TfL’s New Routemaster bus refurbishment project almost stalled

Transport for London’s project to refurbish hundreds of New Routemaster buses appears to have made little progress over the summer according to reports before TfL meetings.

Earlier this year I covered TfL’s plans to refurbish the 998-strong fleet, with TfL stating then:

“We have now completed over 600 New Routemaster mid-life refurbishments among the fleet of 998.

“We will have refurbished 650 by the end of the 2023/24 financial year.”

So reading a couple of Transport for London reports this month raised an eyebrow when the TfL Commissioner’s October 2024 report noted:

“We have finished mid-life refurbishment works on more than 600 of our new Routemasters”.

Little progress it would appear. What happened to that 650 target by April 2024? Then I looked into other reports including this month’s Programmes and Investment Committee which gave an exact number of refurbishments so far:

“To date, 607 buses have been refurbished” it claimed. Little different to figures in prior TfL reports from earlier this year and some way short of that April 2024 target.

A target is mentioned of 700 refurbishments by April 2025. That would leave 298 unrefurbished.

History

It’s pretty common for older buses to be cascaded to other parts of the country after 10-15 years in London, though the bespoke nature of the New Routemasters means that isn’t the case.

The fleet was ordered under Mayor Boris Johnson and designed by Thomas Heatherwick. According to TfL in late 2023, the original cost of each bus was between £335,000 and £355,000. The three-door design was intended to have a conductor, though they’re long gone.

In addition and unusually for London, TfL bought the buses outright rather than bus companies such as Stagecoach or Go-Ahead who would then cascade to other parts of their national network.

Thus TfL are embarking on the refurbishment to give another decade in service. The oldest is now 12 years of age. Not that old by London standards (there’s plenty of 15 year old buses still going) but 20 plus years is a stretch. Northern Irish plates help hide their age.

Of course the original Routemasters lasted many decades, but that was a world away now.

Change of use

From running mainly in central London they can now be seen on routes such as SL3 on the Superloop network. They’ve never really felt at home given their length/wheelbase means clipping kerbs is common.

From next year they’ll no long be running between Thamesmead and Bromley as new electric buses begin in service.

Whether the full fleet ever sees refurbishment remains to be seen. Or even whether those refurbished will remain in service for another decade.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has previously suggested an all-electric bus fleet by 2030. That seems a tall order, but even the attempt to reach it may see some buses head to scrap. Or possible conversion to full electric.

Is that possible? Well, some hybrids elsewhere are now being converted to full electric. Could the New Routemaster see similar?

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