<strong>Nick Larkin reports on a bus he believes may be the oldest still in regular service in the UK…unless you know different?</strong>
Confidence of Leicester has been operating its AEC Routemaster since 1985 – and another vehicle in the fleet is rapidly gaining historic significance.
RM 655 was bought straight from London service and has been in use ever since, mainly on wedding work and other private hires, though it still appears occasionally on private school contracts.
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“We never thought we would be still operating this bus 38 years after buying it, but it’s very popular and still gives good service,” said Confidence proprietor Ken Williams.
RM 655 is a relatively rare Leyland-engined Routemaster. Talking of Leylands, another member of the Confidence fleet is also gaining historic significance. UWW 8X, a Leyland Olympian new to West Yorkshire PTE in 1982, is believed to possibly be the oldest bus in Britain in normal service, as opposed to heritage duties, and regularly appears on schools work. Could it also be the last bus with Roe bodywork and a Gardner engine to regularly operate? If you know of a bus beating any of the above claims, Confidence would love to hear from you!
After its WYPTE service UWW 8X was operated by Cambus, arriving at Confidence in 2001. Said Ken, who set up Confidence in 1970: “I admit I am attached to this bus. We used to have UWW 9X and 10X as well. We want to run the bus for as long as possible but surely PVSAR regulations will mean the end soon. We’d hope the Olympian will be preserved eventually.”
<a href=”http://confidencebus.co.uk”>confidencebus.co.uk</a>
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