TfL say New Routemaster refurbishment programme up to 831 buses
TfL’s program to refurbish almost 1,000 New Routemasters has reached 831 buses.
The figure is included within a new TfL report. Work includes external resprays and internal deep cleaning alongside new seat covers.
Around 700 had seen a refresh by June of last year so the annual total seeing work seems to be just over 100.
The buses are up to 14 years old having been built between 2012 and 2017. A second member of staff on board was only in place for a shirt time and rear boarding was dropped in favour of normal boarding at the front.
Future
How much of a future they have remains to be seen given the move to electric vehicles and withdrawal is planned on a number of routes.
They’ve recently been used to plug gaps in advance of new buses and in south east London operated Superloop route SL3 until new electric vehicles were introduced. Then they went into storage before starting on Superloop route SL11.
Well, they were supposed to but having been sat out of service were in poor condition so other buses had to be drafted in. It took a while but now they’re running most services on the SL11 until new electric vehicles will then displace them once again.
On the subject of the SL11 the TfL new report includes some more frankly odd statements about the SL11, claiming it’s to assist regeneration in Thamesmead. If that’s the case why does it skip more than 800 homes in the first two phases of south Thamesmead estate’s rebuild?
An adjacent bus stop has seen a large cut in stopping buses when the SL11 commenced. The new route also sails past West Thamesmead’s almost 2,000-home development at Lombard Square.
It’s a funny route to encourage housebuilding that ensured a net reduction in buses in parts of Thamesmead when introduced. One often wonders how much of a clue TfL have about Thamesmead.
LT11 was converted to fully electric operation by Euipmake and ran on route 390 for a time.
There were problems and it was removed from service but Equipmake has come back with an upgraded specification. TfL have said it return to service with the upgrade in the near future.
Love tbem.or hate them
New nrw routenadters ate good for a few more years yet once refurbished.
The orders for new electric buses will tale a few years to complete. As they are not only be built for London operators but bus operators across the UK. With more orders for electric buses being ordered on a weekly basis.
The new Routemaster buses are still the best and reliable buses that former Mayor of London Boris Johnson have ordered since they were introduced back in 2013 I think. Even Ken Livingston who was Mayor of London before he was replaced by Boris Johnson could have ordered the new Routemaster buses. And some of the Routemaster buses are used on several Superloop bus routes as well.
With more Superloop routes to be added I do think that other bus services shouldn’t be axed or scrapped. But I do think that TfL should order new hydrogen and battery powered buses to replace the ageing diesel buses and to convert newer diesel buses to hydrogen or battery.
So apparently so far 831 New Routemaster buses have been refurbished with another 169 New Routemaster buses to be refurbished. And a new Superloop route SL11 to be added to the Superloop bus network across Greater London.