New Routemaster: London rollout programme

This gallery contains representative images only - for all images available, see the individual route galleries.

Images relating to the rollout of the New Routemaster into service on the London bus routes it's now used on.

Route 38 trials edit

The type first entered public service on route 38 under special conditions (see route gallery for full details). Introduced gradually, only LT1 and LT2 entered service on the first day, 27 February 2012 (LT2 starting the first journey, at lunchtime). The trial phase officially ended with the first full conversion (see below); the prototypes remained in service on the 38 in an intermediate phase until its own full conversion in May 2013, and have remained on the route post-conversion.

LT2 entering Victoria bus station
27 February 2012, 13:32
LT2 in Victoria bus station
27 February 2012, 13:34
Route 38 prototype in intermediate phase (26 September 2013)
Route 38 prototype still on the 38 after full conversion (13 June 2014)

Full conversions edit

Routes have subsequently been fully converted to the type on a route by route basis, as per the schedule in the table below. The first route to be converted was Metroline operated route 24, with the vehicle swap taking place all on one day, 22 June 2013. Subsequent routes have been converted on a phased basis, with the type being introduced gradually.

Schedule edit

No.	Date	(Full) route	Operator	Garage	PVR^*	Hours	Mode	Type replaced
24	22 June 2013	Pimlico to Hampstead Heath	Metroline	HT	27	24 hour	crew	VW
11	Sep 2013	Liverpool Street to Fulham Broadway	General	SW	25	Day (-N)	crew	WVL
9	Oct 2013	Aldwych to Hammersmith	United	V	22	Day (-N)	crew	VLE
390	Dec 2013	Notting Hill Gate to Archway	Metroline	HT	21	24 hour	crew	VPL
148	Feb 2014	White City to Camberwell Green	United	S	25	24 hour	OPO	SP
10	Apr 2014	King's Cross to Hammersmith	United	V	23	24 hour	crew	SP
38 / N38	May 2014	38: Victoria to Clapton Pond N38: Victoria to Walthamstow Central	Arriva (N)	CT	59	Day/Night	crew (38) OPO (N38)	DW
8 / N8	Jun 2014	8: Tottenham Court Road* to Bow Church N8: Oxford Circus to Hainault	East London	BW	30	Day/Night	OPO	TA
453	Oct 2014	Marylebone to Deptford Bridge	General	MW	35	24 hour	OPO	E
137	Dec 2014	Oxford Circus to Streatham Hill	Arriva (S)	BN	31	Day (-N)	OPO	DW
55 / N55	Jan 2015	Oxford Circus to Leyton N55: Oxford Circus to Woodford Wells	East London	T	34	Day/Night	OPO	TA
15	Feb 2015	Trafalgar Square to Blackwall	East London	BW	22	Day (-N)	OPO	EH
12	Apr 2015	Oxford Circus to Dulwich Library	Central	Q	36	24 hour	OPO	WVL
73 / N73	Apr-Jul 2015	Victoria to Stoke Newington N73: Victoria to Walthamstow Central	Arriva (N)	SF	53	Day/Night	OPO	DW

^* - PVR is Peak Vehicle Requirement - the number of buses required to run the route at peak time (from the TfL press release at the time of conversion)

Route 24 edit

The first route 24 journey was the 06:56 from Hampstead Heath operated by LT32, driven by TfL Surface Transport MD Leon Daniels and conducted by Metroline CEO Jaspal Singh, with other officials on board including TfL Transport Commissioner Sir Peter Hendy. The interest in the occasion led to the arrival at Pimlico being 20 minutes late.