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It hasn't been smooth sailing for Boris Johnson's new Routemasters since they revved up on London's streets in 2012. Two thirds of them were recalled because of 'non-functional' steering earlier this year, and let's not even start on the whole non-opening windows situation. Although Sadiq Khan has thankfully put a stop to those sweaty bus journeys by installing windows that actually open on the Routemaster buses.
But now one of the best features of the Routemaster buses is changing – you won't be able to hop on or hop off the back of the buses any more. The new regime is part of a £10 million cost-cutting programme by Transport for London, which means getting rid of conductors, or 'customer assistants', and keeping the doors firmly shut until the bus pulls into a bus stop.
If you just can't let go, TfL is keeping the conductors on the No 15 bus, so you can hop on and hop off to your heart's content. But be warned, the No 15 is a heritage route aimed at tourists so it'll probably be pretty hellish even if the windows do open now.
In other news, you'll soon be able to see live traffic updates on the back of London's buses