In real life, the development of the new Routemaster bus was inspired by the old London Routemaster, unveiled at the Earl’s Court Commercial Vehicle Exhibition in September 1954 and which had for over sixty years been an iconic London tourist attraction in itself, its demise causing outrage amongst enthusiasts. However, the new Routemaster incorporates all the modern requirements for city transport. Designed by Wrightbus in Northern Ireland, it is the first bus in over 50 years that has been designed specifically for the streets of London. It is modern, fully accessible, user friendly and uses the latest green technology. During its development and subsequent launch, it earned the affectionate nickname the ‘Boris Bus’ because of the then Mayor of London - Boris Johnson’s determined input into the New Bus for London project.
In design terms, the New Routemaster has three sets of doors and two sets of stairs – one at each end for entry to the top deck. The bus features a lot of lightweight materials including glass, making it light and airy. There is a stepfree gangway on the lower deck and wheelchair bays help disabled people onboard. Environmentally, the bus uses the latest green diesel-electric hybrid technology and is the best performing bus of its kind in the world. London Transport plans to have 1000 in use by the summer of 2017.
Our N scale replica is painted red, white and black and incorporates many of the unique features of the ‘real thing’. Its two different advertising panels draw attention to the musical satire ‘The Book of Mormon’ showing on the West End stage. Registered LTZ 1060, our new Routemaster is heading as the number 11 to Liverpool Street, just like it did in the old days! Lettering and the bus number LT60 is printed in gold to the front of the advertising panels on both sides and the number is also printed in black out of white on the roof.