Monday 7 March 2016

What happened to the Virtual Electric buses for route 69?




I'd like to announce that the Alexander Dennis Enviro400H MMC Virtual Electric buses haven’t been in service for a month.

According to London Vehicle Finder, one of the Virtual Electric buses for route 69 was last seen on 4th February 2016. I don’t know what's happened to them and can only guess they have a mechanical problem due to the electric hybrid system. LOTS bus news have also reported that “The electric Enviro400s DH38501-03, always very intermittent in service, have not been used since 4th February.”



Quick Update: (8th March) as ZeEUS responded to me on Twitter:



The project for the Virtual Electric bus is supported by UITP Europe and ZeEUS.

Here is the small fleet list for the Virtual Electric buses on route 69:

Fleet no.
Number Plate
DH38501
SN65ZGO
DH38502
SN65ZGP
DH38503
SN65ZGR

These buses are operated by Tower Transit from (LI) Lea Interchange garage.

A small number of battery electric buses currently operate on routes H98, 312, 507 and 521, all single deck. Single deck Hydrogen buses operate on route RV1 as they are zero emission buses.

Here is a fleet list of the battery electric single deck buses:

Operator
Fleet number
Number Plate
Arriva London
EMC1
LK64DWG
Arriva London
EMC2
LK64DWJ
Arriva London
EMC3
LK15FKB
Arriva London
EMC4
LK15FKD
Arriva London
EMC5
LK15FKE
Arriva London
EMC6
LK15FKF
Arriva London
EMC7
LK15FKG
Arriva London
EMC8
LK15FKH
Arriva London
EMC9
LK15FKI
London United
OCE1
LJ14SZO
London United
OCE2
LJ14SZP
London United
OCE3
LJ14SZR
London United
OCE4
LJ14SZT
Go Ahead London
EB1
LC63CYA
Go Ahead London
EB2
LC63CXY
Go Ahead London
EI1
YP15NLM
Go Ahead London
EI2
YP15NLN
Go Ahead London
OE1
YJ65EOV

I should also mention that the EMC2 (Optare Electric Metrocity) which is used on route 312 suffered fire damage on 20th January 2016; it is unknown what happened to it . Now Go Ahead London’s OE1 has been loaned to Arriva London as a temporary replacement for route 312.

In other news, routes 507 and 521 will be fully served with single deck electric buses which are expecting to enter service on 27th August 2016.

In my previous article I commented that the main candidates for the upcoming London Mayoral election are not ordering any more 3 door 2 staircase hybrid buses called the New Routemaster, this is because they are promising to invest more on zero emission battery electric or hydrogen buses as a major step forward in helping to combat diesel emissions which contribute to Climate Change.

I will leave you with a news update from LOTS (London Omnibus Traction Society).

1) StreetLite demonstrator SL15ZGR that had been with Metroline until about a month ago is now to come to Arriva London for trials at Thornton Heath on route 289.  Meanwhile the StreetLite demonstrator SN65OKM with London United has still not been used in service at Tolworth but that should start to happen soon on route K4.  The electric Enviro400s DH38501-03, always very intermittent in service, have not been used since 4th February.

2) No 16-reg buses have entered service yet in our area, but the first should be some of the 10.9m E20Ds on Abellio route C10.  Deliveries of LTs to Arriva London for route 59 commenced last week.  Deliveries of Volvo B5LH/ Gemini 3s started for London United (some for Shepherd’s Bush  route 94)  and Tower Transit  (batch VH 38112-136) for Atlas Road route 328.   None of either batch are yet in use.   Metroline’s new E20Ds  for route 487 and Carousel’s StreetLites for Wycombe park-and-ride are now not due until May.

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Related Articles:

Image attribution
By Spsmiler - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45823233
By Aubrey Morandarte from Guildford or Coventry, England - Arriva London EMC1 on Route 312, Norwood Junction, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40983086

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