Yes but the fiscally prudent thing to do would have been to wait 4-5 years for them to need replacement then replace them with something else. They were just un

Yes but the fiscally prudent thing to do would have been to wait 4-5 years for them to need replacement then replace them with something else. They were just unpopular and prone to fare dodging not dangerous. There were a few reports of cyclists being killed, but for that money. You could have saved more lives by, say, installing platform edge doors in busy tube stations. Edit: And I dont think it was ever conclusivly shown that they actually killed more cyclists per mile than normal buses.