This article is more than 8 months old

This article is more than 8 months old

The New Routemaster buses that Boris Johnson commissioned for London at huge expense, reintroducing rear doors, are to have them closed to boarding because of widespread fare evasion.

As London mayor he decided to replace the city’s articulated, single-deck “bendy buses”, in part because he said they encouraged fare-dodging.

Transport for London said the 1,000 New Routemasters in operation would be converted. The company loses more than £3.6m a year in fares dodged across the new fleet, which has double the evasion rate of other London buses.

Passengers will only be able to board by the front door, with those in the middle and rear becoming exit-only.

The change marks the final retreat from Johnson’s costly vision. The new bus, a bespoke design for London, was initially commissioned and built with an open back door to allow hop-on, hop-off boarding on busy streets and space for a conductor.

The conductors, however, were withdrawn on cost grounds and the doors were closed while travelling because of health and safety concerns.

Passengers have until now been able to board via all three doors with Oyster and contactless payment cards. Wheelchair users and people with pushchairs will still be allowed to board using the middle doors.

TfL said a trial conducted on the number 8 route since August showed the closure of the rear entrances did not adversely affect the service and cut fare evasion by half.

The change will be phased in through the year to bring boarding on New Routemasters in line with other London buses. Claire Mann, TfL’s director of bus operations, said: “Fare dodging is criminal and unfair, and it deprives London’s transport of the investment it needs.”

TfL has invested more than £346m in the fleet of New Routemaster buses, a price that London assembly scrutiny committees said was far more than the cost of comparable hybrid double-deckers that were already available.