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David Bell has compiled a selection of pictures of Routemasters that saw further use both in and outside their traditional London home. Often they were seen by operators as a competitive tool or a means of defending territory in post bus deregulated Britain in the late 1980s and early 1990s, because of their relatively low operating costs and on-street manoeuvrability. Some he photographed, however, went on to have long lives in some far flung places.
One of 13 Routemasters operated by Blackpool Transport often in competition with Flyde Transport was WLT879 pictured on the seafront in 1988
Strathtay Scottish was one of three Scottish Bus Group subsidiaries that used Routemsters as competitive tools. This bus photographed in Perth during 1989 was later sold to Reading Mainline and then Dublin Coach for sightseeing work
Strathtay Scottish also revived an old Alexander identity, Perth City Transport as it defended its position as the incumbent operator from competition from StagecoachBath Bus Company operated former London Coaches open-top Routemaster 783DYE on its tour around the city for more than 10 years, it passing to Western Greyhound in 2004
Reading Mainline competed against Reading Transport in the 1990s with a fleet of Routemasters including ALM34B which had previously been owned by Clydeside 2000 and Southend Transport
White Rose Coaches of Leeds had a short-lived Routemaster operation to Castleford in the mid 1990s
Stagecoach’s competitive Magicbus operation in Glasgow in the late 1980s utilised Routemasters like this bus which later ran for United Counties and was exported to Canada where it joined Double Deck Tours, Niagara Falls and is now with Bus & Boat Tours, Toronto
One of Scottish Bus Group subsidiary Clydeside Scottish’s sizable fleet of Routemasters introduced as a competitive tool in the mid 1980s, ALM48B was sold to PVS (Carlton) for scarp in 1990
Scottish Bus Group subsidiary Kelvin Scottish’s 40 Routemasters introduced in the mid 1980s mostly carried a livery style that didn’t particularly suit the lines of the vehicle. WLT677 was sold to PVS (Carlton) for scarp in 1995
One of East Yorkshire Motor Services fleet of Routemaster in Hull during 1988 271CLT was later converted to open-top and operated by Cabriolet Cars of Funchal, Madeira
Following Stagecoach’s acquisition of National Bus Company subsidiary Cumberland in 1987, Routemasters were introduced in Carlisle. ALD933B was another vehicle to be reacquired by London Bus Services Ltd and refurbished, later returning to operation with Stagecoach London and remains in service on Transport for London (TfL) heritage route 15
Another short lived Routemaster operation was the use by Citilink (Hull) of this former Magicbus, Glasgow vehicle pictured in 1988. The operation was taken over by Kingston upon Hull City Transport the following year and the bus later passed to East Yorkshire Motor Services
ALM34B again, but this time with previous owner Southend Transport in 1991
Burnley, Colne and Nelson had a small Routemaster operation post bus deregulation in the late 1980s. CUV156C ran for the operator until 1992 when it was sold to Southend Transport. It had five subsequent owners before being exported to Spain 14 years ago
This former BEA front-entrance Routemaster was later bought by London Transport, but by 1990 had passed to Green Rover which operated in the Watford area
Another operator of Routemasters, post bus deregulation, was Southampton Citybus. ALM37B later ran for Reading Mainline and is now preserved
A wheelchair lift was installed in this London Coaches Routemaster in 1988 and a decade later it was running for North Kent Express
EDS300A (WLT388) was one of the Routemasters that ran for Kelvin Scottish, but it later became a familiar sight in and around York after it was bought by Yorkshire Belles of Haxby and rebuilt with an open staircase
WLT621 was bought by Confidence of Oadby after London service as long ago as 1986. It later ran for Shaftesbury & District, Routemaster Bournemouth and Reading Mainline before being exported to Argentina in 1998
Playbuses were once more common than they are now. A Routemaster that fulfilled that role with London Borough of Wandsworth was ALD878B
London Buses’ Original London Sightseeing Tour operated this Routemaster that had been converted to open-top in a special livery for the British Tourist Authority
BTS (Borehamwood Travel Services) operated London Regional Transport subsidiary London Buses’ route 13 (Aldwych to Golders Green) in the 1990s using Routemasters in its own livery before red was imposed on contractors
Kentish Bus operated London Buses contracted route 19 (Finsbury Park – Battersea Bridge) in the 1990s with Routemasters painted in its own attractive livery
Corona used this one time former Green Line Routemaster coach as a mobile catering facility and it was a regular sight at the Epsom Derby for many years
London Regional Transport subsidiary London Buses set up its own sightseeing fleet which included this former Green Line convertible open-top Routemaster in bold McDonalds advertising livery
To help promote Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkhaban, this Routemaster was given a ‘triple-deck’ overall wrap so it could masquerade as one of the two triple-deck RT-types that appeared in the film
One of the Routemasters used by Blackpool Transport ended up as a promotional vehicle for the Walkabout Inn in Leicester
Capital Citybus in London operated this Routemaster, which was painted in an eye catching livery that reflected the firm’s then Hong Kong ownership
