Image: Routemaster bus alongside new bus

Description: Two Arriva London South buses operating London Buses route 159 on the last day of non-heritage Routemaster operation in London. They're pictured here leaving Stop M (Whitehall / Trafalgar Square), heading south down Whitehall in Westminster en route to Streatham Station. On the right is Routemaster bus RM54 (reg. LDS 279A), operating its last journey on the day. On the left overtaking it is a 2005 Volvo B7TL double-decker with Alexander ALX400 bodywork, No. VLA157 (reg. LJ55 BSU), the first of the VLA class that were entering service from around 10am, as the Routemasters replacement on the 159. It's claimed that due to traffic delays, RM54 was actually the last Routemaster to be in service, having reached Streatham station after the last official bus (RM2217) running in the same direction but terminating short of the station, had reached its terminus at Streatham Hill, Telford Avenue (Brixton garage).
Title: Arriva London buses VLA157 (LJ55 BSU) & RM54 (LDS 279A), Whitehall, route 159, 9 December 2005
Credit: Originally posted to Flickr as The last day of the RM
Author: Jon Bennett
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
License: CC BY 2.0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
Attribution Required?: Yes