Earlier today at around 4pm I was in the Strand waiting in vain for a
heritage RM 15 to take me to the tower, however in the end I had to catch a
regular 15.

While en-route I noticed both a Roofbox RT and a RM on route 4 on it`s way
to Waterloo.

Does anyone know why these buses were operating on this route today?

"Robert McCall" wrote:

Earlier today at around 4pm I was in the Strand waiting in vain for a
heritage RM 15 to take me to the tower, however in the end I had to catch
a
regular 15.

While en-route I noticed both a Roofbox RT and a RM on route 4 on it`s way
to Waterloo.

Does anyone know why these buses were operating on this route today?

To mark the last day of step-entrance buses on this route, which I believe
is the last TfL service (other than the Heritage RMs) to go over to low
floor easy-access buses. Therefore quite a significant occasion - in a way,
even more significant than the end of the RMs in regular service.

Chris

As a matter of interest, apart from the Routemasters - which are the
oldest buses currently running on regular routes now?

Rob

wrote:

As a matter of interest, apart from the Routemasters - which are the
oldest buses currently running on regular routes now?

If you mean TfL tendered routes only, then I guess you're looking at the
earliest low- floor single deck Darts. For example, routes 370/373
(Romford-Grays) operate with P-reg Darts. 1996/97ish vintage.

The earliest low-floor double deck Tridents were on an S-reg plate, I think,
although they didn't arrive en masse until the T-reg era.

Chris

Chris Read wrote:
wrote:
As a matter of interest, apart from the Routemasters - which are the
oldest buses currently running on regular routes now?

If you mean TfL tendered routes only, then I guess you're looking at the
earliest low- floor single deck Darts. For example, routes 370/373
(Romford-Grays) operate with P-reg Darts. 1996/97ish vintage.

The earliest low-floor double deck Tridents were on an S-reg plate, I think,
although they didn't arrive en masse until the T-reg era.

Which means that London Buses has virtually replaced its entire fleet
in 8 years, something that has only happened once before, in 1947-54
with RTs and RFs. The average age of the fleet may now be lower than
it was in 1954; if so, it's the lowest it has ever been.

Colin McKenzie

In article , (Colin McKenzie) wrote:

Chris Read wrote:
wrote:
As a matter of interest, apart from the Routemasters - which are the
oldest buses currently running on regular routes now?

If you mean TfL tendered routes only, then I guess you're looking
at the earliest low- floor single deck Darts. For example, routes
370/373 (Romford-Grays) operate with P-reg Darts. 1996/97ish vintage.

The earliest low-floor double deck Tridents were on an S-reg plate,
I think, although they didn't arrive en masse until the T-reg era.

Which means that London Buses has virtually replaced its entire fleet
in 8 years, something that has only happened once before, in 1947-54
with RTs and RFs. The average age of the fleet may now be lower than
it was in 1954; if so, it's the lowest it has ever been.

They just don't make buses like they used to!

Actually the fleet in 1947-54 wasn't as young as that. You're forgetting the trolleybuses.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

"Colin McKenzie" wrote:

Which means that London Buses has virtually replaced its entire fleet
in 8 years, something that has only happened once before, in 1947-54
with RTs and RFs. The average age of the fleet may now be lower than
it was in 1954; if so, it's the lowest it has ever been.

It's even more dramatic than that.

I remember the first low-floor Tridents arriving at Barking Garage
(Stagecoach East London), in the T xxx KPU registration series. Within three
or four years, they were displaced away from London by newer Tridents, and I
now see T xxx KPU buses down on the south coast, and also in Cambridge, with
other parts of the Stagecoach empire.

Chris

On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 20:11:37 +0000 (UTC), "Chris Read"
wrote:


wrote:

As a matter of interest, apart from the Routemasters - which are the
oldest buses currently running on regular routes now?

If you mean TfL tendered routes only, then I guess you're looking at the
earliest low- floor single deck Darts. For example, routes 370/373
(Romford-Grays) operate with P-reg Darts. 1996/97ish vintage.

Quite a few of these running on Metroline routes out of Willesden -
e.g. 302/245 etc.

Rob.
--
rob at robertwoolley dot co dot uk