Looking back down Regent Street

A week on from last Sunday’s Regent Street Bus Cavalcade and we are still receiving enthusiastic tributes on the hugely successful day.

We have had the most amazing reaction. It seems some 400,000 people attended, which is more than double that predicted. Across the world, social media has reported the wonderful, family atmosphere as people wandered around and through the buses. Allowing people onto the buses and in the cab was clearly a great element to the success of the day.

A special thank you to all of the vehicle owners, for not only supporting the event, but also welcoming visitors on board their vehicles.

It wasn’t just the buses or the Lego bus stop that were busy. Emma Hignett is the voice you hear announcing all the stops on London’s Buses. Emma spent the day making personal announcements on people’s iPhones. Non-stop all day. So thousands of people now have their own personal Emma announcement.

But as at all such events, not everyone will be quite so enthusiastic and we had some internet chatter on certain aspects.

We spent a great deal of time working on the parking plan. Getting the vehicles in and out safely with no conflicting movements or awkward manoeuvres, and no delay on arrival was our biggest challenge.

We also had to contend with the median strip which occupies much of Regent Street.

We deliberately avoided ropes and no-go areas so people could go almost anywhere. Securing a licence for the event meant that numbers of vehicles was prescriptive, where they parked etc. ensuring emergency vehicle access at all times.

As to the choice of vehicles, quite simply it came down to what was available, what was mobile, what could be moved and when assembled would provide a colourful and interesting streetscape. Of course there were types not represented but the wish list was governed by the total number of vehicles allowed.

We are still collecting photographs, videos and stories from this amazing day. There have been many calls for a repeat. How and when this might be will have to be decided. For now though, we look back on a hugely successful event and again send a huge thank you to everyone who made it possible.

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Year of the Bus Cavalcade

Photo thanks to Peter Zabek

Wasn't Sunday's Bus Cavalcade in London's Regent Street amazing! It was attended by tens of thousands of people in glorious sunny weather. Not just bus enthusiasts, as I heard one person comment, but many members of the public especially families - many taken by delighted surprise when they found vehicles and cabs were open for exploration. Queues built up for several of the vehicle types and lasted all day. You had to be there to appreciate the atmosphere.

We lined up 185 years of London bus history from the 1829 Horse Bus to the New Routemaster on the road closed for traffic for the occasion. In between were examples of London bus types as diverse as a 1952 BEA coach and a converted STL used latterly as a tree lopper.

Too late to be included in the official programme, two vehicles sold at auction the previous week from the collection of the late Michael Banfield (S454 and his Tilling-Stevens petrol-electric). A last minute casualty was Optare CityPacer OV2 which couldn’t be made ready in time.

Others made appearances after a long time in obscurity. Prototype Routemaster RM2 is back after a decade during which time a carefully hand-built replacement front end was created solely from photographs of how it looked when new in 1957. Not far away was the only rear-engined Routemaster FRM1 painted in its original 1967 colour scheme of red and flake grey with its original front end design.

There are numerous stories to be told about the event - including the planning and our work with our partner organisations to make it happen. A huge number of people gave up their time to bring the show together and spend not only their Sunday, but countless hours beforehand in preparation. Any list of thanks would never be definitive. But I shall try nonetheless.

The Cavalcade was only possible thanks to City of Westminster, Regent Street Association and The Crown Estates.

Over half of the vehicles came from the London Transport Museum, London Bus Museum and Ensignbus. The planning needed to get them there (especially the ones which don’t run under their own power) was extraordinary. Others came from individual owners as well as TfL's contracted bus companies.

From within TfL - Andy Barr, Simon Buxton and Jon Hodges directed the event; numerous people from Sam Mullins’ team at the LT Museum made it possible for so many vehicles to be present; Bob Bird arranged more vehicles from Acton than ever before. The team at London Bus Museum under the Chairmanship of Guy Marriott gave us all they could without emptying their own place at Brooklands. Peter, Ross and Steve Newman delivered eight of their collection including newly repainted T499 completed only that week.

Working away too were the volunteers, the people from TfL Marketing & Communications, the Museum Shop and numerous others.

A huge team effort by a great team. Thank you. As you can imagine, I loved every minute of it.

And we promise to do it again - perhaps sooner than the 35 years it has taken since we last did so!

Above: Peter Zabek

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Battle bus

On Thursday morning I was delighted to launch our 'newest' bus. But unlike the fleet of New Routemasters currently joining the fleet, this 'new' bus is 100 years old.

In 1914, more than 1000 London buses carried soldiers to the Western front, some returning with the injured. Painted khaki and with the windows boarded up, their civilian drivers bravely drove them no faster than their top speed of 16mph to places far away from their traditional London streets.

Back to today, the B2737 has been completely restored thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund and other donations. It is one of only four of its type in existence, originally running on route 9 from Mortlake garage.

This morning outside the London Transport Museum I cranked its starting handle, firing into life its petrol engine in front of the press and stakeholders. After photographs and interviews were done the bus was left on the Piazza to be enjoyed by visitors before heading off to its first event - the London Bus Awards.

It will compete a limited number of engagements in London this summer before being painted khaki - in public - in Central London. It will reprise its expedition to France and Belgium where it will attend numerous events connected with the 100th anniversary of World War I.

So for a short while the B2737 will be in its original red livery. Look out for it at the London Bus Cavalcade in Regent Street on 22 June.

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