Refurbished Routemasters Return To Service In London
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from Wrightbus.
This is the sub-heading.
A fleet of iconic Routemaster buses is returning to London’s streets following a comprehensive mid-life refurbishment programme delivered by Wrightbus’s repair and refurbishment division.
These three paragraphs add more detail.
The latest vehicle to complete the programme – LT706 – has emerged from a full refit at RGI Bus & Coach Refurbishment Limited, which was acquired by Wrightbus two years ago, before returning to service from Transport UK London’s Walworth Garage.
It is the ninth of 40 Routemasters allocated to Walworth-based Routes 3 and 68 to complete the programme, with the remaining vehicles due to be refurbished over the next 12 months. Among those already refurbished is the LT1000 – the last ever production New Routemaster – which is now back at the theTransport UK Twickenham Depot.
Designed to extend the operational life of the fleet, the programme sees each vehicle undergo a comprehensive survey before key components are repaired or replaced, returning the buses to an ‘as new’ condition for the next phase of their service.
This afternoon, I went to Euston and took a 68 bus halfway across London.
These are some of the pictures I took of LT703.
Note.
- An image of LT703 after refurbishment appears in the Wrightbus news item.
- I was unable to take pictures inside the bus, as it was too crowded.
- To my untrained eyes, it looked to be a thorough refurbishment.
- From what I heard, it sounded like the bus still had the same diesel power unit from Cummins.
I’d picked up the 68 bus from stop E at Euston, which is at the Eastern end of the Euston bus station.
I have a few questions about the refurbishment.
Will All Thousand Buses Be Brought Up To This Standard?
Coming home this morning, I rode in LT833 on route 38, which had also been refurbished.
The refurbishment seems to have added extra internal signs.
Could New Routemasters Still Be Running In The 2050s?
When you look at the trains on UK railways, there are a few InterCity 225 trains still running in regular service between London Kings Cross and Leeds.
- They were built between 1988 and 1991.
- So some could be only a couple of years short of their fortieth birthdays.
- The New Routemasters were built between 2011 and 2017.
If the New Routemasters can last as long of the trains with the right tender loving care, then they could still be running in the 2050s.
Could New Routemasters Be Converted To Battery-Electric Operation?
Consider.
- The current refurbishment program could give London and its bus passengers, a thousand as-new buses.
- These buses would give a breathing space before new buses need to be delivered.
- Bus passengers I speak to prefer New Routemasters to some of the Chinese electric buses coming into service.
- Hitachi have told me, that batteries will deliver more power for the kilogram in future years.
- Metroline are testing LT11, which has been converted to battery-electric power.
This section in the Wikipedia entry for the New Routemaster is entitled Mid-Life Developments, where this is said about LT11.
At the Euro Bus Expo in November 2022, Norfolk-based electric vehicle manufacturer Equipmake unveiled the first electric vehicle conversion for the New Routemaster, with Metroline-operated vehicle LT11 on display at the event with its hybrid propulsion system having been removed and replaced by Equipmake fully-electric motors and a 400 kWh battery.[106] The Equipmake New Routemaster electrification programme may allow the New Routemaster fleet to have a longer service life in London, as conversion of these vehicles to fully-electric will provide a cheaper alternative to purchasing replacement brand new electric buses.
There is a YouTube video of the bus in Equipmake Hybrid To Battery Powered LT11.
The interior looked very much like the interiors of LT703 and LT833.
Could New Routemasters Be Converted To Hydrogen-Electric Operation?
New Routemasters are powered by an Cummins diesel engine, from the same family as those that power the Dodge RAM Pickup.
In Could London’s New Routemaster Buses Be Converted To Hydrogen Power?, I looked at converting New Routemasters to hydrogen power.
This was my conclusion.
I believe from my knowledge of Cummins and the way they work, that they will come up with a hydrogen-based solution, that will replace the Cummins diesel in these buses with a zero-carbon engine.
If Cummins don’t then someone else will.
Whoever solves the problem of converting London’s new Routemasters to hydrogen will have one of the best adverts for their product, there has ever been.
After converting London’s thousand Routemasters, the engineers could move on to anything powered by a Cummins engine.
That conclusion would also apply to an electric conversion.
Okehampton Interchange Station Opens
Okehampton Interchange station was officially opened yesterday.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the station.
Note.
- Okehampton is to the West.
- There is a single 100 metre long platform on the North side of the single-track Dartmoor Line.
- I suspect, that by using selective door opening, a five-car Class 800/1/2 train could serve the station.
- There is a bridge with lifts between the platform and the car-park.
- It appears there is a drop-off point on the North side of the station.
I have a few thoughts on the design.
Could A Second Track And Platform Be Added?
It would obviously depend on passenger numbers and how they used the station, but it does look as if the station has left space for a second track and platform.
The lifts, that would be needed to cross the tracks have already been installed.
It looks like the station has been designed with this possibility in mind.
Will Any Local Buses Serve Okehampton Interchange Station?
I asked Google AI, the question in the title of this section and received this reply.
New timetables are due 30th August 2026.
118 Tavistock to Okehampton service will be the only bus to connect to the new station, all the other buses currently serving the old station will continue to do so.
That seems to be sensible.
Could Okehampton Interchange Station Be Used As The Eastern End Of An Alternative Route To Cornwall?
This paragraph has been taken from the Wikipedia entry for Dawlish station.
After a major storm in 2014 washed out the track bed and made an 80-metre (260 ft) breach in the sea wall north of the station, plans were developed to reinforce and replace the sea wall around the station area. This work, which was expected to cost £80 million, started in 2020[10] and was largely completed in late summer 2022. During this time, the sea wall walkway was raised to platform level and both platforms were resurfaced. The platform lighting was also improved. An accessible footbridge, built to replace the previous at-grade crossing for passengers who can’t use stairs, opened on 15 March 2024.
The seas along the coast can be ferocious and it would be unwise to say that another major storm will never wash the railway away again.
An in any case, the line to Cornwall will be occasionally closed for engineering works.
But given, that Okehampton Interchange, Launceston and Bodmin Parkway stations are all handy for the a30 road, which is a fast dual carriageway.
I believe that between Okehampton Interchange and Bodmin Parkway stations would be an ideal route for one of the new 10000 km. range hydrogen-powered coaches, that are being developed by Wrightbus and Mercedes among thers.
The Anonymous Widower 