Charles & Camilla's Ride On A Double-Decker Bus‏

The Duchess of Cornwall joined the Prince of Wales for a first trip on a new ultra-low carbon double-decker London bus today.

The royals toured the factory of Wrightbus in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, which is supplying 600 of the hybrid-engine vehicles to London in a contract worth more than £200million.. before taking a ride on one.

The firm has expanded massively in recent years and is known as one of the most innovative in Northern Ireland.

Royal carriage: The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall took a ride on a new eco-friendly bus today

Is this our stop? The royals toured the factory of Wrightbus in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. The Duchess was dressed stylishly in navy and white

Robert Alexander, 64, has worked at the plant since he was 15, for 49 years.

He entertained the Prince with stories of how the factory had changed since he was an apprentice on the factory floor. He now checks the quality of outside supplies like seats, sheet metal and glass used in the construction of the state-of-the-art vehicles.

 

'There were only about a dozen guys there when I started,' he recalled. 'Now there are 1,600.'

He talked to the Prince about the reduction in the number of tradesmen serving their time and the recent beginning of a turn around in the trend.

Mr Alexander said: 'He said that was good to see and I totally agreed with him; you need to serve your time to be a coachbuilder.'

All aboard: The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall view a new bus from WrightBus

Wrightbus won a £200m contract to supply 600 of the hybrid-engine vehicles to London

This is the second time he has met royalty after Prince Andrew visited the plant seven years ago.

'It was an honour to meet Prince Charles, he was very down to earth and talked to people and it went very smoothly and the staff seemed to enjoy it,' he added.

'After he shook hands with me he did go into the crowd of the men and shake hands with them, which I thought was very nice.'

The new bus has a design similar to the old Routemaster. Route 24, which passes Parliament and Trafalgar Square, now uses the new vehicles exclusively.

Transport for London (TfL), the public body that manages transport in the capital, has said the new bus is the greenest diesel electric hybrid bus in the world.

TfL estimates the 600-strong fleet will reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the city by almost 20,000 tonnes a year.