40 years, passengers are riding on new trains in the tunnels to London Moorgate, as Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) begins to replace mainland Britain’s oldest electric rail fleet.

In a £240 million investment, 150 new carriages are being introduced between now and late summer, to replace trains that first entered service in 1976.

Volvo SRM B5LHC finally launches on route 37

I know this news is a little bit late.

The long awaited Volvo B5HLC with the SRM (two-door, one-staircase New Routemaster) bodywork finally launches in service on route 37.

There are only two Volvo SRM B5LHC’s; they are (fleet numbers) VHP1 and VHP2 operated by Go-Ahead London.

SRM Volvo B5LHC update and a trial for automatic passenger counting on London Buses

Starting off with a press release from TfL on testing the new automatic passenger counting which will be tested on routes 55, 47, 222, 507 and 521.

From TfL Press release

• The data could be used to improve services, provide better real-time travel information and help prioritise investment across London
• All data collected will be automatically anonymised and no individuals will be identified

TfL is beginning a three-month trial to identify how best to automatically count passengers on buses. The trial, which will begin on Friday 8 June, will assess which techniques capture passenger numbers in real time with the most accuracy. This could enable TfL to improve its services, provide better real-time travel information and help prioritise investment - all while being cheaper and more reliable than current manual counts.

Final New Routemaster, LT1000 has finally entered service on route 267

As of yesterday (19^th February 2018), the last ever built three-door, two-staircase Hybrid New Routemaster bus entered service on route 267!

The LT1000 is used by RATP-Dev London United for their route 267 contract which is fully served with New Routemaster buses; this marks the end of an era for the New Routemaster rollout!

It’s been six years since the first New Routemaster prototype (LT2) entered on route 38 which happened on 27^th February 2012 - very bizarre how time flies.

The New Routemaster opens the door for more stylish conventional buses

The New Routemaster (NRM) rollout has ended with route 267 being the last route to convert to these buses. We now move on to the next chapter where we are seeing more stylish and conventional buses holding NRM design cues being rolled out not just for London, but for Britain as well!

The original plan of the New Routemaster (formerly known as New Bus for London) project was to bring back the rear platform, but instead, since the conductors were withdrawn back in September 2016 it has evolved to a three-door, two-staircase hybrid bus. The rear platform and design was inspired by the original AEC Routemaster. There are now 1,000 New Routemaster buses built for London bus services.

Finally! - An update on the SRM Volvo B5LHC

Here is a short news update:

The Volvo B5LHC with New Routemaster (SRM) bodywork was demonstrated at the Buses Festival which was held on 20^th August in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

Here’s the description of the Wrightbus SRM Volvo B5LHC taken from the Buses Festival website.

This is an interesting vehicle in that it is a prototype built to be used in trials to test the concept of on-road charging.

Enviro400 City buses for Wheelers Travel and Uno Hertfordshire - and the last 17 New Routemasters with no route

The design of the Enviro400 City is increasing in popularity as Wheelers Travel purchased one Enviro400 City and University Bus (Uno) has purchased six of these Enviro400 City buses.

From Alexander Dennis

The trend towards high capacity, exceptionally well finished double deck buses appears to be gathering further momentum with operators in Kent and Southampton introducing Enviro400MMC models from Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) in recent weeks.

Electric buses and SRM Volvo B5LHC update

The three-door two-staircase hybrid New Routemaster buses entered service on route EL3 on Saturday 18^th February 2017. We are still waiting for them to appear on the rest of the East London Transit routes, EL1 and EL2.

Here’s an update from LOTS:

1) At Stagecoach, the first few E400Hs for route 277 at Bow and E20Ds for route 273 at Catford have entered service in the past week. Saturday 18th saw the first suburban route to go over to LTs when Go-Ahead took over the 387 at Barking from Stagecoach and renumbered it to EL3. For a while the EL1/2 will keep its WVLs until more LTs are available.

New Routemasters come to East London Transit services

I haven’t given you a New Routemaster update for a while now so I thought it was about time that I did.

The new East London Transit routes EL1, EL2 & EL3 contract starts on Saturday 18^th February 2017 operated by Go Ahead Blue Triangle from River Road (RR) garage. The new contract requires the three-door two-staircase hybrid buses called the New Routemaster, purchased directly by TfL and leased to private operators for their route contracts.

Bus types revealed for new London Bus routes - 13, 360 and 388

Route 13 will be using buses of this design

As the real route 13 will be withdrawn soon and route 82 will be renumbered to 13 in order to retain the route 13 identity, London Bus Routes has revealed the bus type for the new route 13 contract.

November 2016 - New Buses for London Buses

Since I haven’t published any news updates for a few days, I’ve decided to use the list from the London Bus Routes Service Changes page to show you the up-and-coming routes with new buses.

Volvo launches the B5LHC double-deck electric hybrid with SRM (2 door New Routemaster) body!

At last, Volvo has unveiled the B5LHC Double-Deck Electric Hybrid chassis at the Euro Bus Expo show in Birmingham.

REVEALED Battery electric SRM (2 door New Routemaster!)

First off, Transdev Blazefield in Harrogate have ordered eight Volvo electric 7900e buses expecting to be delivered in the first quarter of 2018.

10 million London Bus journeys made with the new ‘hopper fare’

The Hopper Fare was launched on 12^th September 2016 and has enjoyed great success with more than 10 million journeys being made so far. TFL and the London Mayor’s office have now unveiled their top 20 ‘hopper’ fare routes.