London Buses route 15 (Heritage) was a
Transport for London contracted bus route in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, England. It ran between
Tower Hill
Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher grou ...
and
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commemo ...
and was operated by
Stagecoach London
Stagecoach London is a major bus operator in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of Stagecoach and operates services under contract to Transport for London mostly in East and South East London as well as some services into Central London.
It i ...
.
It was a short working of the
standard route 15 and was the last preserved
AEC Routemaster
The AEC Routemaster is a Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, front-engined double-decker bus that was designed by London Transport Executive, London Transport and built by the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) and Park Royal Vehicles. The ...
route.
[
]
History
This route and route 9 (Heritage) were announced initially as 'A' and 'B' as short workings on existing routes to avoid any potential complications as Government's legislation requires buses to be fully wheelchair-accessible by 22 October 2014 in the entire United Kingdom. For Transport for London, they aimed to comply earlier with the last non-wheelchair accessible buses withdrawn in June 2008 with two exemptions - the heritage routes. Route 9H was withdrawn in 2014.
One of the two routes, awarded to Stagecoach London, was for services between Trafalgar Square and Tower Hill, covering the most touristy section of route 15 taking in the Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
, Monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...
, St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
and Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commemo ...
. An extension to the Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...
area was excluded due to severe congestion there. The number of the parallel route 15 was adopted for the AEC Routemaster
The AEC Routemaster is a Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, front-engined double-decker bus that was designed by London Transport Executive, London Transport and built by the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) and Park Royal Vehicles. The ...
s, despite potential for confusion with the main 15.
Ten buses were allocated to the operator; 5 for the daily turnout, 3 operational spares and 2 as a "strategic reserve". Despite having only a couple of weeks to prepare the vehicles after they left normal service, Stagecoach turned out 5 immaculately presented Routemasters for the first day of service, 14 November 2005. The first journey was driven by Peter Hendy
Peter Gerard Hendy, Baron Hendy of Richmond Hill (born 19 March 1953) is a British transport executive and politician. He is the current chairman of Network Rail and was formerly the Commissioner of Transport for London.
Education
Hendy was ...
, managing director of TfL surface transport.
In April 2008, one of the buses was painted in a special Indian Red and Silver livery, to promote Bow Garage's Centenary. It was first revealed at the London Bus Preservation Trust's Cobham bus rally, and soon after entered regular service.
The buses operated with conductors collecting fares, in cash (until July 2014, when they went cashless along with the rest of the London bus network) or by Oyster card
The Oyster card is a payment method for public transport in London (and certain areas around it) in England, United Kingdom. A standard Oyster card is a blue credit-card-sized stored-value contactless smart card. It is promoted by Transport ...
. Travelcard
The Travelcard is an inter-modal travel ticket for unlimited use on the London Underground, London Overground, Elizabeth line, Docklands Light Railway, London Trams, London Buses and National Rail services in the Greater London area. Tr ...
s and Bus and Tram passes were also accepted, but contactless payment cards were not.
In 2015, it was revealed that 10 Routemasters were to be refurbished which will include opening windows being refitted. In November of the same year, the frequency of the service was reduced from a bus every 15 minutes to a bus every 20 minutes in an attempt to improve the reliability of the service.
From 2 March 2019, the heritage service was reduced to operate only on weekends and bank holidays, from the last (2019: first) Saturday in March until the last weekend in September.
The route did not operate during 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
and its contract expired in November of that year and was not renewed. In 2021, Transport for London confirmed that the route would not run again, thus being withdrawn at the end of its contract in November 2020.London heritage route 15h withdrawn
''Coach & Bus Week
''Coach & Bus Week'' (CBW) is the only paid-for weekly trade magazine for the road passenger transport industry in the United Kingdom. It is available by subscription, from main branches of WHSmith and from some independent newsagents. The magazi ...
'' 21 April 2021
Route
Route 15 (Heritage) operated via these primary locations:
*Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
* Monument station
*Cannon Street station
Cannon Street station, also known as London Cannon Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Travelcard zone 1 located on Cannon Street in the City of London and managed by Network Rail. It is on ...
* Mansion House station
*St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
*City Thameslink station
City Thameslink is a central London railway station within the City of London, with entrances on Ludgate Hill and Holborn Viaduct. The station is on the Thameslink route between to the south and to the north.
The station opened in 1990 to ...
*Aldwych
Aldwych (pronounced ) is a street and the name of the List of areas of London, area immediately surrounding it in central London, England, within the City of Westminster. The street starts Points of the compass, east-northeast of Charing Cros ...
*Strand
Strand may refer to:
Topography
*The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a:
** Beach
** Shoreline
* Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida
Places Africa
* Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa
* Strand Street ...
*Charing Cross station
Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a central London railway terminus between the Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South Eastern Main Line to Dover via Ashfo ...
*Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commemo ...
See also
* List of bus routes in London
This is a list of Transport for London (TfL) contracted bus routes in London, England, as well as commercial services that enter the Greater London area (except coaches).
Bus services in London are operated by Abellio London, Arriva London, G ...
* London Buses route 9 (Heritage)
London Buses route 9 (Heritage) was a Transport for London contracted bus route in London that initially ran between the Royal Albert Hall and Aldwych before being extended from the Royal Albert Hall to Kensington High Street and shortened fr ...
- the second heritage service that operated from 2005 until 2014
References
External links
Timetable
{{DEFAULTSORT:015, London buses route
Bus routes in London
Transport in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Transport in the City of London
Transport in the City of Westminster