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Double-deck operation on the
extremely busy west-east trunk route 25 is into
its last week, with bendy buses set to take over
on Saturday. Its contract will also transfer from
First back to Stagecoach East London after
exactly five years. At the same time the 25's
weekend diversion via the Tower will cease and
the route will run via Bank at all times, even
though there will be very little custom indeed in
the City for the route at weekends while the 15
gets swamped by tourists. But TfL seems convinced
that passengers aren't intelligent enough to
comprehend weekend diversions in the interests of
addressing demand, not to mention the lunacy of
putting crush-loading articulated buses onto the
most important trunk service in East London.
Today's Routemaster specials that were rostered
on the 25 were loaded heavily enough as it was -
God help the East End's commuting population come
Saturday. Helping out its eastern partner
for a day was First CentreWest, who provided
Silver Jubilee-liveried RM 1650 (650 DYE, top)
to run on a mixture of sections of the
eleven-mile length of the 25, though London's
hopeless traffic conditions bedevilled efficient
running (as it does any route, special or
otherwise!) and its entry into Stratford bus
station as pictured here was somewhat late.
A second
Routemaster was added at a late stage, and this
was another Westbourne Park charge in the shape
of RML 2735 (SMK 735F, bottom),
also seen at Stratford. Full blinds were provided
throughout - the rear and side blinds with 'Via
Tower' emphasis were adapted from those used on
the Metrobuses with which First initially took
over the 25 in 1999.
Both these
vehicles will end their service days on Friday
2nd July when the 7 loses its Routemasters.
Thanks to those
concerned for putting on an enjoyable
mini-running day in the East End today - even the
repeated spells of heavy rain didn't put a damper
on things, so to speak!
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