In the Finance and Policy Committee board papers, it reveals there are
plans to have 200 more New Routemasters which would move London a step closer
to aspirations outlined in the Mayor’s 2020 vision which is to extend the fleet
of 600 New Routemasters to 2,000 by the end of this decade.
Also, a quick follow up to my previous article
about the cost of converting routes to New Routemasters. On the first page of the document it shows that the figures for the existing financial authority are now at £219.9m and the operation for the project is £4.1 million which gives a total of £224m for the 600 New Routemasters which are due in April 2016. The average price for a New Routemaster bus over the life of contract is £354,500. I estimate the cost of having an extra 200 of them (not including the Peak Vehicle Requirements per route) would be in the region of £70,900,000.
about the cost of converting routes to New Routemasters. On the first page of the document it shows that the figures for the existing financial authority are now at £219.9m and the operation for the project is £4.1 million which gives a total of £224m for the 600 New Routemasters which are due in April 2016. The average price for a New Routemaster bus over the life of contract is £354,500. I estimate the cost of having an extra 200 of them (not including the Peak Vehicle Requirements per route) would be in the region of £70,900,000.
So the original plan is to have 600 New Routemasters for routes in Central
London and the final bus is due to be delivered by March 2016 as the document
stated. The document claims that the “NRM’s are becoming a globally
recognisable replacement to the iconic predecessor (which is the AEC
Routemaster) which has been used to promote UK technology, manufacturing and
design excellence abroad.”
Wrightbus has confirmed to TFL that it has the capacity to deliver the 200
additional New Routemasters by April 2016, provided that an order is placed by
December 2014. However, routes 7, 14, 19, 22, 23, 74, 94, 139, 168, 414 and C2 failed the route tests because of reported
infrastructure problems. Routes 12, 15, 56, 73, 88, 159, 189 & 205 have
been surveyed without any reported infrastructure problems though and routes
453, 137 and 55 are the routes that have been officially confirmed to be
converted to New Routemasters.
The document also claims that the New Routemasters “are popular with
passengers outperforming conventional designs in areas including comfort,
vibration, smoothness of ride and engine noise. 35 per cent of passengers
interviewed strongly liked the overall design and environment of the NRM
compared to 11 per cent for a conventional bus.”
The 200 additional New Routemasters will be fitted with the Euro VI engine
which will cut emissions and improve air quality in London. Currently there are
six Euro VI New Routemasters which are the LT8 (a re-engined prototype), LT172,
LT173, LT188, LT189 and LT190. Route 453 which is shortly due for conversion to the New
Routemaster will be the start of converting routes to the Euro VI spec New
Routemasters.
Again the additional New Routemaster buses will be owned by TFL because if
the route changes to another operator. TFL will easily retain the buses and
move them to the new operator without the need to fund the new operator to
order New Routemasters for their fleet.
There is no final decision on which routes the New Routemaster buses will
serve because TFL wants them to be used with new contracts like they have done
with Routes 8 and 55, when they were retained by Stagecoach London.
The routes for the additional 200 new Routemasters will be a one person
operation, but there will be alterations to the rear door with
modifications to the mechanism, voice warning system and markings to improve
safety when the door opens inwards as the front doors do.
TFL is assessing the air cooling systems on the double deck buses, after
passengers complained of high temperatures and sweltering conditions in the
Summer of 2014. This caused TFL to improve insulation around areas such as
engine compartment, improved ventilation and remote controlling of saloon
temperatures. The most powerful air conditioning systems are not advocated
because they would prevent the bus fleet from achieving 'Mayoral air quality
goals', including reducing nitrogen oxides by 20 per cent compared to 2012
levels by the end of 2015.
Personally, I think that TFL should design a two-door New
Routemaster which would make it easier for bus companies to order and use them
for the routes in the Outer London areas, then after the life contract the
operators can simply move them to their national fleet for the commercial
routes or local PTE (Public Transport Executive) services more easily. However, I have heard reports from unknown
sources that the two-door New Routemaster is in the pipeline.
Do you think that the 200 additional New Routemasters which would extend
the fleet to 800 is a good idea? Also, should TFL be ordering conventional
buses instead? There is of course the New Tube for London project which
will increase capacity on the Piccadilly, Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo &
City lines as well, so let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Source: http://www.londontransport.co.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/fpc-20141014-part-1-item-15-new-routemasters.pdf
Cost of
converting a route to the New Routemaster operation
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