A Home Office minister has called on Boris Johnson to tell “mollycoddling” conductors to “back off” and stop lecturing passengers about safety on London’s new Routemaster buses.
Norman Baker said he was fed up with being told by conductors not to stand on the open platform at the rear as he waited to get off.
The Lib-Dem MP also criticised conductors for attempting to block passengers who want to jump on as buses move off and insisted that it was time for the Mayor to “take away the cotton wool” that was spoiling enjoyment of the buses.
His criticism echoes similar complaints from other passengers that the value of the Routemasters’ open platform is being undermined by an overly cautious approach to safety.
Transport for London promised to remind bus operators that passengers should be allowed to use the platform when preparing to get off, but insisted that safety remained its priority.
It admitted, however, that its statistics showed that only one passenger is hurt boarding or alighting for every million journeys made on the Routemasters.
Mr Baker said the figures confirmed that the risk of any accident was overblown and insisted that the public should be allowed to stand on the open platform without being subjected to hectoring comments from the conductor.
He added: “It is right to have reintroduced platform buses, but why are we being mollycoddled? When people want to get on and off they should be able to do it without being told by the conductors that it’s not safe to stand there on the open platform.
“My message to Boris is take away the cotton wool and let the buses be used as they were intended. He should tell his conductors to back off.”
Mr Baker, a former transport minister, said he believed that interference by conductors was sometimes putting passengers at greater, not lesser, risk.
He added: “The other day I ran for the bus and tried to jump on as it moved off and had a conductor trying to block my way, which was far more dangerous. I still got on though.”
The “Boris bus” was introduced in February 2012 following an election pledge by the Mayor to commission a modern version of London’s traditional Routemaster, which allowed passengers to get on and off between stops via its open platform.
Mike Weston, TfL’s director of buses, said: “We are working closely with the operators of new Routemasters to ensure that training for conductors allows them to balance the benefits of an open platform with the need for safety.”
