Transport for London has confirmed in a Freedom of Information request that it is to abandon all-door boarding on its fleet of New Routemasters in a bid to curb what it estimates is £3.6m worth of fare evasion per year.
Fare evasion on routes operated by New Routemasters is more than double the rate elsewhere. A pilot on routes 8 and N8 has seen the problem “fall sharply”.
The changes are expected to be rolled out by early 2020 across the 1,000-strong NRM fleet. A modification will take place allowing the front doors to be opened independently from those at the centre and rear.
