Casually known to some as the 'Boris' Bus, the 38 route sees the launch of a bus worthy of the 21st century.  Mayor Boris Johnson said the bus was "stunning" with "every feature tailored to the London passenger".

I've heard rumours of a coffee and croissant bar, a first class area for those needing to use the onboard comfy sofas, and, if you're in a hurry, you can ask the driver to divert to drop you at the door of wherever you want to go.  Future versions of the bus could include a flux capacitor.  Ding ding!

From Monday 27 February for the next four months, eight prototypes of the 'New Bus for London' will be introduced on route 38.  If all goes well, TfL will bring on 30-50 of the new buses to cover the entire route. Bought individually, each bus costs about £1.4M.  The project's 'Inspector Blakey', David Hampson-Ghani, says buying a fleet of new buses will bring the cost down to around £300k each.  That's about the same cost of the current double deckers.

''The New Bus for London marks the first time in more than 50 years that TfL has commissioned and overseen the development of a bus built specifically for the capital.

By incorporating an open platform at its rear, the bus reinstates one of the much-loved features of the 1950s Routemaster which offered a 'hop-on hop-off' service.

A conductor will be on board from early morning to early evening, when the rear platform will be open. When a conductor is not present, the rear platform doors will be opened and closed by the driver. The conductor's role is to ensure passenger safety and provide travel advice. They will not sell tickets. ''

Oyster card users can use any of the three doors and must touch in immediately on any of the nearby yellow readers after boarding the bus. ''

In engineering terms, the New Bus for London will be 15 per cent more fuel efficient than existing hybrid buses and 40 per cent more efficient than conventional diesel double-deckers.

The majority of buses on route 38 will remain as the existing two door double decks. ''

Click here for more information on the New Bus for London.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/15493.aspx