Sir, I disagree with Andrew Braddock (letter, Dec 21). Boris Johnson’s intention to introduce a replacement Routemaster is laudable; throw in a repeal of the Congestion Charge western extension zone, and he will have my vote. One thing I have not seen mentioned, however, is the question of width. The old Routemasters were narrower than a standard bus for good reason: it enabled them to slip up London’s many narrow roads without the farcical element of two opposing buses jamming the road and causing tailbacks for miles. Livingstone’s approach so far has been to bully other drivers off the road by privatising half of it as a bus lane.

DOMINIC DICHIERA
London SW11

Sir, Your welcome for a new Routemaster bus (“Blueprint for ‘son of Routemaster’,” Dec 19) does not report the true cost to Londoners. Reintroducing open platform buses would require conductors on all routes, as they would be required to safely manage access. This would cost £600 million – raising this money would require a huge fare rise for London’s six million daily bus passengers. The single fare would have to rise from 90p to at least £1.50 and the weekly pass from £13 to at least £21.

Open platform buses mean more passenger deaths. The passenger fatality rate on Routemasters is more than double that of other London buses.

DAVID BROWN
Managing Director, Surface Transport, Transport for London

Sir, I was intrigued to read that Mr Braddock, a resident of Yateley (not yet part of London), should be so dismissive of the Routemaster and its proposed replacement.

This Londoner could not disagree more. I cannot travel by bus into Central London in the evening as Gower Street and New Oxford Street are a bus spotter’s paradise, with sometimes 20 or more buses in their own traffic jam; more than one might see at a bus rally. Most passengers have to beg drivers to open the doors illegally to let them get off and walk the rest of the way, despite having paid full fare.

Since the introduction of bendy buses in Camden Town, the stops have been placed so far apart that passenger options have been drastically cut. Two bendy buses at one bus stop causes a real obstruction. These buses are quite unsuited to the streets of London; many people don’t pay to travel on them and they attract pickpockets.

Londoners used, and loved, open-platform buses. Yes, conductors will cost money – but they assured and assisted passengers, knew their routes and left the driver free of distractions. Londoners need to decide on this, not the folk of Yateley or the EC.

LESTER MAY
London NW1

Sir, Your readers wishing to sample old buses from London, or indeed Manchester, Oxford or Hong Kong, should come to the South West, where they are the mainstay of our local bus fleets. They have been deemed unsuitable for city use by experts such as the Mayor of London and so eke out their days on rural routes to which they are even more unsuited.

This is but one example of the modern colonialism imposed by the capital on the provinces: in transport, health, education, Arts Council grants or even the funding of the fire service, we know our place – at the end of the chain.

RICHARD GILES
Exmouth, Devon

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