Saturday 10th December 2011

The last bendy buses were withdrawn from service in London. They were introduced in October 2001 when six Wright Eclipse Fusion bodied Volvo B7LAs were hired from First Hampshire & Dorset for a trial on route 207 between Shepherds Bush and Uxbridge.

In June 2002 new Mercedes-Benz Citaro O530Gs were introduced on Red Arrow commuter 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. During the 2008 Mayoral campaign, Boris Johnson pledged to withdraw articulated buses on the grounds that they were unsuitable for London, and to introduce a modern version of the AEC Routemaster. 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.