The original tour offers wheelchair access in breakthrough for London’s open top buses

£1.6m investment by Arriva's The Original Tour brings 10new buses to London - making tour buses that are wheelchairaccessible available in the capital for the first time.

The new fleet of ten £160,000 purpose built open topdouble deck buses will have disabled access ramps, and dedicatedspaces for wheelchairs, giving The Original Tour the only brand newsightseeing buses – and the only wheelchair accessible open topbuses – in London.

Colin Atkins, commercial director for The Original Tour,said:

We are delighted that the considerable number of UKholidaymakers and foreign tourists who use wheelchairs can nowfully enjoy our tours, which are an ideal way for them to seeLondon. We intend to expand our fleet of these buses in the nearfuture.

It also means that The Original Tour is leading the way inupgrading the capital's tourism experience. It brings London up tothe standard of many other European capitals, and backs Ministerfor Tourism, Richard Caborn's calls for UK tourism businesses to becomparable with international competitors.

London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, welcomed the investment,commenting:

Any initiative to improve and ensure the higheststandards of the capital's attractions and facilities is to bewelcomed. These new buses will make it much easier to get aroundand see the city.

The investment has also been praised by Stephen Dowd, chiefexecutive of UKinbound, the organisation representing the UK travelindustry. He said:

UKinbound members are committed to delivering qualityservices and products for all our visitors and we are delightedthat The Original Tour, one of our key Senior Partners, is soclearly demonstrating this commitment by investing in new, state ofthe art tour buses that will greatly enhance their customers'experience

The introduction of the new fleet was also praised by DavidHornby, commercial director of Visit London who said:

This is fantastic news for visitors to London, andhelps to provide the capital with even more top classfacilities.

Note to Editors

• Founded in 1951 at the time of The Festival of Britain, TheOriginal Tour is now the largest single sightseeing operation inthe world. The hop-on hop-off service allows customers to board anyof its tour routes at over 90 different stops. Services operatedaily with a 'live' commentary in English or a wide choice ofdigitally recorded languages. A free river cruise is included withevery ticket and the Kids' Club provides an educational but funalternative for 5-12 year olds. For more information you can visittheir web sitewww.theoriginaltour.com.