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.
Blackheath Station – 22nd August 2025
I’d read somewhere that Blackheath station had had a refurbishment, so yesterday I went to have a look.
I took these pictures.
Note.
- The station has has a high-quality makeover.
- There is a delightful and very practical cafe.
- Period details like the windows have been decorated with the care, that a Grade II Listed building deserves.
More stations in the UK, need a makeover like this.
The Anonymous Widower 