LONDON BUSES

London Buses Are Red There are 20,000 buses in London.

Like Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the red telephone box, the red Routemaster bus has become a symbol of London.

They first arrived on London’s street in 1959 to replace the trolleybuses, which were powered like a tram – by overhead electric cables.

As well as London’s regular bus services, there are special double-decker buses, some with open tops, which take visitors or sightseeing tours of London’s famous landmarks and tourist attractions.

BUS STOPS Oxford Street has more bus stops than any other street in London.

Bus stops are found along all roads in London. The buses are boarded from the front.

TICKETS and TRAVELCARDS Every day 4.5 million people go by bus in London. In the centre of London you must buy your ticket before you get on the bus. Londoners have got travelcards. With a travelcard they can travel on buses. To buy a weekly, monthly or yearly travelcard, they need a photo. Most Londoners don’t buy single or return tickets.

The bus adult single cash fare is ₤1 The bus adult single cash fare is ₤1.20 (children 40p) for any journey and with Oyster card Pre Pay ₤1.00 Monday to Friday between 06:30 & 09:30, at all other times including public holidays 80p. A one-day pass allowing unlimited journey in Greater London area costs ₤3.00. A seven-day pass costs ₤11.00. (Price last updated November 2006)

London’s double-decker red buses are famous. Avoid travelling in the rush hours between about 08:00 – 09:30; 16:30 – 18:30.

THE LONDON BOROUGHTS ‘’London is not so much a city, as the world’s biggest village.’’ G.K. CHESTERTON Or if not a village, then 33 small cities, each with their own governments, schools, centers, suburbs, and proud sense of identity and history.

LONDON BOROUGH MAP Ask a Londoner where they live, and nine times out of ten will not say ‘London’, but ‘Harrow’, ‘Kensington’ or ‘Greenwich’…

YOU ARE IN LONDON Take Bus # 1 for the London Eye. Take Bus # 88 for Piccadilly Circus. Take Bus # 42 for Tower Bridge. Take Bus # 11 for Buckingham Palace, to go to Victoria station.

Tourist: A one-day travelcard to London,________. Read the dialogue and Act out with your partner. (The words “please” and “thank you” are not in a dialogue. Put them in the correct places.) Tourist: A one-day travelcard to London,________. Travel assistant: That’s £4.90 _________ Tourist: Here is £5,00. Travel assistant: _______. Here is your ticket and change. Tourist: __________.

Help the TOURIST ! There are many buses in London. Match the bus and its destination.

A SAD DAY for LONDONERS Now today is a rather sad day for one of London’s old friends… The famous red London bus, officially called The Routemaster, is being replaced by modern buses.

Frankly speaking, old people, people with buggies, disabled people – it’s a real, real problem. They find it difficult to get onto the bus – especially as the platform is quite high up off the ground.

After today, there will be a few Routemasters on the Heritage Routes – special journeys that will mostly be taken by tourists.

A Vocabulary Quiz about Transport A pilot flies a plane, a captain sails a ship, but what does a cabby drive? a train; B) a bus; C) a taxi I hate travelling in the________ when everyone is going to work, you can’t even get a seat most days! busy hour; B) rush hour hurry hour; D) crowded hour

LONDON’S TRANSPORT MUSEUM You can learn about 200 years of transport history in the capital and get to grips with the oldest public transport system in the world. Address: Covent Garden Piazza Phone: 020 7379 6344 Pricing: £5.95 Adults, £4,50 concessions, free under 16’s