The Original Tour

The Original Tour

One of The Original Tour East Lancs Visionaires, on route T2, beside Waterloo Station.
Parent	Arriva
Headquarters	Wandsworth Garage
Service area	Central London
Service type	Bus
Routes	7
Fleet	MCW Metrobus DAF DB250 Leyland Olympian Volvo B7TL Volvo B9TL Volvo B7L
Fuel type	Derv
Operator	TOLST
Web site	www.theoriginaltour.com

The Original Tour, or previously The Original London Sightseeing Tour, is an open-top tour run by Arriva in London, England. They also hold the franchise to run City Sightseeing's London tour. It is based in Wandsworth, South West London.

Services

Sightseeing Tour

Founded in 1951 at the time of The Festival of Britain, The Original Tour is now the largest single sightseeing operation in the world. The hop-on hop-off service allows customers to board any of its tour routes at over 80 different stops. Services operate daily, with a commentary in English or a wide choice of languages. A free river cruise and three walking tours are included with every ticket and the exclusive Kids' Club provides an educational but fun alternative for 5-12 year olds.

The Original Tour operates four sightseeing routes, with two connectors from other places linking to them^[1]:

Route Number & Colour	Route Name	Places served	Duration (approx.)	Other notes
T1 Yellow	The Original Tour	Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, National Gallery, Downing Street, Houses of Parliament (& Big Ben), London Bridge, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey	2 hours	English commentary provided by live tour guides
T2 Red	City Sightseeing	Madame Tussauds, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, National Gallery, Downing Street, Houses of Parliament (& Big Ben), London Bridge, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey	2 hours	Pre-recorded commentary in a number of languages, including one for children.† This is the route operated for the City Sightseeing franchise.
T3 Green	The Loop Line	National Gallery, Trafalgar Square (& Nelson's Column), Westminster Pier, London Eye, Lambeth Palace, Houses of Parliament (& Big Ben), Downing Street, Horse Guards Parade, Piccadilly Circus.	50 minutes	Connects London's West End with Westminster and Waterloo Station.
T4 Blue	Museum Tour	Kensington Palace, Baden-Powell House, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Brompton Oratory, Harrods, Knightsbridge, Harvey Nichols, Hyde Park, Ritz Hotel, Piccadilly Circus, Shaftesbury Avenue, British Museum, Russell Square, Apsley House/Wellington Museum, Royal Albert Hall, Albert Memorial, Kensington High Street, Princess Diana Memorial Fountain	11⁄2 hours	Pre-recorded commentary in a number of languages, including one for children.† Runs every 15 minutes between 08:15 and 17:15.
T5 Black	Station Connector	St Pancras Station, King's Cross Station, Marble Arch, Paddington Station, Marylebone Station, Euston Station	30 minutes	Links main London stations to the main tours. From St Pancras at 10:00, 11:00, 12:00; from Marble Arch at 15:50, 16:50, 17:50
T6 Lilac	Capital Connector	Holland Park, Notting Hill, Lancaster Gate, Marble Arch, Lancaster Gate, Notting Hill. Holland Park, Notting Hill, Lancaster Gate, Kensington Gardens, Madame Tussauds, Paddington Station, Baker Street, Oxford Circus	3/4 hour	Links into the main tours every 15 – 20 minutes. The bottom route runs between 08:15 and 10:15am.

^† Pre-recorded language commentaries provided on the T2 and T4 routes are English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, Japanese, as well as the "Kids' Club" children commentary in English.

T-prefixed Route Numbers

The "T.." route numbers came with the arrival of the Ayats Volvo B7Ls, which were specified with electronic destination displays. Previously, the routes were only distinguishable by a coloured triangle, propped up on the dash on the bus, although some had a metal holder on the front. Now the triangle (which still exist for the older tour buses) have "T.." printed on them for the appropriate coloured triangle. Also, some buses now have destination display blinds, traditionally removed from these buses, which have the coloured triangle on them with the "T.." route number inside that.

Bus events

An Original Tour bus at the 2008 Cobham bus rally.

The Original Tour's buses can often be seen at bus events, either for show or to carry passenger. Events frequently attended include Showbus and the London Bus Preservation Trust's Cobham rally.

Fares

Local fares are available on the sightseeing routes, but the main tickets are valid for 24 hours, which is sometimes extended to 48 hours in Winter to attract custom.^[2] Each ticket includes three free Walking Tours (Changing of the Guard, London Legends and Jack the Ripper) and a free 24-hours River Cruise Pass;^[3] tickets can also be used for Choice tickets and certain discounted attractions.^[4]

The Original London visitor centre

At the end of 2007, The Original Tour opened a new visitor centre on 17-19 Cockspur Street, off Trafalgar Square. It sells tickets to the major London attractions, out of town tours and tickets for The Original Tour buses. General advice is also given.

Fleet

History

In November 2006, an order was made for 10 Volvo B9TL/East Lancs Visionaires, worth £1.6 million. They have Euro IV engines. The first of these were delivered in May 2007 and all were in operation by the beginning of 2008.^[5][6] Following the delivery of these buses, 45% of the fleet is now low floor and wheelchair accessible.

Current fleet

The company operates a number of vehicle types^[7]:

Number	Type	Fleet numbers	Open-top status	Notes
20	MCW Metrobus	MB895, EMB763-765, 767-773, 775-781, 783/784	Some fully open-top, some partial	From New World First Bus or City Sightseeing Australia in 2001/2004. Some were disposed off, to City Sightseeing Dublin. It replaces extended Routemasters.
14	DAF DB250/Plaxton President	DLP201-214	All partial open-top	From Arriva London and converted to open top after they were replaced by Mercedes-Benz Citaros. Replaces MCW Metroliners.
38	Leyland Olympian/Alexander RH	OA315-352	Some fully open-top, some partial	From Arriva London from 2003 to 2005 and converted to open top.
14	Volvo B9TL/East Lancs Visionaire (Batch 1)	VLE611-620	All are partial open-top	New in 2007.
14	Volvo B9TL/Optare Visionaire (Batch 2)	VXE721-736	All are partial open-top	New in 2011, replacing MCW Metrobus 3-axles.
10	Volvo B7L/Ayats Bravo City	VLY601-610	All are fully open-top	New in 2005.

Allocation

Some of the buses are in the standard City Sightseeing livery, rather than the Original Tour version, for use on route T2, which is branded as City Sightseeing. However, in practice, buses can be mixed up.

Images

• 

  EMB767, a 3-axle MCW Metrobus, on route T1.

• 

  DLP214, a DAF DB250/Plaxton President on route T2.

• 

  VLY604, a Volvo B7L/Ayats Bravo on route T1.

• 

  OA328.JPG, a Leyland Olympian/Alexander RH on route T3.

See also

• The Big Bus Company - The main competitor of the tour
• London Pride Sightseeing
• Open top buses in the United Kingdom

References

1. ^ Original Tour Services
2. ^ Original Tour News - "Tickets to be valid for 48 hours"
3. ^ Original Tour Free River Cruise
4. ^ Original Tour Special Offers
5. ^ Original Tour News - "New Buses Delivered".
6. ^ Original Tour Gallery - "Promotional images"
7. ^ British Bus Publishing - "Arriva Bus Handbook 2008"

External links

• Original Tour Website
• Original Tour Promotional Video
• Original Tour Map
• Arriva (Parent Company) Website