AEC: Routemaster
Note: This is a sub-section of AEC: Buses.
The AEC Routemaster is a double-decker bus that was built by Associated Equipment Company (AEC) and Park Royal Vehicles in 1954 (in production from 1958) and produced until 1968.
Primarily front-engined, rear open platform buses, a small number of variants were produced with doors and/or front entrances.
Introduced by London Transport in 1956, the Routemaster saw continuous service in London until 2005, and currently remains on two heritage routes in central London.
The Routemaster was developed by AEC in partnership with London Transport, the customer for nearly all new Routemasters, although small numbers were also delivered to the airline British European Airways (BEA) and the Northern General Transport Co.
In all, 2,876 Routemasters were built, with approximately 1,000 still in existence.
The Routemaster bus was developed during the years 1947–1956 by a team directed by A. A. M. Durrant and Colin Curtis, with vehicle styling by Douglas Scott. The design brief was to produce a vehicle that was lighter (hence more fuel efficient), easier to operate and to be maintained by the existing maintenance practices at the recently opened Aldenham Works.
The resulting vehicle could carry 64 seated passengers despite weighing three-quarters of a ton less than the previous RT which could carry 56 seated passengers. The first task on delivery to service was to replace London's trolleybuses, which had themselves replaced trams, in London and to commence replacement of the older types of diesel motor bus.
The Routemaster was primarily intended for London use, being designed by London Transport and constructed at the AEC Works in Southall, Middlesex with assembly at bodybuilder Park Royal Vehicles, a subsidiary company of AEC.
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] Wikipedia