Nick Larkin reports on an extraordinary event bringing 21 classic buses with conductors back to one of London’s busiest routes
Wow, I never thought I’d go on one of these buses again. It’s so nice!’ One of many favourable comments heard not from enthusiasts at a rally but the thousands of people travelling on one of Transport for London’s busiest services during a superb event.
The Route 38 Running Day saw 21 former London Transport open platform classic buses with conductors operating on a route largely from Victoria Station to Clapton Pond, plus some variations. With the full blessing of TfL they ran during the daytime, plus a couple of evening extras, alongside the New Routemasters normally operating the service. Although fares were not charged the heritage vehicles picked up passengers at all stops.
The event was run by the London Bus Museum as part of its policy of bringing buses to the public by running them for a day on specific TfL routes, though this was the first time a central London service had been covered.
The buses were all AEC Routemasters and its predecessor the RT with the exception of the museum’s magnificent 1937 AEC STL 2377, registration EGO 426. From this source also came vehicles including the first RT-type, RT1, which entered service in 1939, and the last Routemaster, RML 2760.
[…]By subscribing you will benefit from:
- Operator & Supplier Profiles
- Face-to-Face Interviews
- Lastest News
- Test Drives and Reviews
- Legal Updates
- Route Focus
- Industry Insider Opinions
- Passenger Perspective
- Vehicle Launches
- and much more!
