Dear Mr Holloway,

TfL Ref: 0088-2021

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 9 April 2021. Please accept my apologies for the considerable delay in acknowledging your correspondence.

The Government has announced a series of measures to tackle the Coronavirus. It is essential for London, and in particular for all critical workers, that we continue to provide a safe transport network that enables them to make the journeys they need to.

Please think carefully about whether the request is essential at this current time, as answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. Where requests are made, please note that our response time may be impacted by the current situation and so you may wish to reconsider the timing of this request. Please notify us as soon as possible if you would like to withdraw your request at the current time.

I would also like to advise that because the following questions are seeking an explanation rather than asking for recorded information as required by the Act, these have been brought to the attention of our Customer Services team, which shall be responding separately to you.

1, Why TfL refurbished the AEC Routemasters for route 15H before withdrawal?

3, At the time, why the conductor's Oyster card reader did not accept contactless bank cards?

4, Can you explain why there were a reduction of passengers using the route 15H?

5, Why TfL didn't launch a campaign to increase passenger usage for route 15H?

6, Why TfL discontinue heritage buses for route 9H in July 2014?

Should you wish to proceed with the remainder of your correspondence, we will aim to issue a response by 7 May 2021 in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy.

We publish a substantial range of information on our website on subjects including operational performance, contracts, expenditure, journey data, governance and our financial performance. This includes data which is frequently asked for in FOI requests or other public queries. Please check http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transpar... to see if this helps you.

We will publish anonymised versions of requests and responses on the www.tfl.gov.uk website. We will not publish your name and we will send a copy of the response to you before it is published on our website.

In the meantime, if you would like to discuss this matter further, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Jasmine Howard
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
 

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Dear Mr Holloway

TfL Ref: 0088-2022

Thank you for your request received by us on 9 April 2021 asking for
information about the withdrawal of AEC Routemasters from Transport for
London (TfL) services.

Some of your request has been considered in accordance with the
requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access
policy.  I can confirm that we hold the information you require. You
asked:

The following question have been answered under the FOIA -

2, How much did TfL pay to refurbish the AEC Routemasters for route 15H?

TfL spent approximately £200k on fleet refurbishment in 2016, which has
now been almost fully written down as per normal accounting processes.

7, Did TfL sell the AEC Routemasters used for route 9H?

Yes.

8, Did TfL sell the AEC Routemasters used for route 15H?

We are currently reviewing the options available and will make a decision
in due course.

9, Can you confirm the withdrawal of AEC Routemasters is permanent and TfL
will not reinstate them for heritage services in Central London, if yes
can you provide full information please?

We currently do not plan on introducing a regular heritage service as part
of the London bus network. However, we will continue to support the work
of the London Transport Museum in bringing to life London’s transport
heritage, as well as working with bus operators and leading preservation
groups to enable heritage running days. A number of private companies do
offer heritage buses for hire, and we expect they will continue to be seen
on London’s streets for some time to come.

If you are considering submitting a further FOI request please think
carefully about whether the request is essential at this current time, as
answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the
attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. Where
requests are made, please note that our response time may be impacted by
the current situation.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable
to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to
appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would
like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

The remainder of your queries do not fall within the remit of the FOIA as
they require an explanation rather than recorded information, however we
are able to advise the following -

1, Why TfL refurbished the AEC Routemasters for route 15H before
withdrawal?

We can advise that AEC Routemasters were refurbished as part of our normal
cycle of asset management, since at the time they were expected to remain
in service for at least five years.

3, At the time, why the conductor's Oyster card reader did not accept
contactless bank cards?

You will receive a response directly from Customer Services regarding this
query.

4, Can you explain why there were a reduction of passengers using the
route 15H?

We can advise that this service has had a gradual decrease in demand over
the last few years, which is why we reduced the service initially to
summer weekends where demand had been highest.

5, Why TfL didn't launch a campaign to increase passenger usage for route
15H?

As mentioned in response to ref: 2533-2021, we would like to reiterate
that the route was served by buses with a high step up to the rear
platform, which cannot be accessed by wheelchair users and is also
difficult for those with limited mobility.  The heritage service on this
route is also not required for capacity purposes and does not provide any
unique links.  We have no evidence that a marketing campaign would have
paid back financially.  The cost recovery is low compared to the network
average.  In short, we do not believe such a campaign would have offered
value for money. 

6, Why TfL discontinue heritage buses for route 9H in July 2014?

We can confirm that demand on heritage buses for route 9 was lower than
route 15, and so the decision was taken to withdraw the former whilst
retaining route 15.

10, Why did TfL launched the AEC Routemasters on heritage routes 9 & 15 in
2005 and what was the purpose?

We can state that they were introduced when Routemasters were withdrawn
from front line service across London in 2005 as part of our move to make
the entire London bus network accessible. We retained the heritage
services to enable those who wanted to continue to travel on these buses.
Such services were initially relatively well used, but demand has fallen
and as outlined above, we have reduced the services allowing the savings
to be invested elsewhere on the network.

Yours sincerely

Jasmine Howard

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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[1]Transport for London
Transport
for London
Ref: 15628967

16 June 2021

Dear Mr Holloway

Our FOI team have asked us to respond to you regarding question (3) of
your email on 9 April:

‘ At the time, why the conductor's Oyster card reader did not accept
contactless bank cards?’

I can advise that it wasn’t possible to upgrade the current Conductor
machines (PTIDs) used on the Routemasters, as there was an extra device
required to be able to read contactless cards (CPCs).

There wasn’t enough room in the PTID to be able to fit this extra piece of
hardware. Consequently, we would have had to procure a completely
different device and modified it to accept two different types of
payments, as these can’t just be bought off the shelf.

Therefore, the cost to do this was vastly uneconomic and couldn’t be
justified for the limited traditional Routemaster operation.

I trust the above information is useful to you, and I'm sorry you had to
wait so long to receive it.

If there is anything else we can help you with, please reply to this
email. Alternatively, you can call us on 0343 222 1234 and we'll be happy
to help you.

Kind regards

Alison Hayes
Customer Service Adviser
Transport for London Customer Services

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[2]Mayor of London - Every Journey Matters
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