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| Formerly | The Original Tour |
|---|---|
| Parent | RATP Dev |
| Founded | June 1951 |
| Headquarters | Wandsworth Garage |
| Service area | Central London |
| Service type | Tourist bus operator |
| Routes | 3 |
| Fleet | 90 (September 2014) |
| Website | www.tootbus.com |
Tootbus London, formerly The Original Tour [1] is a London bus tour operator using open-top double-decker buses. It also holds the franchise to run City Sightseeing's London tour. Based in Wandsworth, it is a subsidiary of RATP Dev.
The Original Tour was founded in by June 1951 by the London Transport Executive at the time of The Festival of Britain. In 1986 it was privatised, being sold to London Coaches / Blue Triangle. In December 1997 it was sold to Arriva. In March 2001 the London Pride Sightseeing business was purchased. [2] [3]
In September 2014, the business was sold to RATP Dev. [4] [5] The business was rebranded to Tootbus London in July 2021, in line with other RATP Dev-owned sightseeing operations being rebranded under the Tootbus identity. [6]
After purchase of a 24-hour ticket, 48-hour ticket or 72-hour ticket, ticket-holders may board any of the tour routes at 52 different stops without another charge. Services operate daily, with a recorded audio guide in English and several other languages which can be listened to with headphones. A river cruise is also included in the ticket price.
Tootbus London operates three sightseeing routes, which are as follows: [7]
| Route name | Places served | Frequency | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow Route | Tower Bridge, Tower of London, St Paul's Cathedral, London Eye, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, National Gallery, Downing Street, Borough Market, etc. | 15-20 minutes | Route also includes a children's audio guide in English and French. |
| Royal Blue Route | Buckingham Palace, Lambeth Palace, London Eye, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Harrods, South Kensington, Kensington Palace, Hyde Park, Notting Hill, Marble Arch, etc. | 20-30 minutes | |
| Green Route | Russell Square, King's Cross, St Pancras International station, Euston station, British Museum, Leicester Square, National Portrait Gallery, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, Somerset House and Aldwych | 30 minutes |
Pre-recorded audio guides are provided on all routes in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Brazilian, Chinese, Russian and Arabic as well as a children's audio guide in English and French on the Yellow Route.
The "T.." route numbers introduced from April 2001 but used primarily for internal and licensing purposes. Used more widely during 2004 and fully adopted in 2005 with the entry into service of the Ayats bodied Volvo B7Ls, which were specified with electronic destination displays. Previously, the routes were only distinguishable by a coloured triangle, propped up on the dash on the bus, although some had a metal holder on the front. Since 2004 the triangle (which still exist for the older tour buses) have "T.." printed on them for the appropriate coloured triangle. Also, some buses now have destination display blinds, traditionally removed from these buses, which have the coloured triangle on them with the "T.." route number inside that.
Tootbus London tickets are valid for one to three days. Each ticket includes access to all tour routes and the Thames River Cruise. [8]
At the end of 2007 The Original Tour opened a visitor centre on 17-19 Cockspur Street, off Trafalgar Square.[ citation needed ]
In May 2004 The Original Tour became a Transport for London (TfL) contracted bus operator when it commenced operating route 337, the first time a route service had operated out of Wandsworth garage since 1986. Buses operated with Arriva London branding, but under The Original Tour's operating licence. [9] [10] When next tendered, route 337 passed to London General in May 2011 and The Original Tour ceased being a TfL operator. [11] [12]
Historically the fleet consisted of former double deck route buses, that after being converted to open top configuration, were given a second life. However, in 2005 ten Ayats Bravo City bodied Volvo B7Ls were purchased new. [13] As at September 2014, the fleet consisted of 90 buses. [4] The fleet include Ayats Bravo City bodied Volvo B7Ls, Plaxiton President bodied DAF DB250, Optare Visionaire or MCV DD103 bodied Volvo B9TL, Scania Omnicity buses, and the new purchased Unvi Urbis electric bus. [14]
In November 2023, it was announced that the fleet of 15 Optare Visionaire bodied Volvo B9TL would be retrofitted with electric drivertrains to make them battery electric buses. [15] [16]
The Volvo B9TL is a low-floor double-decker bus built by Volvo from 2002 until 2018. It superseded the Volvo Super Olympian and the Volvo B7TL. The 2-axle version has been superseded by the Volvo B5TL in 2014 and the 3-axle version has been superseded by the Volvo B8L in 2018.
Wrightbus is a Northern Irish bus manufacturer and a pioneer of the low-floor bus. The company was established in 1946 by Robert Wright and was later run by his son William Wright, until it was acquired in 2019 by British businessman Jo Bamford.
The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 is a twin-axle low-floor double-decker bus that was built by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis between 2005 and 2018. It replaced the Alexander ALX400. In 2014, the Enviro400 was succeeded by the updated Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC and production of the classic Enviro400 ceased in 2018.
The Wright Eclipse Gemini is a low-floor double-decker bus body that was built by Wrightbus since 2001, based on the single-decker Wright Eclipse design. The second-generation Eclipse Gemini 2 was launched in 2009, followed by the third-generation Gemini 3 in 2013. Additionally, the body was available on Volvo Super Olympian chassis in Hong Kong between 2003 and 2005, marketed as the Wright Explorer.
East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a manufacturer of bus bodies and carriages founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company went into administration for a short while in August 2007, before being bought by Darwen Group and performed a reverse takeover with Optare when its parent purchased the company in 2008 and its site and business was later closed in 2012.
First York operates local bus services, with a network centring around the cathedral city of York, North Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup, which operates bus, rail and tram services across the United Kingdom and Ireland.
City Sightseeing is an open-top, sightseeing tour bus operator. It provides tour bus services in more than 130 cities around the world. As City Sightseeing has grown and expanded, the company now also provides boat tours, sightseeing train tours, and guided walking tours.
Yorkshire Coastliner is a bus company that operates both local and regional bus services in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield.
The Optare Visionaire is an open top double-decker bus body built by Optare. It is in terms of engineering an open top Olympus in all but name. The Optare Visionaire was also built for tri-axle double-decker bus chassis.
The Optare Olympus is a double-decker bus built by Optare, East Lancs and Darwen. It could be built as a body available on Alexander Dennis Enviro400, Volvo B9TL or Scania N230UD/N270UD chassis with the 2-axle and 3-axle variants. It is the double-decker equivalent of the Optare Esteem. Some 3-axle Olympus buses were built.
Ensign Bus Company Limited, trading as Ensignbus, is a bus and coach operator and bus dealer based in Purfleet, Essex. As of March 2023, it is a part of FirstGroup.
Open top buses are used in the United Kingdom for sightseeing and seasonal summer services.
The York park and ride is a park and ride network in the cathedral city of York, England, with sites operated by the City of York Council and bus services operated by First York. It is the largest park and ride network in the United Kingdom, with 4,970 car spaces across six sites: Askham Bar, Grimston Bar, Monks Cross, Poppleton Bar, Rawcliffe Bar and York Designer Outlet.
There are 3,826 hybrid buses, 1,397 battery electric buses, and 20 hydrogen fuel cell buses operating in London, as of March 2024, out of a total bus fleet of 8,776 – this is around 60% of the bus fleet.
Golden Tours is a British open top bus and coach tour operator based in Alperton, London.
The Bath Bus Company is a bus operator in the United Kingdom which runs open top tours in Bath, Bristol and Cardiff, and the 'Bristol Air Decker' service between Bath and Bristol Airport. The company has been a subsidiary of the French RATP Group since 2011.
Arriva UK Bus is a major bus operator in the United Kingdom based in Sunderland, England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva which runs transport services across Europe, which was a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn from 2010. In October 2023, Deutsche Bahn agreed terms to sell Arriva to I Squared Capital with the transaction completed in June 2024. This included Arriva UK Bus.
The MCV Evora is a single-decker bus bodywork produced by Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles (MCV) since 2018, as the successor to the MCV Evolution. The Evora is currently available on Volvo B8RLE and Volvo B5LH chassis.
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Media related to Tootbus at Wikimedia Commons Media related to The Original Tour at Wikimedia CommonsBus operators in London | |
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