LT fears failure of a-mmo scheme
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THE WHOLE pattern of bus operation in London hinges on the results of a forthcoming experiment in Havering. Prepaid tickets to a three-point fare scale will be issued and all buses will be one-manoperated.
This will not begin until Autumn 1977, but LT already seems to hold the view that the experiment will not succeed.
If the experiment shows that 100 per cent o-m-o operation is feasible, then LT will switch to 100 per cent front entrance buses.
If it is not successful, LT will retain as many rear-entrance Routemasters as possible for trunk-haul routes through .London. LT has selected the system under trial in Havering as the only one that could possibly work in central London.
But it is very worried that the cost of the equipment and its maintenance — plus the revenue loss from offering discounts on pre-paid tickets — will outweigh the benefits of o-m-o conversion.
The most recent appraisal shows that the case is highly marginal and, if anything, not worthwhile. LT says it should be able to make a decision on the system by early 1978.
This does not effect the short term bus orders from London Transport, which wants 450 deckers and 210 Leyland Nationals for delivery between 1977 and 1979.
In the long term, if Routemasters are retained they will be overhauled on a continuing basis right through the 1980s. Though old, they are reliable and cheap to maintain and overhaul.
While Routemaster numbers are held constant, with older examples being used as training vehicles, the numbers of Fleetlines will decline as new deckers enter service to replace them.
This run down would start in 1979 with the last Fleetlines disappearing in 1985.