this post was submitted on 12 May 2024
50 points (94.6% liked)
London
1038 readers
4 users here now
"who’d a thunk it"
For discussion about London including the surrounding Greater London area. Discuss all things from news, travel, culture, and general life around the capital and largest city of England!
Rules and other welcoming info can be found here.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I never liked those busses. They were wannabe busses, so wanting to be a route master of old but none of the practicality of one. All show and no trousers, so to speak. Plus, they probably cost a mint to build and by due the customizations.
They’re certainly striking-looking, and did a reasonable job of echoing the design of the classic Routemaster (similarly to BMW’s Cooper Mini revival), though because of the bespoke nature, were a lot less cost-effective than a standard solution, which had to come from taxes and fares. And then there were the design flaws: the poor cooling (which led some to nickname it the Roastmaster), and the original plan for always-open rear doors which had to be ditched upon colliding with common sense.
You sort of want to collar Johnson and tell him, “for God’s sake, just build a folly in the grounds of your stately home like a normal eccentric toff”
I recall the original routemasters were baking hot and uncomfortable too, so in a way they carried on the tradition.