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Timebus - Classic London bus hire
from the 1950s and 1960s, in London and the surrounding Home
Counties
The
Timebus fleet includes;
numerous Red Routemasters, a silver variant, two open top
Routemasters, and a single decker and double decker both from the
fifties... 
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The London bus has a special place in the
hearts of locals and the minds of tourists, as an honorary,
iconic and mobile piece of street furniture.
Ranking alongside the traditional telephone box and the
pillar box, and co-incidentally sharing the same colour, red
double deckers have a long ancestry in the Capital. Their
forerunners included horsedrawn passenger carriages with
seating added to the roof, creating a second (open)
"deck".
The lineage is mixed with red trolleybuses too; these took
over from trams in the 1930s and 1940s and shared the roads
with motorbuses until the early 1960s, when they were
replaced by the subject of this feature.
The Routemaster bus was designed during the 1950s for London
Transport. It was a development of the visually quite
similar RT diesel engined bus, which had been produced
during the late 1940s and the 1950s. The Routemaster was
larger (wider and longer) yet managed to remain no heavier.
This was due to the adoption of a monocoque construction
predominantly using Aluminium, similar to aircraft build
techniques.
Other features ahead of their time were independent front
suspension, power steering, automatic gears and a hydraulic
brake system.
It was the use of durable alloy materials, together with the
affection of London travellers for the freedom to hop on and
off the open entrance platform at the back corner whilst
stuck in traffic, that kept the routemaster going for far
longer than was ever envisaged.
In 2005 the last crew (driver and
conductor/conductress) operated commuter services were
withdrawn. At the time of writing, only a small off-peak
heritage service still runs.
However, for those wishing to rekindle memories of
travelling to school or work on traditional buses, or for
those who never experienced them but would like to, other
avenues remain. Hundreds of Routemasters were sold onto to
private individuals or exported once they left London, but a
small number are still operated professionally, available
for private hire.
Today the friendly face of the Routemaster, with its front
radiator grille and curvaceous outline, is popular for group
travel on special occasions (weddings, family celebrations),
corporate entertainment (sightseeing tours) and promotions.
Classic
London bus hire from the 1950s and 1960s, in London and the surrounding Home Counties.
Our beautifully restored fleet of prestigious buses includes; numerous Red Routemasters, a silver variant, two
open top Routemasters, and a single decker and double decker
both from the fifties.
We have been in business for over 20 years. We specialize only in historic vehicles complete with trained and
uniformed crews.
www.timebus.co.uk
tel.
01727 866248
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