Quote Originally Posted by Kanamori
Dag, I wanted to ride one
You can - they're leaving two 'Heritage routes' for the Routemasters to run on.

Quote Originally Posted by Geoffrey S
Just to check, does this mean no more distinctive red doubledecker busses in London, or none of this particular make? I can't imagine London without the trademark busses.
Not at all -there are vast numbers of double deckers on the road - just much more modern designs than the half-century old Routemaster.

As iconic as the Routemasters are, we do have to move on. The fact is that they are close to half a century old, and modern buses are faster, easier to drive, more fuel efficient, have a higher passenger capacity, are more accessible and I would imagine a bit cleaner. And whilst being able to jump on and off becuase of the open back door and the conductor is useful, it must greatly increase operating costs (having two staff members per bus, not one).