Year of the Bus underway

The modern cars and cabs give away that this is not the 1950s!

Our 2014 Year of the Bus is well underway and we have enjoyed several special bus events so far including the old and the new. Last Saturday, Londoners and visitors alike were treated to a feast of 1950s nostalgia. Celebrating 75 years since the RT-type bus entered service on route 22, a whole fleet of them joined into that days' operation.

After running most of the day between Homerton and Piccadilly Circus, the fleet headed for Putney Common and then onto Brooklands where the London Bus Museum was hosting a major event.

That evening I was delighted to be speaking at the Museum’s dinner. How things had changed I reminded everyone: in the early days - the night before the traditional Spring curtain-raiser we would have a Chinese takeaway before a short sleep ahead of the arrival of visitors. These days our dinner in the Brooklands Clubhouse includes white tablecloths and wine.

This tells a particular story – the Museum coming of age. Now it is a proper and increasingly accredited museum accessing funding from numerous sources and telling an important story about bus transport inside a larger transport museum.

I reminded all present of the hard work and sacrifices made by the founders. Having given up their jobs and mortgaged their homes, they established a proper museum for London’s buses against all conventional wisdom. Now we have a place where the public pay to visit and enjoy the collection.

The Museum’s original prime mover, founder and Secretary Alan Allmey was tragically killed along with his wife in a 1978 car crash. His co-founder Prince Marshall died from complications after an illness in 1981. Those that followed have transformed their passion and interest into a professional Museum that has kept pace with the changing world.

I remember that era well and am proud to recount those early days. I am also in a very privileged position to be part of the future. And forward it is with Year of the Bus now well underway with many more events to come.

More silver LTs are joining the fleet to support
Year of the Bus activities. A simpler livery has been adopted.

More silver New Routemasters will soon be joining London's fleet as we move closer to our major event on 22nd June. A closed Regent Street will play host to a cavalcade of London buses from the horse bus to present day buses.

Year of the Bus is celebrating the hard work of London’s bus staff, our heritage, the technology and of course how the bus services are the life blood of our city getting over 6m people a day to work, to school, to shopping and everywhere else!

Have you seen the special bus stop signs and logos adorning the network across London?

Further event details are listed on YOTB events.

Next up in our busy calendar is the conversion of route 10 to New Routemaster on 26th April whilst in the meantime deliveries well into the 200s mean we are already stockpiling vehicles for route 38 and others this year. Here is LT232 awaiting delivery from the factory to Arriva.