"PALACE AND PARLIAMENT FOR THE ROUTEMASTERS" - LIB DEMS SLAM MISSING LINKS IN MAYOR'S NEW PLAN

12.01.00am GMT Fri 12th Aug 2005

Ahead of the closing date for the consultation into the proposed tourist Routemaster bus routes later today (Friday 12th August 2005), the London Assembly Liberal Democrats have slammed Mayor Ken Livingstone's proposals as "seriously defective" because they miss out major tourist attractions in the centre of the capital.

Apart from the proposed heritage routes, Transport for London and the Mayor have taken the decision to remove all the Routemasters from the capital's streets by the end of 2005.

The Liberal Democrats found that the Mayor's two planned routes go nowhere near key tourist sites like the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Tate Britain and the British Museum.

The Liberal Democrats have proposed new routes that would take in all these tourist attractions and add in Madame Tussaud's and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport spokesperson, Geoff Pope, said:-

"The Mayor's plans are seriously defective. It is simply staggering that the routes put forward by Transport for London ignore the most obvious tourist attractions in the capital. After all, Parliament, Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey would be on any tourist's list.

"It is excellent news that the famous old Routemasters will be used on tourist routes in central London. However, questions must be asked as to why planners think that the iconic red double-decker should not drive past Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament?

"The three routes put forward today would make sure that the much loved Routemasters will still be seen throughout central London and outside all the major sights in the capital.

"It is time for the Mayor to listen and rethink his plans. The last thing anyone wants is for this scheme to be a flop."

ENDS

Notes to editor

The current proposals from Transport for London for the 'Heritage' routes for Routemaster buses are:-

Route A - Piccadilly Circus - Trafalgar Square - Strand - Fleet Street - Ludgate Hill - Cannon Street - Eastcheap - Tower Hill

Route B - Royal Albert Hall - Kensington Road - Knightsbridge - Piccadilly - Trafalgar Square - Strand - Aldwych

A copy of the Lib Dem response to the Routemaster consultation which closes to day can be found below:-

Heritage Routemaster Services

Response to Consultation by London Assembly Liberal Democrat Group

· The Liberal Democrat Group at the London Assembly strongly supports TfL London Buses in its plan to retain Routemaster buses on 'Heritage' services which will be attractive and useful to tourists and visitors to London. Routemaster buses have an iconic value to London, and are regarded with great affection by many both here and abroad. The 'Heritage' routes proposed ensure that the sight of the traditional Routemaster will remain a feature of central London's streetscape.

· However, we believe London Buses' proposal is seriously defective in leaving out key tourist attractions like Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. Key tourist sites like Madam Tussaud's, the London Eye, Tate Britain and the British Museum are not served by the proposed Heritage routes A and B.

Routes

· We propose modifications to the proposed routes and an additional Route C.

ROUTE A: Tate Britain [Millbank] - Parliament Square - Trafalgar Square - Strand - Fleet Street - Ludgate Hill - Cannon Street - Eastcheap - Tower Hill

Our modification serves major art galleries like Tate Britain, the National and National Portrait Gallery and the Courtauld Institute [Strand]; major attractions like the Houses of Parliament [Summer Visits programme], the Jewel Tower, Westminster Abbey, the War Cabinet Rooms, the gate of 10 Downing Street, Horse Guards and the Banqueting House in Whitehall.

These add to the tourist sites on the route proposed by London Buses like St Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London.

ROUTE B: Exhibition Road [South Kensington] - Royal Albert Hall - Kensington Road - Knightsbridge - Piccadilly - Piccadilly Circus - Shaftesbury Avenue - Charing Cross Road - Tottenham Court Road - Gt Russell Street - the British Museum.

Although the proposed terminus at the Royal Albert Hall is fairly close to the museums, we hope it may be possible for the route to start at the southern end of Exhibition Road. This is more convenient for the Science Museum, the National History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Shaftesbury Avenue offers the core of London's theatreland and Soho, and then the much visited British Museum.

We also propose a third initiative:

ROUTE C: Baker Street Station - Oxford Street - Marble Arch - Park Lane - Hyde Park Corner - Grosvenor Place -Lower Grosvenor Place -Birdcage Walk - Parliament Square - Westminster Bridge - York Road - Stamford Street - Southwark - Sumner Street - Park Street [Tate Modern and the Globe Theatre]

This third route gives access at its northern terminus to Madame Tussaud's and Regent's Park [London Zoo]; the Wallace Collection [from Portman Square/Baker Street] ; Oxford Street shopping; Marble Arch and Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park; Buckingham Palace and the Queen's Gallery; Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey; the London Eye and County Hall Galleries; Royal Festival Hall, National Theatre, with a southern terminus at Tate Modern and the Globe Theatre.

Wheelchair accessible parallel routes

We appreciate that the routes proposed by London Buses offer parallel services which are wheelchair accessible [Route 15 for Heritage Route A and Route 9 for Heritage Route B].

Our modified route A is paralleled by Route 77A from Tate Britain to Aldwych where passengers could join Route 15. Our modified route B is paralleled by Route 9 as far as Piccadilly where passengers could join Route 19 to get very close to the British Museum at Bloomsbury Way.

Our proposed additional route C involves more changes, which perhaps raises the question about how easy it is for wheelchair users to move between key tourist sites in London. Route 2 takes them from its Baker Street terminus via Marble Arch and Hyde Park Corner to the Buckingham Palace area [Bressingham Place]. A change to Route 211 would get them as far as Waterloo with access to the South Bank venues. From there a switch to the RV1 would be need for the last leg to Tate Modern.

Passenger information

It will be important for passengers to have good on-bus information which is easy to follow for those for whom English is not a first language. The information display screens as used on route RV1 should be fitted to Routemasters on both decks so that passengers can see readily which stops they need to use for particular tourist sites and attractions [perhaps with hours of opening and entry prices].

You make reference on page 2 of your consultation letter to providing conductors for the Heritage buses. It is to be hoped that these staff will be trained with a particular emphasis on customer service and to be very well informed about tourist sites so that they can answer passengers' questions. They might well be equipped to make announcements to passengers (though we are not suggesting a commentary).

The last bus

Most of the tourist sites served by the three routes we propose above close by 6.00pm. However, there will be some tourists who will simply want to use the bus for sightseeing and as a photo-opportunity. In line with the practice of at least one open-top tour bus company, we propose that the Heritage services should terminate at 7.00pm each evening.

· In 1998, Ken Livingstone said:-

"We should also retain the existing Routemaster fleet until a modern Routemaster can be designed."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/227374.stm