Tired of London, Tired of Life - A website about things to do in London

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12 April 2014

Ride an RT-type bus

Though many think of the Routemaster bus as the quintessential red London bus, and some might even assume it was where it all began, the AEC Regent III RT bus was actually running 15 years before the Routemaster, and looks very similar. This class of bus entered service in 1939 on route 22, 75 years ago, and to celebrate this anniversary some RT-types will be working that same route today, offering passengers rides on vintage buses between Piccadilly Circus to Homerton from 10.30am until 4.30pm.


We are told that rides will take place every 10-20 minute, with most on the RT-types free for passengers, except on the RT1 - the London Bus Museum's restored prototype operating today for the first time anywhere since 1945 - for which there will be a £10 charge. There are sure to be a fair few passengers out enjoying the buses, for in your author's limited experience the only transport-fans more obsessive than the train-spotters are the bus-spotters, but they're usually a friendly bunch as long as you engage them with an open mind and a willingness to learn obscure facts about buses.

For more, see http://www.londonbusmuseum.com/rt75/ 

^Picture © TFL Press Office^

5 comments:

  1. If the RT-type disappeared from London streets in 1945, what double decker red bus was used after that date? I didn't move to London until 1972 and although I am forgetting bits and pieces, I am sure I remember double deckers back then. The word "iconic" is over used and wrongly used, but not in this case.

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    1. Hi held...the RT was the main London bus used in the late 1940′s and `1950′s until it was replaced by the lighter Routemaster type bus, but some did run later. It was only that particular prototype that was not used after 1945

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  2. The last RT buses in daily service ran until 1979 when they were withdrawn from route 62.

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  3. The so-called pre-war RTs, of which there were 151, lasted through to 1955. I well remember them passing my grandmother's home in Eltham on the tram-replacement route 182. Last Saturday I travelled on one for the first time since then!

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  4. Thanks, very kind of you to provide more details & some great memories!

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