Oooh La La

Arriva Norwood’s IAN WARO might not have been taking part in the Tour de France as a cyclist, but he was very much a part of the celebrations.

As the famous race kicked off on July 7, the Norwood Arriva engineer was at the start line and also on hand at the finish line in Paris on July 29.

Ian, pat of the Arriva heritage Fleet maintenance team, had been asked to carry out running repairs to the Routemaster that was being donated to the Paris Transport Museum by Transport for London – this was in honour of London’s involvement in the Tour de France.

TfL had contacted Arriva London more than a year before the Tour de France and asked if it could restore RML2602. While employees at the Enfield accident centre did the bodywork, Norwood engineers carried out the mechanical work to the vehicle. After its refurbishment and before departing for Paris it featured in the heritage Fleet promotional DVD

After displaying the bus at the prologue in London, she was driven on to Paris by the heritage Fleet drivers. The plan then was that Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy would drive RML2602 down the Champs Elysées in Paris, following the final stage of the tour and then handover the vehicle, to the Paris Transport Museum.

Ian said: “I’d already had to prepare the vehicle for its ministry test so I was delighted to be asked to accompany it to Paris. I followed behind in a TfL van so that I could take all my tools.

“July 29 was a great experience – especially being aboard RML2602 as Peter drove it down the Champs Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe. Luckily, I didn’t have many repairs to do – the main thing was replacing a brake light bulb.”