TfL has revealed that it pays First & Stagecoach £1.8mil per annum to operate the two London “heritage” Routemaster bus routes, which started in November before the withdrawal of Routemasters from standard services on 9 December 2005. This equates to nearly £5,000 per day.
The London Transport Users’ Committee pressured TfL to operate the 9s and 15s within the usual London standard bus pass and travelcard regime, whereas TfL had originally intended that the heritage routes become commercial.
First’s Service 9 requires six RMs and operates between Kensington & Aldwych every 15 minutes between 0930 and 1830 daily. First’s vehicles are understood to be leased by TfL to the operator for a nominal £1 each.
Stagecoach’s 15 between Tower Hill & Trafalgar Square operates similarly every 15 minutes daily, requiring a further six vehicles.
The cost per mile for the 9 and 15 respectively is £12.57 and £10.69. Compare this to the quoted CPM for the 159 (at 1/03) of £5.06; 19 (at 23/9/04) of £5.72; and 73 (at 21/11/03) of £6.78.
The combined total of £1,814,673 p.a. is a huge sum of money. Double that and Stagecoach bought a bus company - Glenvale in July 2005. We pass no comment on whether heritage routes represent best value, leaving that instead for individual readers to determine this in their own minds, having weighed up the tourist nostalgia-and-feel-good factor these buses undoubtedly bring to the streets of London.
Wednesday, 1 March 2006
Cost of 12 RMs
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4 comments:
Thoroughly enjoying your recent posts.
The best way people can support these routes is to go on them - even though the format has been deliberately crippled so as to be of little use to anyone except the precious tourists, they show their true potential in the evening peak when workers need a fast getaway from the West End.
They're the only representation of choice Londoners really have left. Seat or backbreaker? Unsupervised anarchy or someone keeping a responsible eye on you? Get off when you feel it's safe or wait seething in traffic for an age? A bit of British culture or an anonymous, third-rate, uncomfortable, fake, corporatised heap of foreign drear?
Plus, the presentation of the Heritage Routes is absolutely superb (even from First, who took their time about it!) - they really show up how piss-poor the rest of the network is. I think they're excellent; I'm glad they exist, and I think a lot of other people are too.
Mentioning Glenvale as you did, perhaps like London Transport, Merseytravel should introduce Heritage routes. Stagecoach in Merseyside recently withdrew its Glenvale Titans. Some were 25 years old. Merseytravel should buy 12, refurbish them, lease 6 to First on Merseyside and 6 to Stagecoach and operate two heritage routes. 86 shorts might be the ones.
Matt, how many people actually use these routes, apart from as a peak time alternative to the 'real'bus network?
Do the people who use it pay fares or are they travelling on a day ticket?
What happens when someone decided to jump on or off early, loses their footing and sues following nan injury?
I can't answer that 'what if' question - probably the same as the people who sue for getting caught in the doors or having their heads kicked in upstairs. It disgusts me that things have even come to that; resorting to the courts because of what's basically one's own stupidity. I've fallen off buses' platforms, but have I sued? Maybe I should have - easy money, after all. A sensible judge would throw that kind of thing out, but...
I'd also be interested in knowing the statistics on fares/passes - especially since the last round of increases, which have angered a fair few people.
The routes shouldn't be just for tourists - aren't the vast majority of Londoners (and their money) just as important. In any case which of the potential passengers along the routes are likely to be tourists, workers, commuters or what have you is harder to quantify.
Can't really say anything else other than that I like them and I try to use them as often as I can. Otherwise, I don't really go to London any more.
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