MODERN public transportation on St Albans’ busy St Peter’s Street will have to make way for some classics from a bygone era this weekend as 20 buses harking back to 1948 revive old routes in and around the city.

St Albans hosts its fifth classic bus day this Sunday, October 31, allowing visitors to travel free of charge between 10.30am and 4pm. The day features hour-long trips to neighbouring towns such as Harpenden and Codicote, and 30-minute journeys around the city.

Organiser and bus enthusiast Peter Aves said that with about 1,500 people expected to enjoy the free trips, it would be a case of, “first come, first served.”

He said: “We are expecting visitors to travel from all over the British Isles to attend the event and we have had enquiries from as far away as Australia.”

The 20 buses, normally displayed in museums, will travel along old local routes of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.

Vehicles will represent iconic bus transportation between 1948 and 1980, with the London Transport Museum supplying one of its prize possessions, a single-decker bus built by Guy Motors and run by the London Transport country area department in St Albans during the 1950s and 1960s. Other vehicles expected include a rare double-deck Routemaster coach and a 1948 AEC (Associated Equipment Company) Regent 3 double-decker.

Peter said a programme detailing bus timings, destinations and history could be purchased from the Tourist and Information Centre, or on Sunday at the “country bus rallies” information point.