Along with red phone boxes, red post boxes and M&Ms World, nothing says ‘London’ like a red double-decker bus. Specifically, the classic Routemaster, which was the staple of London’s bus routes for 50 years. Introduced in 1956, the Routemaster was still in everyday service until 2005, and continued running on ‘heritage’ routes until 2021. A real trouper. So beloved was the classic design that it inspired the creation of Thomas Heatherwick’s ‘New Bus for London’, one of then-mayor Boris Johnson’s grand projects. A design, that while uniquely striking, is in all fairness is probably not going to be running on our streets in 2070.
Now, though, there is a new chance to experience the heyday of the Routemaster. A company called ‘Londoner Buses’ is starting a new regular bus route in central London entirely equipped with vintage Routemasters. The line, which will be known as Route A, will run from Piccadilly Circus to Waterloo Station and back, taking in Trafalgar Square, Horse Guards, Parliament Square and Big Ben, and the London Eye en route. So it’s aimed fairly and squarely at the tourist Instagram market. And why not?
After all, if you’re going to get a hop-on, hop-off bus experience in the West End, you might as well travel authentically rather than on something emblazoned with a massive Union Jack and with no roof.
Route A will run every 20 minutes, with 14 stops along the route. Tickets are £5 a day, with unlimited use, so it’s pretty good value (certainly beats a rickshaw). However, bear in mind that you CANNOT use Oyster cards on the new service, cos it’s not run by Tfl, innit.
So bounce around on an ancient London bus over the heritage potholes of Westminster, trying not to think about the post-apocalyptic landscape.
Londoners Buses’ Route A runs between Piccadilly Circus and Waterloo via Trafalgar Square, Big Ben and the London Eye. £5.
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