Routemaster bus celebrated in Google doodle for 60-year anniversary
London’s famous Routemaster bus is being celebrated in the form of a Google doodle after 60 years as an icon of the capital.
The first ever Routemaster was unveiled on this day in 1954 at the Earl’s Court Commercial Motor Exhibition to replace the network of trolley buses across the capital ushering in a new era for the city.
The Routemaster, illustrated and animated on Google's doodle, was introduced on London’s roads in 1956 serving the capital’s commuters until 2005. It remained a moving London landmark however, with the buses carrying passengers on two “heritage” routes- the number 9 and 15- through central London.
The hop-on hop-off design was resurrected last year, reinvented by Thomas Heatherwick in a multimillion pound makeover orchestrated by London Mayor Boris Johnson.
Transport for London has marked 2014 as the “Year of the Bus”. In addition to the Routemaster’s 60th anniversary, its also the 75th anniversary of the RT Type bus and the 100 year anniversary of the B Type “Battle Bus”, the world’s first mass-produced motor bus which carried soldiers to the front line during the First World War.
(Source: Google)