Final Day in Service of the London Routemaster Bus on Routes 14 and 22, 22nd July 2005

By the time that the famous rear-entrance Routemasters were withdrawn from service on Routes 14 and 22 on 22nd July 2005 prior to their replacement by low-emission single person-operated buses it had become customary for a number of special guest vehicles to join up with the service buses to celebrate their departure. On this occasion several preserved and privately owned veterans were either providing a service for passengers of simply travelling along these routes including a couple of splendid AEC RTs and several Routemasters in non-standard liveries. The final swansong for this iconic vehicle was on Route 159 on 9th December although there are still two heritage Routes 9 and 15 operating reconditioned buses for tourists. It remains to be seen whether the stylish new Wrightbus 'New Bus for London' (or 'Borismaster'!) will capture the public imagination in quite the same way as its extraordinarily successful predecessors.