Press releases

Arriva took the opportunity to put on show its heritage fleet of London Routemasters at a special event held at Tate Britain.

Over 4,500 people attended the 'Disappearing London' event, where visitors could listen to an informative talk about the vehicles and their long association with London , whilst enjoying a night time ride around famous landmarks.

It was less than a year ago that the Routemaster was taken out of general service. Many believed it to be an end of an era, but Arriva decided otherwise, and the Arriva Heritage Fleet was born to preserve a moving image of London 's history.

Arriva have retained eight Routemasters including special models like the gold RM6 , used in the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations; RM2217 , the last Routemaster run on route 159 on the very last day of passenger service; and the open-top RMC1464 that has taken part in many celebration parades, including Chelsea and Arsenal football teams in recent years.

The operational and engineering expertise within Arriva London is the foundation to keeping these buses smart and serviceable.

Peter Batty, commercial director for Arriva London said:

It was great to take part in this event, which allowed thousands of people to see at first hand our heritage buses.

We are also keen for organisations to work with us and support the initiative. This could be through advertising or sponsorship.

The opportunities to hire are extensive and having driven one of our 40-year-old buses from London to Milan last year to take part in a special exhibition, it shows that no challenge is too great.

For further details visit www.theheritagefleet.co.uk.