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| The 600 figure has grown... |
This news has
certainly come as a surprise to me.
So then, TFL is
planning to extend its fleet of the 3 door 2 staircase hybrid buses to 1,000.
Previously they'd planned to extend the fleet of NRM’s by 35, which I wrote
about in my previous article.
From 3rd February
2016 TFL board paper titled ‘New Routemaster’.
The
Board is asked to approve additional
unbudgeted Financial, Project and Procurement Authority for the purchase of
up to 195 additional New Routemaster
(NRM) buses.
This is an increase to the current project scope. Authority is
also sought for iBus and ticketing equipment, and normal mid-life refurbishment
and related matters necessary for the operation of these additional NRMs. The
additional authorities requested and the EFC figures are in the paper on Part 2
of the agenda.
Unbudgeted? Does this
mean there is no money allocated to buy the extra New Routemaster buses? This
means the TFL board will have to approve the extra 165 NRM’s.
On
21 January 2016, the Finance and Policy Committee considered a similar paper,
which recommended the purchase of 30
NRMs. The Committee requested an
option for the purchase of a further 165
NRMs to also be considered by the
Board.
So we'll have to wait
and see what happens at their meeting on 3rd February to find out if they're going to
consider buying the extra 165 New
Routemaster buses which are manufactured by Wrightbus. If TFL gets 1,000
then the design rights of the New Routemaster will pass over to TFL from
Wrightbus.
One issue I need to
raise about the New Routemasters concerns fare evasion. TFL removed the bendy
buses in 2011 because they claimed it increased fare evasion, but the same
problem now occurs with the New Routemaster bus as passengers board by the rear
and don't touch in at the reader by the rear door. The system is known as ‘proof of payment’ which enables people to board by any door. Hopefully TFL
will increase the number of revenue inspectors in order to catch more fare
evaders.
The penalties for fare
evasion are £40 if you pay within 21
days and after that it increases to £80,
which includes a criminal record if
you plead guilty in court. More information on fare evasion can be seen here. Yes,
the criminal record comes as a surprise!
London is not the only
city which provides the proof of payment system; in San Francisco, California,
and the USA the transport authority Muni (SFMTA) have ‘proof of payment’ system on
all of their bus routes. The fines go up to $110 for those who don’t provide evidence that the passenger paid
their fare.
Anyway, here is some
news from LOTS:
All
the new LTs for route 68 (LT 664-683/5/6)
have now been delivered although none are yet in service, pending door mods. LT665 has been shipped to Singapore to act as a promotional bus for Wrights at a
forthcoming event and also to support Go-Ahead’s recent grant of several
franchised bus routes. Those for Abellio route 3/N3 (LT 684, 687-710) had been
held up due to storms in the Irish Sea meaning that shipment had been
suspended. However the first few have now arrived and the type change should
start to occur fairly soon.
So we will be seeing
the New Routemaster bus visiting Singapore again. Also, checking on London Bus Routes website, it shows that the New Routemasters are expecting
to enter service on the 6th February 2016.
Still
isolated examples of some recent new batches remain to enter actual service,
being Go-Ahead WHV110 and Metroline LT651, although the last of Arriva’s E40Hs (HA19) is now running. Stagecoach’s new Volvo B5LHs are now going
onto route 47 fairly gradually and Arriva
KT’s E20Ds (ENR1-7) should be on the
B13 also fairly soon.
I found out that
Arriva’s Enviro200 buses will have the Enviro200 MMC bodywork which has a
similar design to the Enviro400H City on route 78. The Alexander Dennis
Enviro200MMC also operates on route 499.
Route
69 will pass from Stagecoach to Tower Transit next Saturday 6th February using 19 Stagecoach Tridents on loan. Route 26/N26 will pass from Tower Transit to
CT Plus from 27th February using 20
Tower Transit Enviro400s on loan. In
both cases these changes are well in advance of the original formal contract
dates. The long awaited extension of
Tower Transit route 70 beyond Acton to Chiswick Park finally happened on
Saturday 30th January.
The original start
date for Tower Transit to fully operate route 69 is the 30th April 2016, according to London Bus
Routes website.
Also, the Route 26
contract starts with CT Plus on the 25th June 2016 with new Enviro400H City buses. We
may see the new Enviro400H City being delivered early for the route 26
contract.
As always, you can
follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest
and Google Plus which is @CLondoner92
"London United bus LT150 (LTZ 1150), Regent Street Bus Cavalcade (05)" by John Pannell from Watford, UK - 2014-Year-of-the-Bus-Cavalcade--DSCF1556. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:London_United_bus_LT150_(LTZ_1150),_Regent_Street_Bus_Cavalcade_(05).jpg#/media/File:London_United_bus_LT150_(LTZ_1150),_Regent_Street_Bus_Cavalcade_(05).jpg
