It’s confirmed. Heritage route 15H in London using Routemasters is to be cut back, says Nick Larkin
London’s surviving AEC Routemaster-operated heritage route, the 15H, is to be severely reduced in frequency from March. The current daily operation, which runs from Trafalgar Square to Tower Hill, will be dropped in favour of summer Sunday and bank holiday operation only. [wlm_nonmember][…]
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Stagecoach, which runs the route for Transport for London (TfL) will offer employment to all staff that can be retrained and achieve a PCV licence where necessary and will continue to help those affected on other alternative employment options in the lead up to the change.
Geoff Hobbs, TfL’s Director of Public Transport Service Planning, said: “The heritage buses running a long part of route 15 provide a tourist attraction that celebrates London’s transport heritage, but its use is low and the subsidy required makes it an inefficient use of Londoners’ fares.
“The few customers, who use it, and the high running costs, mean that every passenger journey actually costs us £9. With other buses running parallel that are fully-accessible and meet customer demand this is not a prudent use of money that could otherwise be invested in increasing the availability of buses elsewhere.
“As a result, we plan to run heritage buses only at weekends and on public holidays over the summer months when the demand for the service is highest. This will also improve emissions while helping to reduce congestion caused by buses along some of London’s busiest roads.”
Although the changes are set for 1 March, TfL spokesman, Press Officer Andrew Day, said there would be a gradual scaling down of the operation during the month. There are no plans to sell any of the traditional Routemasters retained by TfL, several of which had been extensively refurbished by Hants & Dorset Trim at Eastleigh.
Critics of the axing say that the route has not been properly promoted and question the costings. Andrew Morgan of the Routemaster Association which caters for operators, private owners and enthusiasts of the type said: “We are very sad that this is happening. We feel the route has not been properly promoted – it is never advertised. The AEC Routemaster is a world renowned piece of London’s heritage.”
The 15H was launched in 2005 as one of two heritage routes amidst controversy over the withdrawal of AEC Routemasters on normal service in the Capital. The second heritage route, a shortened version of the route 9 from Aldwych to the Royal Albert Hall was abandoned in 2014, and the 15H has been reduced in frequency from every 15 to 20 minutes.
Special concessions were negotiated for the route to remain with step-entrance buses after the deadline for all service buses to be DDA compliant was introduced. The changes will mean that for the first time since omnibus services were introduced in London there will be no conductors operating on a day in Britain and no traditional Routemasters will operate in service after dark.
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