2011 parent ratp dev founded june 1951 headquarters wandsworth garage service area central london service type tourist bus operator routes 6 fleet 90 september 2014 website www.theoriginaltour.com the original tour 1 is a london bus tour operator using open top double decker buses . it also holds the franchise to run city sightseeing s london tour . it is based in wandsworth and is a subsidiary of the ratp dev . contents 1 history 2 sightseeing tours 2.1 t prefixed route numbers 2.2 fares 3 the original london visitor centre 4 transport for london route 337 5 fleet 5.1 allocation 6 see also 6.1 competitors and similar businesses 7 references 8 external links history edit alexander rh bodied leyland olympian in june 2008 plaxton president bodied daf db 250 in april 2011 ayats bravo city bodied volvo b7l in october 2007 east lancs visionaire bodied volvo b9tl in october 2008 mcw metroliner in august 2008 the original tour was founded in by june 1951 by the london transport executive at the time of the festival of britain . in 1986 it was privatised being sold to london coaches blue triangle . in december 1997 it was sold to arriva . in september 2014 the business was sold to ratp dev . 2 3 sightseeing tours edit after purchase of a 24 hour ticket or 48 hour ticket ticket holders may board any of the tour routes at over 80 different stops without another charge . services operate daily with a recorded commentary in english and several other languages which can be listened to with headphones . a river cruise and three walking tours are included in the ticket price . the original tour operates four sightseeing routes with two connectors from other places linking to them 4 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 90 minutes 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 45 minutes links into the main tours every 15 20 minutes . the bottom route runs between 08 15 and 10 15 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 edit the t. . route numbers introduced from april 2001 but used primarily for internal and licensing purposes . used more widely during 2004 and fully adopted in 2005 with the entry into service of the ayats bodied 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 . since 2004 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 . fares edit the original tour tickets are valid for one or two days . each ticket includes three free walking tours changing of the guard rock n roll and jack the ripper and a 24 hour river cruise pass ; 5 tickets can also be combined with attraction tickets for even better discounts . price as of april 2015 update is 30 for adults 26 online 15 for children 12.50 online and 75 for a family group of two adults and two children . the original london visitor centre edit at the end of 2007 the original tour opened a 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 . transport for london route 337 edit in may 2004 wandsworth garage commenced operating route 337 under contract to transport for london bringing route service buses to the garage . 6 route 337 passed to london general in 2011 . 7 fleet edit historically the fleet consisted of former double deck route buses that after being converted to open top configuration were given a second life . however in 2005 ten ayats bravo city bodied volvo b7ls were purchased new . 8 as at september 2014 the fleet consisted of 90 buses . 2 allocation edit 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 . see also edit open top buses in the united kingdom sightseeing competitors and similar businesses edit the big bus company city sightseeing gray line london pride sightseeing references edit companies house extract company no 2328599 the original london sightseeing tour limited a b ratp dev acquires leading london sightseeing operator ratp dev ratp buys original tour from arriva buses issue 716 november 2014 page 7 original tour services the original tour original tour free river cruise the original tour bus tender results route 337 transport for london 2 february 2004 bus tender results route 337 transport for london 6 september 2010 new order gives the original tour the first new open top buses in london arriva 1 june 2005 external links edit media related to the original tour at wikimedia commons company website v t e bus operators in london london abellio london arriva london ct plus go ahead london blue triangle docklands buses london central london general golden tours metroline ratp group london sovereign london united quality line the original tour redwing coaches stagecoach london east london selkent thameside sullivan buses the big bus company tower transit uno national megabus national express london transport portal retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title the original tour & oldid 726488436 categories london bus operatorshidden categories articles containing potentially dated statements from april 2015all articles containing potentially dated statementscommons category with page title same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages add links this page was last modified on 22 june 2016 at 14 17 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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