Articulated buses in London

Articulated buses, popularly called "bendy buses," were introduced to London in October 2001 when two Wright Eclipse Fusion bodied Volvo B7LAs were hired from First Hampshire & Dorset, one of which was repainted into First London's red livery, and six Wright Fusion bodied Volvo B10LAs from First Glasgow for a trial on route 207 between Shepherd's Bush and Hayes-By-Pass.

In June 2002, new Mercedes-Benz Citaro O530Gs were introduced on Red Arrow services 507 and 521. While articulated bus operation had been standard in several other countries for over 20 years, their use in the United Kingdom had been limited, with their introduction in London gaining a lot of press attention. They were later introduced on routes 12, 18, 25, 29, 38, 73, 149, 207, 436 and 453, which were among the busiest routes of the TfL bus network.

During the 2008 mayoral campaign, victorious Boris Johnson pledged to withdraw articulated buses on the grounds that they were unsuitable for London, and to introduce a modern version of the Routemaster bus. Withdrawals began in July 2009, when articulated buses on routes 38, 507 and 521 were replaced with conventional single and double decker buses, and a prototype for the New Routemaster was promised to be on the streets by 2012. The last articulated buses were withdrawn in December 2011.

Background

Articulated buses were introduced on several high-capacity routes in the 2000s, coinciding with withdrawal from passenger service of the AEC Routemaster. With poor accessibility, the Routemasters do not conform to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. There was a risk of litigation over accidents involving the Routemaster's rear open platform.