The New Routemaster becomes just a bus!

Back in 2011, Boris Johnson beamed as the first New Routemaster (or New Bus for London - NBfL - as it was known back then) hit the streets promising an iconic bus for an iconic city. The biggest draw with these new buses was the return of a conductor (ish) and the all-important open rear door as the vehicle was in motion. A cry back to the days of the original Routemaster which of course didn't have a door at all. The rationale to provide a door at the rear was so the bus could operate as OPO, or one-person operated if you're not au fait with the old acronyms.

Anyway, the first route to be fully converted across to full NBfL was the number 24 (Pimlico - Hampstead Heath) operated by Metroline. The bus has an air-cooling system which was heavily criticised during the summer months for being more like a "Roastmaster" than anything as temperatures rocketed. The vehicle has no hopper windows to gain fresh air into the top deck, something that is now being retrofitted to current builds and all new vehicles will have this revolutionary feature along with the air cooling systems "improved".

But the biggest change to the latest deliveries is that they will no longer require conductors. Simply put, the open platform will be no more and the rear of the bus will now feature doors that swing outwards meaning these have to be closed when the vehicle is in motion. The very reason for ordering such a bus will now be defunct and will just be a bus with three doors. A very expensive bus at that. It is not known whether the hundreds already delivered will be modified but with a saving back to OPO you can imagine that this can only be a matter of time and of course at a cost.

Alexander-Dennis recently released their new Enviro 400H City which looks very similar to the New Routemaster and with a much reduced price tag. There is no rear staircase (the Boris has two) and no rear door but the glazed staircase and moquette and unsymmetrical windscreen all compliment the existing NBfL. It also a shorter vehicle which will prove popular for routes where a Borismaster just can't get around some of London's tighter streets.

The number of Borismasters is expected to breach 800 by the turn of the year but it's difficult to see what the difference is between a normal bus and a Boris bus should the USP be removed. A costly mistake or an iconic bus? I'll leave you to make that decision.