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They're calling it Black Friday.
3rd September 2004 is the date set for the
conversions of routes 9, 73 and 390 from
Routemaster to OPO, with the 73 still set to
assume articulated bus operation against the
wishes of just about everyone who's ever used
this busiest route in London. TfL have
contemptuously ignored passenger letters and
petitions, which means those of us disgusted at
the damage they are doing not only to London's
reputation but to its citizens' travelling
standards, have had to take it to the papers.
Keep watching the Evening
Standard, for more exposes of TfL's waste
and irresponsibility, and perhaps we can turn
this around yet. It's a tasteless joke that's
stopped being funny. Black Friday will wipe 100 RMLs
off the roster, with the 73 accounting for over
half of that on its own. Two companies (Metroline
London Northern and London United) will lose crew
operation entirely with the loss of the 390 and 9
respectively, while the very last two
Routemasters with their original AEC engines will
be withdrawn. Kings Cross's RML 903, the last of
the 1961 batch of 24 evaluatory RMLs, and
Tottenham's RM 5, the lowest numbered production
Routemaster, are set to be the final buses on the
390 and 73 - unless RM 5 can return to Clapton
for one last year on the 38?
News of the
last day commemorations as they unfold can be
found on the LOTS website (under the News
column), but I can report the following:
- On
Saturday 28th August two London United
RMLs will perform special journeys on the
9 across Hammersmith Bridge to the
route's historic terminus at the site of
Mortlake Garage, with some journeys
reprising the old 9A to Aldgate. See the
full timetable here.
- London
United will only have about five RMLs
left by the end, so their main running
day on the 9 will be on the Wednesday,
1st September. Further specials are
planned for the last day.
- On
Thursday 2nd September RM 5, RTW 75 and
RTW 467 will perform a Tottenham garage
Farewell Tour over routes 41, 76 and 243.
- Six
special buses will be operational on the
390 on Friday 3rd September, with the
last journey (RML 903 as KX8) to depart
from Marble Arch at 01:00. During the
midday period some of the specials will
operate to Hammersmith as 10s.
- Nineteen
special buses will be operating on the 73
on its last day, with the last journey of
all (00:53 from Victoria) to be worked by
RM 5. Some of the buses will run on to
Hammersmith over the 9 (and indeed, the
73's former routeing)
- The last
route 9 departure leaves Aldwych at
23:38, arriving at Hammersmith at 00:14.
Although the
allocations of Routemasters froze in place upon
privatisation of the London Buses Limited
subsidiaries in 1994, movements of individual
vehicles resumed in later years, although now
with the headache of transferring paperwork
between companies. RML 2389 (JJD 389D) was a London
General bus for the 11, but was transferred via
TfL to Metroline London Northern, where its days
on the 390 will finish in two weeks. It is seen
at Marble Arch on 3nd July.
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