Bus number plates - have TfL got this right?

Public transport vehicles age very differently to that of the car. It is rare to get a bog standard Renault that's received a new engine, all new components and of course a mid-life refurbishment and internal refresh. A 2001 Renault Megane convertible generally looks like it's from 2001.

Trains are blessed with the fact that apart from the enthusiast fraternity, the age of a unit or set is pretty much hidden by repainting, high quality refurbishments and can fool almost anyone into believing it is a new train. Take the Class 319s which were hard at work with Thameslink from the late '80s which have recently found work in the North West where electrification is apace.

Following refurbishment and its shoes removed (they will only require a pantograph in their new life) they appear to be a completely new train and for the people who have suffered some awful trains from Northern Rail, they are magnificent compared to the old order.

So what has this got to do with buses I hear you shout? Well most passengers thought that these were new trains. Hard to believe when you're an enthusiast admittedly but customers see things differently. A view shared by many intelligent bus managers and they don't come much more switched on than the great Phil Stockley, once of Eastleigh's Velvet which sadly disappeared last year.

Phil is now at Wellglade and he has done wonders for TM Travel who are thinking outside of the box, thanks to Phil and are upgrading their vehicles to a standard that makes their buses look like new.

Service 218 which runs from Sheffield to Bakewell has had investment in ex-Trent Barton (the really good bus company of course!) Scanias. Coming from TB the vehicles have been looked after during their lives and are now 12 years old.

But you wouldn't think it. A new livery plus a high quality refurbishment has resulted in these buses hiding their age ... apart from the number plate (FJ03 VVR in this case).

Transport for London and their Borismasters all have Northern Ireland-style private plates (LTZ 1017 featured in yesterday's blog) so you would have to do some serious digging to find its age. The average passenger wouldn't necessarily be interested but it is worth noting that a quick look at the registration will automatically make some customers view this and make assumptions before joining.

If it was me, I would replace every bus in my fleet that has been upgraded and bang on a private plate to hide this piece of information. It's actually not that relevant on a bus as it is the ongoing refurbishments and refresh programmes that can keep vehicles looking like new.

It's an easy and quick way to encourage bus travel by keeping your fleet clean, fresh and modern. The number plate detracts from that. Come on DVLA, let's have buses exempt from the usual number plate and have special ones instead.

Just out of interest, a certain bus group is now running vehicles just a few years old which look awful. Panels are marked or replaced but still in white (or worse, base aluminium) and the surprise is reversed when the plate shows '62' and it is in this state already.

Who said an old bird can't look like new?!

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.