Vintage buses offer free rides on Christmas Day

A free vintage bus service will run on Christmas Day between Roehampton and Putney Bridge, offering residents the only public transport option when regular buses, trains and tubes take the day off.

The service, staffed by volunteers from 1950s Vintage Bus Hire and The London Bus Museum, will operate every 30 minutes from 09:30 to 15:30 from Roehampton, and 10:00 to 16:00 from Putney Bridge. The buses will stop at all regular Route 430 stops along the way.

This year’s service will be slightly reduced. Organiser Richard Shirley, who has driven every year for the past eight years, snapped a tendon in his leg and is unable to join the volunteers. The fleet will run with one fewer bus and include an hour-long gap around lunchtime.

A Christmas tradition since 2017

Shirley launched the service in 2017 as a way to give back to the community whilst promoting his vintage bus hire business. The service has grown steadily over the years, expanding from hourly departures to every 20 minutes last year when three buses were needed to meet demand. Some journeys ran fully loaded, with nearly 500 trips made on a single Christmas Day.

The Putney and Roehampton route holds special meaning for Shirley, who grew up in Fulham where his father was a Church of England priest and his mother a primary school teacher. “I had a sense of public service,” he told PutneySW15 back in 2017. “I have had an affection and affinity for the Putney and Roehampton area ever since making childhood trips by bus from Fulham to Putney Heath or Richmond Park.”

Now living near Kingston Hill, Shirley is a transport professional with a degree in Transport Planning and Management and has worked in the industry since 1986. He holds a PCV licence and has driven vintage London buses as far as New Zealand, California and Sri Lanka.

The buses themselves

The service uses two classic London Transport buses from the 1950s: a red RT double-decker and a Routemaster. The RT buses were the standard London double-decker of the 1950s, with over 7,000 built between 1939 and 1979. They famously appeared in the 1963 film “Summer Holiday” starring Cliff Richard, and feature a swept-back art deco-style front and open rear platform.

Both buses have 9.6-litre six-cylinder diesel engines developing 125 horsepower, with a maximum speed of 40mph. They’re maintained to modern safety standards under a Public Service Vehicle Operator’s Licence, with thorough safety checks every 10 weeks.

The service is completely free, run purely by volunteers who give up their Christmas Day to help people visit pubs, churches, friends and family, or simply enjoy a walk by the river or in Richmond Park. “It’s Christmas Day and the journey’s on us,” the website says.

Christmas Day 2025 timetable

From Roehampton to Putney Bridge

Buses depart Roehampton Danebury Avenue at: 09:30, 10:00, 10:30, 11:00, 11:30, 12:00, then 13:00 (one hour gap), 13:30, 14:00, 14:30, 15:00, 15:30

From Putney Bridge to Roehampton

Buses depart Putney Bridge Station at: 10:00, 10:30, 11:00, 11:30, 12:00, 12:30, then 13:30 (one hour gap), 14:00, 14:30, 15:00, 15:30, 16:00

The buses are not fully accessible and children’s buggies will need to be folded before boarding, though conductors will be on hand to help passengers.

Full timetables and route maps are available at 1950s-vintage-bus-hire.co.uk/Christmas-430.