The redesigned London Routemaster bus

The Routemaster's triumphant return to London

Justin McGuirk hops on board for a first look at Thomas Heatherwick's state-of-the-art redesign of the classic bus

Justin McGuirk

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 23 February 2012 11.23 GMT


'The demonstrative return of good design to the capital' ... Thomas Heatherwick's new Routemaster. Photograph: TfL

It is known simply as "the new bus for London", but the vehicle that enters service on Monday is essentially the return of that much-loved London icon the Routemaster. This symbol of the capital was retired in 2005 and consigned to a ghoulish afterlife on countless mugs and T-shirts. Mayor Boris Johnson pledged to bring it back, and so he has. Our mayor may have no strategic vision for the city, but he has a talent for the popular gesture – and Routemaster II is one. Being able to hop on and off the back of an open bus is a Londoner's birthright, he might argue, so get hopping. But what is more encouraging about this move is the demonstrative return of good design to the capital's infrastructure.

It is not until you've taken a ride on the new Routemaster that you become fully aware of how unlovely our current fleet of buses is. For years now, they have been produced by manufacturers whose only imperatives were cost, and satisfying a growing pile of regulations. It's no wonder that stepping on to one is like entering an A&E ward: bright orange handrails everywhere, fluorescent strip lighting, baby blue flooring and a fibreglass interior that erupts into mysterious bulges in awkward places. There is nothing to be fond of.

By contrast, the original Routemaster, designed in 1954 to replace the trolley buses, remains full of rich associations for Londoners. Many of them will no doubt have sentimental memories of smoking on the upper deck or canoodling in the love seat by the staircase. So is this "new bus for London" a nostalgic throwback? Surprisingly not. It is a state-of-the-art workhorse designed to drive one of the busiest routes in the city – the number 38 from Victoria to Hackney. It may look like it's for sightseeing but it's built for rush hours.


The ribbon window follows the path of the two staircases, making them bright and open spaces. Photograph: TfL

Transport for London describe this as the first bus designed for London in 50 years. What they mean is that, while London-style buses are used country-wide, no other city in the UK faces the same heavy usage as the number 38. There are three doors, including the open platform at the rear, to facilitate quick entry and exit. In other words, this is bespoke for London in a way that the Mercedes bendy buses (axed by Boris) were not, as they ill-suited the capital's often narrow, windy streets.

The concept designer of the new bus is Thomas Heatherwick, working closely with Wrightbus, its manufacturer. When he appeared on the scene in the late 1990s he was instantly cast as a British engineering genius, the creator of weird, wonderful structures such as the UK pavilion for the Shanghai World Expo in 2010. Undeniably inventive, his work has sometimes erred on the side of the self-indulgent. I must confess that when I first saw his new bus, with its ribbon window winding up the rear and side, I feared the worst. It seemed just the kind of silly styling I might have expected. But in fact it merely follows the path of the two staircases, making them bright and open spaces. Heatherwick says he wanted to expose the circulation of people around the bus just as you might in a glass-fronted building, and it's a compelling idea.


The bus offers better views than any before it. Photograph: TfL

This design is one of very few fanciful notions. The side of the rear staircase is styled with a self-conscious glamour, but other than that, almost every feature of the bus is subject to some regulation or other. Within those strictures, Heatherwick has done an admirable job of making this a stately vehicle. He talks about restoring some of the "grandeur" and "dignity" of riding a London bus, qualities that "had evaporated in the name of pragmatism". And I must say that, riding at the front of the top deck, one does have a sense of privilege. It's not just that this bus offers better views than any before it (except the roofless kind), it's the feeling that every detail has been designed with care. The way the ceiling is moulded and the way the interior is softly lit with LED spotlights almost suggest a plane cabin rather than a bus. With its hybrid engine, it is also quieter than other buses, and much more fuel efficient.

Heatherwick has reintroduced the bench seat of old, but with individual cushions in a bespoke livery. Bus and Tube liveries are part of the visual language of London, and pattern recognition is one of the subconscious rhythms of its commuter life. An experienced citizen can tell what line they're on just from the seat covers. Designed to hide dirt, just like all the others, Heatherwick's is one for the digital age, highlighting the contours of the cushion just as a computer modelling programme might.


The new design is spacious and efficient. Photograph: TfL

Such details aside, what is most impressive about this bus is how spacious and efficient it is. I assumed that the rounded roof was a reference to the original Routemaster's shape, but it turns out that it's a way of reducing the vehicle's perceived mass – this bus is 3m longer than the original, and 1m longer than recent ones. Couple that extra size with two staircases and three doors, and passengers should find it much less of a squeeze. The Routemaster II will also bring the return of the conductor, to oversee the use of the much-vaunted open platform. But since conductors will only patrol the bus during the daytime, the open platform will alas be shut behind perspex doors at night.

Only eight of these buses will be in operation by the summer time. With an overall budget of £8m, the tabloid press is predictably whingeing about them costing £1m each. The other way of looking at it is that, amazingly, Transport for London is investing money in research and development instead of just taking whatever manufacturers give them. From here on, it won't cost much more to build one of this new breed than it does to build a boxy competitor. Whether or not the order is given to put them into production will come down to politics. In May we may have a new mayor and a new agenda. If Ken Livingstone wins, he shouldn't write this off as one of Boris's whims but embrace it as an investment in the daily life of Londoners.

The old Routemaster bus:

Dinky Toys model of the old Routemaster bus:

Bus conductors ('Clippies') on the old Routemaster bus: