GOODBYE TO THE OLD LONDON BUS

(The Routemaster)

(Comments: Tony.Papard@btinternet.com)

The old Routemaster buses which have been a familiar sight on London's roads since the late 1950s, replacing older RT motor-buses and Trolleybuses, are being phased out this year. Soon they will be seen no more on regular bus routes thru the metropolis.

There is a lot of nostalgia about these traditional buses, with their open platform at the back, so handy for jumping on and off at traffic lights, in traffic jams and at pedestrian crossings. With the disappearance of the Routemaster and the driver in his separate self-contained cab up front, the conductor will also disappear.

In place of this trusty and reliable old vehicle will be more of the modern fleet of buses, of various designs. There are the rear-engined shoe-boxes on wheels which themselves come in various designs, the single-decker 'cattle-truck' buses, and the more spacious 'bendy' single-deckers. All these new buses have one thing in common - there is no conductor, and virtually no restrictions to how many passengers may stand on the lower deck when all seats are occupied. No longer will passengers hear the familar cry of the conductor: 'Only five standing inside please'.

Although I of course have a certain nostalgia for the Routemaster, which I have known since my teens, it is totally outdated and I won't really be sorry to see it go. Although it is convenient to be able to jump on and off the open platform in between bus-stops, this practice is dangerous, and there is always the possibility of falling off the open platform into the path of on-coming traffic. Or worse, tripping as one negotiates the stairs and falling right off the bus into the road.

Although improvements were made in the interior lighting in the Routemaster (the originals had old-fashioned light bulbs), only a very few of these old buses had lighting up to the standard of the more modern buses. I used to have difficulty reading my newspaper in the Routemasters because of this. Then there was the annoyance of having got comfortable in your seat, and being deeply engrossed in some news story, only to be interrupted by the conductor wanting your fare or to see your Travelcard. Some conductors were very forgetful, and asked to see your Travelcard several times in one journey. Others were lazy, and didn't ask at all, or waited till you'd been on the bus for about 30 minutes. You'd be sitting there with the Travelcard in your hand for 10 minutes, before you got fed up and put it away, then they'd come up and ask to see it. Much more convenient to press it against the yellow reader as you board the bus, and be done with it. Then you'd be left to read your paper in peace, were it not for the modern curse of mobile phones where everybody tries to shout louder than everyone else.

'This is John, I'm on a bus. Can you hear me?' is a typical remark. To which I inevitably reply: 'Yes, the whole bloody bus can hear you!', before grumpily moving to another seat, preferably on another deck so I can read my paper in peace.

Whilst the Routemaster had its design drawbacks, in modern buses it is the passengers and the driver who are the problem. Many of the drivers have no idea how to drive a public service vehicle. They have obviously not gone thru the rigorous training London Transport once put their drivers thru, including the famous 'skid patch' at Golders Green. None of the modern drivers know the difference between a white compulsory bus-stop, and a red request bus-stop. They drive by all bus-stops unless you either ring the bell or put your hand out, and even then there's no guarantee they'll stop. Many of them jam on the brakes, and then sharply accelerate, throwing standing passengers all over the place, which is particularly dangerous for elderly people, and those halfway up or down the stairs of double-deckers. Few drivers of the new low-level buses, supposedly designed for easy access, have the skills necessary to pull up close to the curb. Consequently the expensive design of these buses is wasted as mothers with pushchairs and people with shopping trolleys struggle up and down curbs, and on to the bus, when they should be able to step on and off between bus and pavement with ease. Many drivers have no idea how to operate the ramps for wheelchairs either, and leave disabled passenger stranded. But none of this has anything to do with the design of modern buses; it is due to privatization and inadequate training of bus drivers. Also the complete absence of inspectors who used to keep bus crews on their toes. Now buses are radio-controlled, they have virtually dispensed with inspectors, so bus drivers can get away with murder.

The worst modern buses are the smaller single-deckers, which I call cattle-trucks because they are full of standing passengers in rush-hours, and the drivers seem to think they are transporting a herd of cattle, driving erratically and throwing passengers all over the place. Passengers themselves don't help, all clustering around the entrance and exit doors, and refusing to budge to let people on or off. On double-deckers they congregate around the stairs, even when there are empty seats on top which nobody can reach because these thoughtless idiots are blocking the way to the upper deck. But if people use them properly, many of these buses, certainly the double-deckers and bendy buses, are quite spacious with plenty of room for pushchairs, luggage and even the odd wheelchair. The old Routemasters were totally unsuitable for any of these. The most you could get on them would be the odd bit of luggage, or a folded wheelchair or pushchair.

The new buses nearly all have separate entrance and exit doors, and with Travelcards and prepaid tickets the driver has to collect very few fares. In fact in Central London you HAVE to purchase your ticket before boarding the bus, and quite right too. This practice should be extended to the whole of the metropolitan area. There is no need whatsoever to pay fares on the bus - get your ticket before boarding.

Women may feel safer with conductors on buses, but they can always sit downstairs within sight of the driver. Routemasters have had their day, and I won't really be sorry to see them go. The best thing to be said for them is that they were reliable, and didn't break down so easily as the modern buses. If only someone could design a modern bus which was as reliable as the Routemaster and its predecessors.

But I have lived with change in London's public transport all my life. I just about remember the old double-decker trams, and certainly the silent Trolleybuses. I remember when London Transport served all the Home Counties including most of Hertfordshire and Surrey, and into Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Kent, Essex and Berkshire. I remember when the Underground ran out to Aylesbury, the Bakerloo Line went to Watford Junction and the Central Line to Ongar. I even remember brown slam-door trains with compartments on the Metropolitan Line.

We should bring back the good things from the past, but not the outdated things. Modern trams have already made a come-back in the Croydon area of South London, and will be reappearing in other parts of the capital I understand. All London's suburban railways should be taken over by Transport for London and run as a single network, and the Mayor is pushing for this. I'd certainly like to see the Underground, Tube and Overland suburban networks merged into one unit and re-nationalized with an integrated pricing system, covering an area extending to places like Aylesbury, Luton, Stevenage, Harlow, Chelmsford, Southend-on-Sea, the Medway Towns, Sevenoaks, Gatwick Airport, Guildford, Aldershot and Reading. This is all well within the commuter area of Greater London. London Transport should also take over all bus routes in this area, perhaps re-introducing the green Country buses which once served the Home Counties.

But will I shed tears for the old Routemaster? I'm afraid not. Those drafty old windows which never seemed to shut properly on a cold day, the cramped conditions downstairs even with just 5 standing passengers, waiting for the conductor upstairs collecting fares to ring the bell (or tap on the front of the bus) so the bus can start moving again. By and large I love the big shiny new buses - all I ask for is drivers who are trained to operate them properly!

COMMENTS RECEIVED:

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From London Buses, Customer Services

Thank you for taking the time to forward the details of your website. I found it to be an interesting read, however, I would like to take this
opportunity to address some of your grievances with London Buses.

As you are aware from previous correspondence, all drivers undertake extensive training. Issues such as customer care, disability awareness and
dealing with difficult situations form part of the training that is delivered.

In addition, we have introduced an enhanced programme to improve driver skills and abilities. The full programme includes up to fifty hours of
driver training.  This results in a level 2 Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) qualification.  This qualification has been
developed so that the training covers each area of the driver's duties.  It has been specifically tailored for services in London. 

A further area receiving active attention, and one that is particularly important, is the training of bus drivers to be fully aware of the operation
of wheelchair ramps.  It is vital that all drivers should know how to operate the equipment and also adopt a proactive attitude towards disabled
passengers, especially wheelchair users.  Such training is in hand and is specifically included in the BTEC qualification.

I trust this assures you that we are absolutely committed to having a high quality, well-trained workforce that will allow us to deliver a level of
service of which we and our customers can be rightly proud.

With regard to poor driving standards, we aim to maintain high standards of service on all of our routes across London.  We require each operator to have in place appropriate training and in-house monitoring arrangements that will provide a uniformly consistent standard of good driving performance. Local managers at the operating companies interview any member of staff that is not achieving the standards we set.  Any specific instances of poor driving or poor service that are reported are followed up with the bus operator in question, through their own internal disciplinary arrangements. The safety and comfort of passengers is a priority and any reports of drivers jeopardising this will be treated with the utmost seriousness.

I appreciate that some passengers may have concerns about safety in relation to the phasing out of conductors on services.  However, passengers' personal safety is improving.  All new buses are equipped CCTV while existing buses are being modified to have this equipment installed with a view to this work being completed by the end of this year.  Additionally, London Buses and the Metropolitan Police have also set up the Transport Operational Command Unit, a new dedicated transport policing unit, to improve passenger safety.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to bring your website to my attention. If you have any further comments or questions please do not
hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely
Customer Services

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