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Scrap the bendy bus and bring back Routemasters, says Boris
By Paul Waugh, Evening Standard Last updated at 11:01am on 12.09.07
Boris Johnson: has pledged to bring back the Routemaster
Boris Johnson has vowed that his first act as Mayor of London will be to scrap bendy buses and replace them with a modern-day Routemaster.
Mr Johnson said that the controversial buses were abused by fare dodgers and highly dangerous to cyclists.
Speaking at the first Tory candidates hustings meeting, the MP for Henley said that he would introduce a new version of the Routemaster bus that had been axed by Ken Livingstone. Their replacement would be fully accessible for the disabled and mothers with buggies.
He said: "We should on day one, act one, scene one, hold a competition to get rid of the bendy bus. They wipe out cyclists, there are many cyclists killed every year by them.
"It's not beyond the wit of man to design a new Routemaster which will stand as an icon of this city."
Mr Johnson also said that he would stand up for the "many" in London who depended on their car and vowed to spend more of the congestion charge on repairing roads, particularly outside the centre of the city.
Just £10 million of the nearly £1 billion raised by the congestion charge had gone on improving roads, he said.
In a question and answer session in Westminster last night, the Tory front-runner also called for all ethnic minority communities in London to have a "good command of English".
He said: "It's tragic that there are people in the second and third generations who still don't speak English.
"If you don't speak English, you cannot take part in the economy and that's one of the reasons those communities are doing badly."
Mr Livingstone has already attacked him in personal terms, Mr Johnson claimed, with the Mayor suggesting he was a racist, a Right-winger and a friend of convicted fraudster Darius Guppy. He said that the public were ready for a new face to run London. "I think the fact that he has been at it for so long... is now turning into his single biggest weakness," he said.
Fellow candidate Victoria Borwick called for police to end the practice of patrolling in pairs, while Andrew Boff vowed to axe the congestion charge.
Warwick Lightfoot praised the Mayor's fight against Gordon Brown over the PPP for the Tube.
Mr Boff was the only candidate to pledge to scrap the congestion charge completely and to axe free child travel on buses. He said: "The congestion charge contract comes up in 2009. It doesn't just need mending, it doesn't need extending, it needs ending."
Both Mr Boff and Mr Lightfoot suggested Mr Johnson was not the man for the job.
Mr Boff said that the capital had had enough of "celebrity" politicians, while Mr Lightfoot said the Tories needed a candidate "without baggage".
Reader views (31)
Here's a sample of the latest views published. You can click view all to read all views that readers have sent in.
I think Boris Johnson is just trying to impress old people (maybe because they make up most of the voters), He stops drinking on the tube and then wants to bring back routemasters and badly tackles a German in a "promotional" football match (remember the war) what on earth is next?
Free paper doilies handed out at every train station?
- Jimmy Shin, London U.K
Strongly agreed with back to Routemaster. Routemaster can be upgraded at Red London Bus has almost fabulous city of the world.
All access is disability symbol and family friendly welcome at more and more routemasters has produced by Capoco Technology specialist provider as well.
Boris has won election for mayor of London will be scrap Congestion Charge and back to more transport with fully uniformed staff and policing monitor detectors. Ken has tiredous business to less criminal city has been unable to assisting how to the solution.
We need to using a new and heritage Routemaster for any business and pleasure travels. We love it.
- Poafhpocdi, Ealing, London
By all means let’s see if the Routemaster can be redesigned like the tram has been re-invented at Croydon, Nottingham Manchester and Sheffield.
London once also operated trolleybuses until 1962. The last trolleybuses ran in Great Britain in March 1972 at Bradford. Six months later they realised the mistake in getting rid of this quiet and pollution free form of public transport. Perhaps London now realises their mistake in getting rid of the Routemaster. Plans to reintroduce the trolleybus never seem to get much further than some marvellous graphics on many UK trolleybus websites of what the new London trolleybuses could look like. Could the silent and very efficient trolleybus make a return to London in the shape of a new Routemaster.
I can hear people say we do not want the rattling old trolleybuses that ran in London until 1962 with masses of overhead wires. Take a visit to Rome; a brand new trolleybus system has been introduced very successfully, so successfully plans are in hand to convert further motorbus routes to trolleybus operation. As for the overhead wires these are absent in the historical part of the centre of Rome, here the vehicles operate using batteries. Perhaps Boris would like to have a visit to Rome, or if he could stretch his holiday money visit New Zealand to see latest trolleybuses being delivered to Wellington.
Let’s see the Routemaster back in London, but better still a more efficient and pollution free version that uses electricity too.
- R N Ashton, Doncaster
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