More than 500 people rode the free vintage buses between Putney Bridge and Roehampton on Christmas Day, with volunteer crews reporting their busiest service yet.
The two classic London buses ran every half hour along the 430 route, offering the only public transport in the area while regular services took the day off. By early afternoon, buses were leaving Putney Bridge Station completely full, with queues forming at stops along the route.
“I’ve never known it like this,” said Pete, a conductor who spent decades working on London’s buses before volunteering for the Christmas Day service. “The number of donations has been amazing.”
The service, now in its eighth year, is organised by 1950s Vintage Bus Hire and The London Bus Museum. Volunteers give up their Christmas Day to keep the tradition running, driven by what organisers describe as “fun, goodwill, and a sense of public service.”
Two very different buses
This year’s fleet offered passengers a choice of eras. The older of the two, a beautifully restored STL double-decker dating from the 1930s, is a genuine pre-war bus. Its hand-cranked destination signs, period advertisements for Hovis and Branston Pickle, and art deco styling drew admiring comments from passengers young and old.
The second bus, a Routemaster, will be instantly familiar to anyone who remembers London transport before the bendy bus era. Instead of the STL’s rear platform bell push, passengers rang the stop bell by pulling a wire running along the left side of the ceiling. Pete explained that this bus had been fitted with a new, more powerful engine, which made for a lively ride back down to Putney Bridge.
The STL had been driven down from the London Bus Museum that morning, while the Routemaster is privately owned. Both are maintained to modern safety standards and operate under a Public Service Vehicle licence.
A community Christmas tradition
Passengers ranged from families with young children experiencing their first ride on a classic bus to older residents for whom the journey brought back memories of daily commutes decades ago. Some used the service practically, hopping on and off to visit friends and family. Others treated it as an outing in itself, riding the full route to Roehampton and back again.
The festive atmosphere was helped by glorious winter sunshine, with passengers chatting to the volunteer crews and each other as the buses made their stately progress through largely empty streets.
The vintage bus service has grown steadily since launching in 2017, expanding from hourly departures to every 20 minutes last year when three buses were needed to meet demand. Passengers were happy to wait at Putney Bridge Station for the next departure. Donations from grateful passengers help cover running costs, with any surplus going to charity.
The London Bus Museum, which provided volunteers for the Christmas Day service, is a registered charity with around 30 historic buses in its collection, all maintained in working order. The museum is based at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, and is open daily. It runs heritage bus days on various London routes throughout the year, with events planned for 2026 including routes between Clapton Pond and Victoria, Sutton and Kingston, and Finsbury Park and Ash Grove.
The buses will return next Christmas Day. In the meantime, 1950s Vintage Bus Hire offers the vehicles for private hire for weddings, parties and corporate events.
