It has taken just two years from design to fully working bus, but the London Routemaster bus is to make a return albeit with a bit of a facelift.
It is over 50 years since the original Red London Bus with its unique double doors and open area at the back was last reworked, but after the original Routemaster’s were withdrawn 6 years ago, there have been many protests about the unsuitability of the more standard bus fleet.
Eight buses are being built initially at a cost of £1.4 million each compared to a normal double decker which costs around £190,000. However, on the busy routes such as route 38 between Hackney and Victoria Station the buses could save a lot of time, stress and it turns out fuel too.
Each bus is twice as efficient as the old Routemaster’s or most other diesel buses and utilises LED lighting to save fuel.
The first bus hits route 38 today with the rest being commissioned to appear before the London Olympics. Each has three doors, two sets of stairs and a conductor will reappear on a London bus too.
Carlisle, Cumbria’s only city, has been declared the “Happiest place to live in the UK” according to a recent survey dispelling the age old myth that it’s “Grim up’t north”.
ATMs (cash machines) have for a while been bi-lingual with the usual options being English, French, Italian & German but now a few in London are asking questions in a new language – Cockney!
For the first time, a Welsh pub has won the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) award who have declare this to be the best pub in Britain.
Perhaps a little off the usual topic, but if you’ve got a dog, you might want to watch Emmerdale tonight where Bakers are planning to run an advert for dogs!
This morning Cumbria awoke to a blanket of ice this morning, but rather than the icicles and nice white Winter scenes, this was the much more dangerous black ice and freezing rain.
A reminder that the £10 Summer Spectacular Sale from Travelodge has started for bookings between 1st April to 31st August 2012!
