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.
Comings And Goings Of Battery-Electric Buses On Route 242 At Aldgate Bus Station – 4th September 2025
I took these pictures of 242 battery-electric buses at Aldgate bus station, last night.
Note.
- All the buses on route 242, were Volvo BZL battery-electric buses.
- All the battery-electric buses backed onto the chargers for about ten minutes.
- Range on battery of the buses is probably about 214 miles according to Google.
- Buses arrived and left every few minutes.
- There was no indication, if the buses were charged at Aldgate bus station, although as the pictures show, some went dark for a few minutes.
If the buses were being charged, it certainly looked an efficient way to charge them.
I took these pictures of 242 battery-electric buses at Aldgate bus station and in Dalston, this morning.
Note.
- All the electric buses are Streetlite Electroliners from Wrightbus.
- All Wrightbuses have a stylised ‘W’ on the front.
- The seventh picture shows the enlarged destination board on the back of the Streetlite bus.
Are Stagecoach running two different types of buses on the same route to ascertain the best and give the chargers a decent workout?
I have some further thoughts.
Could This Form Of Charging Be Used To Convert New Routemasters Into Electric Buses?
Consider.
- In Equipmake Hybrid To Battery Powered LT11, I show a battery-electric New Routemaster is possible.
- In Wrightbus Launches NewPower In Bicester, I write about Wrightbus’s new factory in Bicester to convert buses to battery power.
- In New Routemasters As Advertising Hoardings, I show how New Routemasters have a nice little secondary earner as advertising hoardings.
- New Routemasters have become a symbol of London.
- As pictures five to seven show, New Routemasters could share the chargers with younger battery-electric buses.
- There is still at least another dozen years left in most New Routemasters.
Converting a thousand New Routemasters must be cheaper, than buying a thousand new buses.
Could This Form Of Charging Be Used Outside London?
Most certainly, provided you can get enough power to the charger.
Aldgate doesn’t have a problem with power, as the Underground is underneath.
Equipmake Hybrid To Battery Powered LT11
The bus in this video from Public Transport UK, may look like any of the thousand New Routemasters on the streets of London.
But it’s not, as it’s been given a transmission transplant by Equipmake of Snetterton in Norfolk.
The observant amongst you will notice, it has a refurbished interior, as I wrote about in My First Ride In A Refurbished New Routemaster.
There is also this press release from Equipmake, which is entitled Equipmake Showcases Sector-Leading Repower Technology With Fully-Electric New Routemaster Bus.
Some points from the press release.
- Equipmake’s cutting-edge Zero Emission Drivetrain (ZED), uses a 95% British-built component content.
- With pre-service trials already started in London, operated by Metroline, the electric version of the New Routemaster will continue to be assessed over the next six months.
- The repowered New Routemaster, developed by Equipmake at its base in Snetterton, Norfolk, features a 400kWh battery enabling an expected in-service range of 150 miles – more than enough for a day’s running.
- The development of the all-electric New Routemaster has come about thanks to a programme part funded by the UK Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC).
- Over the coming months, Equipmake will be trialling additional repowered buses with other bus operators across the UK.
- Featuring an advanced water-glycol cooling circuit, the system has the added benefit of providing interior heating during cold conditions with captured thermal energy.
- When the battery is depleted at the end of a complete duty cycle, it can be recharged at the depot overnight via a CSS DC charging point.
But this is the bit I really like.
Under the skin, the New Routemaster also features Equipmake’s HTM 3500 electric motor. Seamlessly integrated into the prop shaft without the need for a separate transmission, the motor is precisely engineered to meet the demanding requirements of a fully-laden double-decker bus by producing 3,500Nm torque at a motor speed of just 1,000rpm and delivering 400kW maximum power.
It sounds a bit like a modern reincarnation of a TASC unit (torque and speed control unit), which was an industrial drive from the 1960s, used to precisely control industrial machines. I never used one, but I worked in a section at Enfield Rolling Mills, that did.
One car manufacturer of the time, was using them as an automatic transmission for a small car. It might have been Hillman.
A Comparison With The Wrightbus Streetdeck Electroliner BEV
The Wrightbus Streetdeck Electroliner BEV is the company’s latest electric double decker bus and a comparison can be made.
Seats
Equipmake LT11 – 87
Electroliner BEV – 96
Battery Size
Equipmake LT11 – 400 kWh
Electroliner BEV – 340 or 454 kWh
Range
Equipmake LT11 – 150 miles
Electroliner BEV – 200 miles with 454 kWh battery.
Conclusion
This New Routemaster, is certainly no ordinary electric bus.
With the batteries on hybrid buses needing to be replaced regularly, Eqipmake’s transmission transplant could also be scheduled, when a bus needs a new battery.
With Lotus just up the road, the engineering is certainly Normal for Norfolk!
The Anonymous Widower 