Today is the very last day that Routemasters will run in east London. Tonight, just before midnight, the final route 8Routemaster will arrive home at Bow Garage, the end of a small red chunk of London's history.
Stagecoach have been running special old buses on route 8 all week (full details at the LondonBusPage), just to make up for the fact that from next week there will be no special buses running on the route at all. I took the opportunity to ride RT3871(pictured below) all the way from Bow to Victoria, just because I could. There were 10 of us waiting at the first bus stop, including two people with wheelie suitcases and a shellsuited couple with a pink baby in a giant three-wheeler pushchair. "I'm sorry, you'll have to wait for the next one," said the conductor as he left these five unfortunates and their oversized contraptions behind. It was, alas, a timely reminder of why these inaccessible Routemasters are finally being phased out.
I sat back in my comfortable non-plastic seat and enjoyed the view from the top deck. Ah the luxury of the Routemaster - blessed with wooden decking long before it became fashionable. The conductor soon bounded up the corner staircase to issue authentic paper tickets from the old wind-up machine slung round his neck. Passengers hopped on and off between stops, which may not have had the blessing of the Health and Safety Executive but it was certainly damned convenient. Other bus drivers, allocated the lesser job of driving some characterless new red cuboid, waved at our driver with unconcealed jealousy. Occasionally passers by (all male) would stop and look twice at our bus, registering that it looked slightly out of place in modern London. One smiling pensioner stood motionless clutching a copy of the Times behind his back, paying his last respects as we passed by.
I've made this journey many times before (see my Cube Routes feature, for example) but this occasion was different - the bus spotters were out in force. They were busy spotting my bus, so I kept myself busy spotting them. There was a bloke with a tripod photographing at the very first stop and another standing on some steps in Houndsditch with his camera at the ready. Two spotters had set up camp on a traffic island outside City Thameslink station and someone else was carefully positioned outside Sainsburys Local in Oxford Street with a giant swivelling lens. One passenger suddenly hopped off halfway down Old Bond Street to grab a couple of shots as we waited at traffic lights, and a keen snapper stepped out into the road as we sped round Hyde Park Corner. But the biggest welcome came as we pulled into Victoria Bus Station to be met by a posse of eight Routemaster paparazzi. The driver slowed down and posed for the cameras, like a slightly-surprised 60s pop star, before turning round and heading back to Bow (where I also spotted a film crew). And all this before the last day.
Only about ten or so route 8 Routemasters have survived until the last day of operation. A large proportion of the replacement red Trident double deckers have arrived early, diluting the service with impostors. But there's a final last show of strength from the old guard today, with no less then fifteen extra old buses plying between Bow and Victoria in addition to the usual service. I suspect most of the commuting public won't quite believe their eyes when some random ancient workhorse arrives at their bus stop, but I hope they'll enjoy the ride all the same. I wonder if there'll be any spare seats on tonight's very last Routemaster (leaving Victoria 22:45), riding the gauntlet of flashbulbs in advance of one final procession into Bow Garage. Report tomorrow.
Heard on the 8:
"It's much better than the newer ones"
"This is what makes London London"
"Doesn't look past its sell by date to me"
"Stand off the platform please love"
I sat back in my comfortable non-plastic seat and enjoyed the view from the top deck. Ah the luxury of the Routemaster - blessed with wooden decking long before it became fashionable. The conductor soon bounded up the corner staircase to issue authentic paper tickets from the old wind-up machine slung round his neck. Passengers hopped on and off between stops, which may not have had the blessing of the Health and Safety Executive but it was certainly damned convenient. Other bus drivers, allocated the lesser job of driving some characterless new red cuboid, waved at our driver with unconcealed jealousy. Occasionally passers by (all male) would stop and look twice at our bus, registering that it looked slightly out of place in modern London. One smiling pensioner stood motionless clutching a copy of the Times behind his back, paying his last respects as we passed by.
I've made this journey many times before (see my Cube Routes feature, for example) but this occasion was different - the bus spotters were out in force. They were busy spotting my bus, so I kept myself busy spotting them. There was a bloke with a tripod photographing at the very first stop and another standing on some steps in Houndsditch with his camera at the ready. Two spotters had set up camp on a traffic island outside City Thameslink station and someone else was carefully positioned outside Sainsburys Local in Oxford Street with a giant swivelling lens. One passenger suddenly hopped off halfway down Old Bond Street to grab a couple of shots as we waited at traffic lights, and a keen snapper stepped out into the road as we sped round Hyde Park Corner. But the biggest welcome came as we pulled into Victoria Bus Station to be met by a posse of eight Routemaster paparazzi. The driver slowed down and posed for the cameras, like a slightly-surprised 60s pop star, before turning round and heading back to Bow (where I also spotted a film crew). And all this before the last day.
