There will be a heritage bus service on Christmas Day

On the day when tubes, trains, buses and even cable cars go to sleep, there will one bus company offering a very special Christmas Day service.

A vintage bus hire company will be offering a free vintage bus service on route 430 between Roehampton and Putney Bridge.

Richard Shirley who owns the bus said that he “wanted to find a route that connected people with a local centre where at least some of the pubs are open on Christmas Day, and there are plenty of churches. The route needed to be long enough to be some use, but short enough to run at a reasonable frequency with one vehicle.”

The staff, all volunteers are doing it, they say for fun, goodwill, and, as they admit, to promote their vintage bus hire.

This is not a TfL or London General service, but the bus is run professionally under an operator’s licence, meeting current safety regulations. As is the case with vintage buses, it’s not fully accessible, but there will be a conductor to help passengers.

The service will run hourly between about 09am and 4pm. It will follow the normal 430 route from Putney Bridge to Roehampton Village, but will then serve Alton Road and Bessborough Road as well as Danebury Avenue.

A trip on a vintage bus — what a dreamy way to spend Christmas Day.

The timetable and route map are here.