WHAT PRICE A ROUTEMASTER P
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FOR years conjecture has existed as to the exact price of a London Transport Routemaster bus. No one has ever seemed able to come up with an official answer, but it is fair comment that in many circles the Routemaster, with its advanced specification, has always been regarded as a most expensive bus.
At last we know the answer—at least so far as the standard 64-seat version was concerned. According to the report from the Select Committee on Nationalized Industries (The Commercial Motor, September 10) the price of a 64-seater Routemaster, immediately before it was superseded by the longer 72-seat version, was—wait for it—E6,800 per bus, Compare the above price with that for five similar capacity very orthodox Leyland Titans with East Lancashire bodies for Eastbourne Corporation announced this week—£6,184 Os. 2d, per bus. The latter buses are to be fitted with synchromesh gearboxes and will not be up to the same rigid standards as the all-alloy Routemaster, with its automatic gearbox, independent suspension, special braking systems, and so on (vacuum brakes were specified on the Leylands). Just for the record, 10 new Daimler Fleetlines for Middlesbrough, complete with 30 ft. Northern Counties bodies, are to cost £6,836 per bus, the specification including semi-automatic gearboxes,
F.K.M.