Routemaster remembered at ‘Late at the Tate’

Arriva took the opportunity to put on show its heritage fleet ofLondon Routemasters at a special event held at Tate Britain.

Over 4,500 people attended the 'Disappearing London' event,where visitors could listen to an informative talk about thevehicles and their long association with London, whilst enjoying anight time ride around famous landmarks.

It was less than a year ago that the Routemaster was taken outof general service. Many believed it to be an end of an era, butArriva decided otherwise, and the Arriva HeritageFleet was born to preserve a moving image of London'shistory.

Arriva have retained eight Routemasters including special modelslike the gold RM6, used in the Queen's Golden Jubileecelebrations; RM2217, the last Routemaster run on route 159 on thevery last day of passenger service; and the open-top RMC1464 thathas taken part in many celebration parades, including Chelsea andArsenal football teams in recent years.

The operational and engineering expertise within Arriva Londonis the foundation to keeping these buses smart and serviceable.

Peter Batty, commercial director for Arriva London said:

It was great to take part in this event, which allowedthousands of people to see at first hand our heritagebuses.

We are also keen for organisations to work with us andsupport the initiative. This could be through advertising orsponsorship.

The opportunities to hire are extensive and havingdriven one of our 40-year-old buses from London to Milan last yearto take part in a special exhibition, it shows that no challenge istoo great.

For further details visitwww.theheritagefleet.co.uk.