Electric bus types revealed for London bus routes 94, C10 & P5

Hot off the press is the news that RATP-Dev placed an order for 29 of the Alexander Dennis BYD Enviro400EV for use on their London Buses Route 94 contract.

Extracts from Alexander Dennis

Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) and BYD Europe jointly announced today that the companies’ electric vehicle partnership, which delivers the leading UK electric bus, has already topped 100 double deck bus sales. ADL is a subsidiary of NFI Group Inc. (NFI), one of the world’s largest independent global bus manufacturers and BYD is a global leader in batteries and electric buses.

The zero emission 'New Routemaster spin-off' Enviro400EV City finally entered service on London Buses Route 43

Finally, after a very long wait, the spin-off of the New Routemaster, the pure electric Enviro400EV City which is jointly manufactured by Alexander Dennis and BYD has entered in to service on London Bus route 43 as of 1st July 2019.

Bus designs have evolved to reflect similarity to the New Routemaster bus and I’d like to say a new chapter has started with the iconic Enviro400 City which has gone pure electric.

According to London Vehicle Finder, the first five of the BYD Alexander Dennis Enviro400EV City entered service on route 43 on 1st July 2019 - here's the mini fleet list.

London Bus tender awards for late June 2019

This is a quick news update about London Bus services.

Recently I mentioned that London Bus route 67 converted to New Routemaster operation as part of the Central London bus reshaping plan; the new tender awards have revealed Arriva London lost the route 67 contract to Go-Ahead London General.

Should London Buses use a standard interior colour scheme?

As the new battery-electric Enviro400EV City (jointly manufactured by BYD and Alexander Dennis) is set to serve London Buses Route 43 anytime soon, it has been revealed that Metroline has chosen to use their own interior livery instead of the burgundy (dark red) and brass (gold coloured railings) with the TfL/LT Roundel seating moquette. The interior colour design is based on the New Routemaster bus (including their own seating moquette) which reflects similarity with the classic AEC Routemaster bus.

Route 67 converts to New Routemaster operation as part of Central London bus route changes

We have recently seen London bus service changes which occurred on 15th June 2019. The changes affected routes 3, 4, 9/N9, 14, 35, 40, 45, 46, 53, 59, 67, 76, 100, 134, 149, 171, 172, 205/N205, 242, 341, 343, 388, 468, 476 and RV1. You can read more on the Central London bus route changes on the TfL website.

A small number of the routes are served with New Routemaster buses and were affected. This has enabled a number of New Routemaster buses to serve another route which is route 67.

TfL awards contract to CAF to replace old DLR trains

TfL has finally found a manufacturer to build new DLR trains to replace 33 of the old DLR trains manufactured by Bombardier. The manufacturer who won the contract is Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, S.A (CAF) and they will be building 43 new DLR trains.

Extracts from TfL press release

Customers using the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) will benefit from more frequent and reliable journeys from 2023, after Transport for London (TfL) today announced it has awarded a contract to replace the oldest trains currently serving the railway.