New Routemaster

The **New Routemaster**, (known as the **New Bus for London**, the **Borismaster** and the **Boris Bus**), is a hybrid diesel–electric double-decker bus. It has a low-floor. It was made from 2011 to 2017 by Wrightbus. It was made for services in London, England.
It is known for having a "hop-on hop-off" rear open platform similar to the AEC Routemaster but it was made to meet rules for modern buses and to meet accessibility rules.

## History

The AEC Routemaster bus was used in London from 1968 to 2005, it had a rear open platform and was monitored by the bus driver or the conductor. In 2005, it was withdrawn and replaced with buses that didn't have a rear open platform.

In the 2008 London mayoral elections, many people complained about the withdrawal of the Routemasters, Boris Johnson made a campaign pledge to make a new Routemaster bus.

In 2009, Wrightbus was awarded the contract to make the new Routemaster bus, the final design was announced in May 2010.

The new Routemaster first entered service in February 2012 with Arriva London on route 38.

The new Routemaster has three doors; the doors are at the front, in the middle and at the rear, the rear doors can be closed by the driver. It has two staircases; one in the middle and one at the rear that goes down to the rear platform.

## Operation

1,000 New Routemasters are in TfL operation.

### Current routes

New Routemasters currently run on the following routes:

|style="width:5%;" data-sort-type=number|Route|style="width:10%;"|Operator|style="width:5%;"|Peak vehicle requirement|style="width:10%;" data-sort-type=date|Introduction date|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|3|Transport UK London Bus|22|8 February 2016|||||
|5|Blue Triangle|30|28 June 2022|||||
|8|Stagecoach London|30|28 June 2014|||||
|9|Metroline|22|26 October 2013|||||
|11|London General|25|21 September 2013|||||
|12|London Central|36|28 March 2015|||||
|15|Blue Triangle|24|28 February 2015|||||
|16|Metroline|15|26 September 2015|||||
|19|Arriva London|28|5 October 2019|||||
|21|London Central|27|5 December 2016|||||
|24|rowspan="2"|Transport UK London Bus|27|22 June 2013||||
|27|22|24 November 2018||||||
|32|Metroline|18|29 April 2023|||||
|38|Arriva London|59|10 May 2014|||||
|55|Stagecoach London|35|28 February 2015|||||
|59|Arriva London|26|22 March 2016|||||
|67|London General|12|15 June 2019|||||
|68|Transport UK London Bus|24|6 February 2016|||||
|73|rowspan="2"|Arriva London|53|14 May 2015||||
|76|25|25 March 2017||||||
|87|London General|22|30 March 2019|||||
|137|Arriva London|31|2 December 2014|||||
|148|London United|25|15 February 2014|||||
|149|Arriva London|38|13 October 2015|||||
|159|Transport UK London Bus|34|12 December 2015|||||
|168|Metroline|22|10 December 2015|||||
|176|London Central|22|7 November 2021|||||
|189|Metroline|20|30 August 2016|||||
|211|London United|20|4 June 2016|||||
|215|Stagecoach London|5|1 February 2024|||||
|248|rowspan="3"|Arriva London|15|24 September 2022||||
|253|32|20 October 2016||||||
|254|33|3 June 2017||||||
|267|Transport UK London Bus|17|7 November 2017|||||
|313|Arriva London|8|4 October 2020|||||
|390|Metroline|22|7 December 2013|||||
|415|Transport UK London Bus|10|30 July 2018|||||
|453|London Central|35|18 October 2014|||||
|EL1|rowspan="3"|Blue Triangle|17|rowspan="2"|18 February 2017|||
|EL2|15|||||||
|EL3|14|||||||
|H32|London United|8|28 August 2021|||||
|N3|Transport UK London Bus|13|8 February 2016|||||
|N8|Stagecoach London|21|28 June 2014|||||
|N9|Metroline|18|26 January 2019|||||
|N11|London General|7|31 October 2015|||||
|N15|Blue Triangle|23|26 August 2017|||||
|N19|Arriva London|8|5 October 2019|||||
|N32|Metroline|6|29 April 2023|||||
|N38|Arriva London|26|10 May 2014|||||
|N55|Stagecoach London|12|28 February 2015|||||
|N73|Arriva London|13|14 May 2015|||||
|N87|London General|13|30 March 2019|||||
|N253|Arriva London|13|20 October 2016|||||
|SL3|Stagecoach London|15|24 February 2024|||||

### Former routes

New Routemasters previously operated on the following routes.

|style="width:5%;"|Route|style="width:10%;"|Last operator|style="width:5%;"|Peak vehicle requirement|style="width:10%;"|NRMs introduced|style="width:10%;"|NRMs withdrawn|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|10|London United|23|26 April 2014|23 November 2018||||||
|48|Arriva London|22|25 February 2017|12 October 2019||||||
|88|London General|23|24 August 2015|29 March 2019||||||
|91|Metroline|21|9 May 2016|November 2021||||||
|111|Transport UK London Bus|24|28 August 2021|2023||||||
|N16|Metroline|6||April 2023||||||

In November 2018, route 10 was withdrawn and its New Routemaster buses were transferred to route 27. In March 2019, route 88 was restructured and its New Routemaster buses were transferred to route 87. On 11 October 2019, route 48 was withdrawn. Route 91's New Routemaster buses were transferred to Routes 17 and 332.

## Accidents and incidents

The New Routemaster has been involved in several accidents and incidents:
- In September 2013, three people were seriously injured when a New Routemaster on route 11 crashed into three other buses and some parked cars on Chelsea Bridge Road.
- In June 2014, the driver of a car going at 100 mph was killed, one person was critically injured and 12 were hurt when the car hit a New Routemaster on route N38.
- In April 2015, a car was wedged in between two New Routemasters on Goodge Street. The occupants of the car were treated at the scene.
- In January 2016, 13 people were injured when two New Routemasters on routes 11 and 148 collided with each other and hit a van in Parliament Square.
- On 27 December 2019, a New Routemaster caught fire in Kennington, while working route 59 to Euston.
- On 5 March 2024, two people were injured after a New Routemaster on route 8 lost control and crashed into a shopfront on New Oxford Street in Westminster.
- On 19 May 2024, a new-style Routemaster on the 5 route between Canning Town and Romford crashed into the side of a house in Claughton Road, East Ham.

### Official links

- A New Bus for London Greater London Authority May 2010
- New Routemaster on Wrightbus website
- Product range of the Routemaster on Wrightbus International Website
- A New Routemaster Transport for London, 15 May 2010

#### Winning design

- Exclusive preview of new £8m London bus BBC News video preview of new bus with mock-up, 16 September 2010

### Design competition

- New Routemaster winners announced, BBC News, 7 May 2008
- New look for Routemaster bus BBC News video featuring three proposals, 3 November 2008
- Entry for design competition Capoco Design Limited
- Entry for design competition Foster + Partners and Aston Martin, 19 December 2008

## Infobox (automobile)

- **name**: New Routemaster
- **image**: File:London United bus LT74 (LTZ 1074), route 9, 27 October 2013.jpg
- **caption**: London United New Routemaster at Hammersmith in October 2013
- **manufacturer**: Wrightbus
- **factory**: Ballymena, Northern Ireland
- **replaced**: Articulated buses in London, Articulated buses
- **production**: 2011–2017
1,000 units produced
- **capacity**: 80 (87 without wheelchair) (lower: 22 seats, 1 wheelchair space, 18 standing (25 standing without wheelchair); upper deck: 40 seats)
- **floortype**: Low-floor bus, Low-floor
- **doors**: 3 doors
- **operator**: Arriva London, Go Ahead London, Metroline, RATP Dev Transit London, Stagecoach London and Transport UK London Bus
- **engine**: Cummins Cummins B Series engine#4.5 L ISB, ISBe 4.5 (euro spec)
4-cylinder, ,  European emission standards#Emission standards for trucks and buses, Euro V compliant
- **transmission**: Diesel engine, Diesel in hybrid vehicle drivetrain#Series hybrid, series
18 kWh Microvast Lithium Titanate battery, Microvast LpTO, Siemens Mobility, Siemens ELFA2 electric traction motor
- **predecessor**: AEC Routemaster (spiritual)
- **successor**: Wright SRM