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London Buses route 15 (Heritage)

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This article is about the previous heritage route 15H operated by Stagecoach London. For the current route 15 operated by Go-Ahead London, see London Buses route 15.

15H
Stagecoach London AEC Routemaster
Overview
OperatorStagecoach London
GarageWest Ham
VehicleAEC Routemaster
Peak vehicle requirement5
StatusDefunct
Began service14 November 2005
Ended service14 November 2020
Night-timeN15
Route
StartTower Hill station
ViaCannon Street
Aldwych
EndTrafalgar Square
Length3 miles (4.8 km)
Service
LevelWeekends and public holidays
Late March to Late September only
FrequencyAbout every 20 minutes
Journey time24-25 minutes
Operates09:30 until 19:00
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London Buses route 15H was a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. It ran between Tower Hill station and Trafalgar Square, and was operated by Stagecoach London.[1]

It was a short working of the standard route 15 and was the last route operated with preserved AEC Routemasters.[2][3]

History

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This route and route 9H were announced initially as 'A' and 'B' as short workings on existing routes to avoid any potential complications as Government's legislation requires buses to be fully wheelchair-accessible by 22 October 2014 in the entire United Kingdom. For Transport for London, they aimed to comply earlier with the last non-wheelchair accessible buses withdrawn in June 2008 with two exemptions - the heritage routes. Route 9H was withdrawn in 2014.[4]

One of the two routes, awarded to Stagecoach London, was for services between Trafalgar Square and Tower Hill, covering the most touristy section of route 15 taking in the Tower of London, Monument, St Paul's Cathedral and Trafalgar Square.[5] An extension to the Oxford Street area was excluded due to severe congestion there. The number of the parallel route 15 was adopted for the AEC Routemasters, despite potential for confusion with the main 15.

Ten buses were allocated to the operator; 5 for the daily turnout, 3 operational spares and 2 as a "strategic reserve". Despite having only a couple of weeks to prepare the vehicles after they left normal service, Stagecoach turned out 5 immaculately presented Routemasters for the first day of service, 14 November 2005. The first journey was driven by Peter Hendy, managing director of TfL surface transport.

In April 2008, one of the buses was painted in a special Indian Red and Silver livery, to promote Bow Garage's Centenary. It was first revealed at the London Bus Preservation Trust's Cobham bus rally, and soon after entered regular service.

The buses operated with conductors collecting fares, in cash (until July 2014, when they went cashless along with the rest of the London bus network) or by Oyster card. Travelcards and Bus and Tram passes were also accepted, but contactless payment cards were not.

In 2015, it was announced that ten Routemasters were to be refurbished which included opening windows being refitted.[6] In November of the same year, the frequency of the service was reduced from a bus every 15 minutes to a bus every 20 minutes in an attempt to improve the reliability of the service.[7]

From 2 March 2019, the heritage service was reduced to operate only on weekends and bank holidays, from the last (2019: first) Saturday in March until the last weekend in September.[8]

The route did not operate during 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its contract expired in November of that year and was not renewed. In 2021, Transport for London confirmed that the route would not run again, thus being withdrawn at the end of its contract on 14 November 2020.[9][10][11]

In October 2023, new heritage route T15 started operating daily from Tower Gateway to Charing Cross and on across the river to Waterloo, by Transpora Group. However, this route is operated privately and is not connected to Transport for London.[12]

Former route

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Route 15H operated via these primary locations:

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Bus tender results". Transport for London. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  2. ^ "Touring Routemasters hit the road". BBC News. 14 November 2005. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  3. ^ Webster, Ben (28 June 2005). "Tourist icon stays on the road". The Times. London. Retrieved 31 March 2010.[dead link]
  4. ^ Bennett, Owen (7 March 2014). "'This bus terminates here!' Iconic London Routemaster buses a step closer to being axed". Daily Express. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  5. ^ "Heritage route contracts awarded". Transport for London. 9 September 2005. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  6. ^ Heritage Routemasters receive their Eastleigh refits Buses issue 725 August 2015 page 25
  7. ^ "Bus service proposal: Heritage Routemaster journeys on route 15". Transport for London. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  8. ^ "Permanent bus changes, Route 15 heritage". Transport for London. 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  9. ^ "TfL confirms Heritage Routemasters won't return". keybuses.com. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  10. ^ "Transport for London retires last heritage service of Routemaster buses". The Guardian. 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  11. ^ London heritage route 15h withdrawn Coach & Bus Week 21 April 2021
  12. ^ "Londoner Buses: Ride a classic London Bus! T15 Heritage Route" (PDF). www.londonerbuses.co.uk. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
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