I so loved these... these back platforms were genius! I am glad they are back!

Yes, it's fun having a back platform again but this one can be closed with a perspex door, that can be operated by the driver, when there's no conductor. There's a possibility that the conductors will be phased out at some point and it will just function as a three-door bus. Apparently it costs £60k a year for the conductors (not quite sure how that's worked out as a conductor's salary is clearly less than that) which is a lot for someone who does very little other than supervise people getting on and off!

Bill, I'm not disputing that the job of a conductor was pretty skilled in the old days but now there's no morse code on the bell, no collecting fares, no checking tickets. So although it's nice to have someone to talk to it would be difficult for them to continue to justify the cost (whatever it is) in that case.

If it was 60k I'm sure we'd all be queuing up to apply! I'm not sure how that figure was arrived at. I think it must be the cost per bus per year and each bus would need more than one conductor over that period. It would be interesting to know how much they are paid though. My guess is maybe around £20k?
Maybe you should write a book about bus conducting!