The red double decker buses in London have become a well known symbol of England. Especially the Routemaster bus, which became the 'workhorse' of the London public transport network for nearly half a century after its introduction in 1956. On December 8th 2005, amid huge crowds of well-wishers, normal Routemaster operation in London came to an end after nearly 50 years of continuous service. A few weeks earlier, Transport For London started up a “Heritage” Routemaster operation on central parts of routes 9 & 15.