The cost of replacing just one in ten London buses with Boris Johnson's new generation Routemasters would cost Londoners an extra £54 million a year, Labour's transport spokesperson on the London Assembly Val Shawcross has warned.

The mayor is spending £11.37 million, or £2.27 million per vehicle, on just five new buses¹ - fourteen times the cost of a standard double decker.²

And figures released today show that, in staffing costs alone, operating the vehicles on just ten per cent of London's bus routes would cost fare payers at least £54 million extra every year.

According to figures provided by the mayor's office, employing a second crew member - or conductor - on the new Routemasters will cost £72,000 a year per bus.³ To run the buses with an extra staff member on just ten per cent of London's 7,500-strong bus fleet, TfL would need to find an extra £54 million a year.⁴

Val Shawcross, Labour's transport spokesperson on the London Assembly, said: "If Boris Johnson ever wants these buses to be anything more than expensive, shiny bits of nostalgia, Londoners will face even higher fares to pay for them.

"The mayor has already wasted millions on this project and, because of his policies, routes are more congested and buses more overcrowded. Londoners are struggling with increasing fares, price rises and wage freezes. What we really want are fewer delays and lower fares. This is a vanity scheme we just can't afford."

Ends

Notes

1. P.4, Agenda item 4, TfL Finance and Policy committee, 21 January 2010 

2. A conventional diesel bus costs £190,000 (P.3, Vehicle comparison, TfL)

3. The mayor said in a written answer to Val Shawcross that the annual cost of second crew members for five new buses would be "approximately £360,000" - or £72,000 per bus

4. According to TfL's website there are 7,500 vehicles on London's bus network

5. The capacity of the new bus for London is 87 people. Bendy buses could carry up to 149 people.

Val Shawcross in London Assembly member for Lambeth and Southwark constituency and the Labour group's transport spokesperson