Tootbus London, formerly The Original Tour is a

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 ...

bus tour operator using open-top

double-decker bus A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and also in cities such as Sydney; the best-known example is the ...

es. It also holds the franchise to run

City Sightseeing City Sightseeing is an open-top, sightseeing tour bus operator. It provides tour bus services in more than 130 cities around the world. As City Sightseeing has grown and expanded, the company now also provides boat tours, sightseeing trai ...

's London tour. Based in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Gre ...

, it is a subsidiary of

RATP Dev RATP may refer to: Transportation: * RATP Group, or ', a public transport operator based in Paris, France * RATP Iași (), a transit operator responsible for public transportation in Iași, Romania * RATP Ploiești (), a transit operator respon ...

History

The_Original_Tour_bus_213_(T213_XBV)_1999_DAF_DB250_Plaxton_President,_11_April_2011

The Original Tour was founded in by June 1951 by the

London Transport Executive The London Transport Executive was the organisation responsible for public transport in Greater London, England between 1948 and 1962. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operational brand of ...

at the time of The

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...

. In 1986 it was

privatised Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

, being sold to

London Coaches London Coaches was a former bus and coach operator operating open top tourist services in London and commuter services from Kent to London. History London Coaches originated from the London Transport Tours and Charters division. In January 1 ...

Blue Triangle Blue Triangle is a bus company operating services in East London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and operates most services under contract to Transport for London. It is the operator of the East London Transit service. History ...

. In December 1997 it was sold to

Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.London Pride Sightseeing London Pride Sightseeing was an open top sightseeing bus operator in London. History In 1983, the state owned London Transport ceased operating their ''Round London Sightseeing Tour'' operation as the market was opened up to competition by the ...

business was purchased. In September 2014, the business was sold to

.RATP Dev acquires leading London sightseeing operator
RATP Dev

Sightseeing tours

After purchase of a 24-hour ticket or 48-hour ticket, ticket-holders may board any of the tour routes at over 80 different stops without another charge. Services operate daily, with a recorded commentary in English and several other languages which can be listened to with headphones. A river cruise and three walking tours are included in the ticket price. The Original Tour operates four sightseeing routes, with two connectors from other places linking to them: ^† Pre-recorded language commentaries provided on the T2 and T4 routes are

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, French,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, as well as the "Kids' Club" children commentary in English.

T-prefixed Route Numbers

The "T.." route numbers introduced from April 2001 but used primarily for internal and licensing purposes. Used more widely during 2004 and fully adopted in 2005 with the entry into service of the

Ayats Ayats is the trading name of Carrocerías Ayats SA, a Spain-based coachbuilder. The company constructs a range of coach bodies on a variety of chassis, and also manufacture their own integral products. Their products are used throughout Europe ...

bodied

Volvo B7L The Volvo B7L is a fully low floor single-decker bus, double-decker bus and articulated bus chassis with a rear engine mounted vertically on the left of the rear overhang. It was built as a replacement for the Volvo B10L, and the Volvo Olympi ...

s, which were specified with electronic destination displays. Previously, the routes were only distinguishable by a coloured

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, an ...

, propped up on the dash on the bus, although some had a metal holder on the front. Since 2004 the triangle (which still exist for the older tour buses) have "T.." printed on them for the appropriate coloured triangle. Also, some buses now have destination display blinds, traditionally removed from these buses, which have the coloured triangle on them with the "T.." route number inside that.

Fares

The Original Tour tickets are valid for one or two days. Each ticket includes three free walking tours (Changing of the Guard, Rock ‘n’ Roll and Jack the Ripper) and a 24-hour River Cruise Pass.

Visitor centre

At the end of 2007 The Original Tour opened a visitor centre on 17-19

Cockspur Street Cockspur Street is a short street in the City of Westminster, London, within which a very short part of Trafalgar Square links Charing Cross to Pall Mall/Pall Mall East at the point where that road changes name, opposite the traffic exit from ...

, off

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 ...

Transport for London

In May 2004 The Original Tour became a Transport for London (TfL) contracted bus operator when it commenced operating route 337, the first time a route service had operated out of Wandsworth garage since 1986. Buses operated with

Arriva London Arriva London is a major bus company operating services in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus and operates services under contract to Transport for London. It was formed in 1998 from a fusion of previously separate Arriva s ...

branding, but under The Original Tour's operating licence. When next tendered, route 337 passed to

London General London General is a bus company operating in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and operates services under contract to Transport for London. The company is named after the London General Omnibus Company, the principal ...

in May 2011 and The Original Tour ceased being a TfL operator.

Fleet

Historically the fleet consisted of former double deck route buses, that after being converted to open top configuration, were given a second life. However, in 2005 ten Ayats Bravo City bodied

s were purchased new.New order gives the original tour the first new open top buses in London
Arriva 1 June 2005 As at September 2014, the fleet consisted of 90 buses.

Allocation

Some of the buses are in the standard

livery, rather than the Original Tour version, for use on route T2, which is branded as City Sightseeing. However, in practice, buses can be mixed up.

References

External links

*
Company website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Original Tour RATP Group Arriva Group bus operators in England British companies established in 1951 Transport companies established in 1951 1951 establishments in England City Sightseeing London bus operators