November 2020 London Bus Tender awards with route conversions to Electric Buses

At last the London Bus tender awards have finally been announced. This is a surprising announcement because 10 routes have been awarded using electric buses.

LBSL intends to enter into new contracts for the following routes with the operators listed below:

Route	Current Operator	New Operator	PVR	Vehicles
7/N7	Metroline	Metroline	18	Double deck (details TBC)
65/N65	London United	RATP London United	28	New electric double deck*
71	London United	RATP London United	12	Existing hybrid double deck
112	Metroline	Metroline	16	Existing diesel single deck
140/N140	Metroline	Metroline	21	Existing hybrid double deck
146	Stagecoach Selkent	Stagecoach Selkent	1	Existing diesel single deck
182	Metroline	Metroline	23	Existing hybrid double deck
183 (24h w/e)	London Sovereign	RATP London Sovereign	24	New electric double deck*
281 (24h)	London United	RATP London United	20	New electric double deck*
290	Abellio West London	RATP London United	7	New electric single deck*
328	Tower Transit	Metroline	19	Double deck (details TBC)
336	Stagecoach Selkent	Stagecoach Selkent	11	Existing diesel single deck
371	London United	RATP London United	13	New electric single & double deck*
398	London United	RATP London Sovereign	3	New electric single deck
418	London United	RATP London United	7	Existing hybrid double deck
467	RATP Quality Line	RATP Quality Line	2	Existing diesel double deck
481	Abellio West London	RATP London United	5	Existing hybrid double deck
697	London United	RATP London United	3	Existing diesel double deck
698	London United	RATP London Sovereign	5	Existing hybrid double deck
E1 (24h w/e)	Abellio West London	RATP London United	11	Existing hybrid double deck
E9	Abellio West London	Metroline	8	Existing diesel & hybrid double deck
H9/H10	London Sovereign	RATP London Sovereign	16	New electric single deck
K5	London United	RATP London United	6	Existing diesel single deck
P13	Abellio London	Abellio London	12	Existing diesel single deck
X140	Metroline	RATP London Sovereign	10	New electric double deck*

*Certain journeys will be operated by Euro VI hybrid double decks or Euro VI diesel single decks.

All the diesel & hybrid vehicles detailed above will meet Euro VI emissions standards.

The above contracts will commence on the following dates:

• 1st May 2021: Route 328
• 8th May 2021: Route 481
• 29th May 2021: Routes E1 & E9
• 19th June 2021: Route 7/N7
• 26th June 2021: Route 418
• 3rd July 2021: Routes 65/N65, 71, 281, 371 & K5
• 31st July 2021: Route 112
• 21st August 2021: Routes 146 & 336.
• 4th September 2021: Routes 140/N140, 182, 183, 398, 467, 697, 698, H9/H10 & X140
• 2nd October 2021: Route 290
• 9th October 2021: Route P13.

New electric vehicles may enter service after the contract start date dependent on infrastructure and/ or vehicle delivery timescales.

The bus type for routes 7/N7 and 328 won by Metroline will be confirmed soon. According to the Freedom of Information release from last year, TfL stated that routes 7/N7 and 245 are expected to use double deck hydrogens from Jo Bamford’s Wrightbus/Ryse. I presume route 328 will be using zero-emission buses (battery electric or hydrogen) for their new contract.

Makes and models of electric buses avaliable to use:

The makes and models for the new contract will be announced in due course; here’s a brief list of electric bus models currently in service below.

Single deck electric buses:

Alexander Dennis BYD Enviro200EV

46, 70, 100, 153, 214, 323, 360, 444, 507, 521 & C1

Caetano e.City Gold

C10 & P5

Optare Metrocity EV

312

Double deck electric buses:

Alexander Dennis BYD Enviro400EV City

43, 94, 106, 212, 230 & 357

Soon to serve routes 20, 173, 174, 319 and school route 673.

BYD K8SR

School routes 692 & 699 expected to start on 21^st November 2020 operated by Uno under new contract.

Optare Metrodecker EV

134

Soon to be on routes 23 & C3

Upcoming routes to be served using electric buses:

69, 184, 200, 358 and 484.

Conclusion

I expect to see a mixture of models mentioned above to be used by bus operators for their contracted routes. I prefer bus operators to select different models from different manufactures to keep their production lines running.

In the near future I hope to see London Bus operators select a new single deck electric bus from Electric Vehicle manufacturer Arrival for their new contracts.

Currently we are still waiting for London Bus routes 23, 173, 174 and C3 to convert to double deck electric buses by the end of this year.

TfL funding issues

I should mention that I’m aware there has been political “to and fro” between the Mayor/TfL and UK Gov’s Department for Transport. In short, I’m glad that funding will continue to keep London buses and trains running throughout the Coronavirus pandemic.

I invite you to follow me on Twitter by searching for @CLondoner92 or by clicking on the direct link to my Twitter page here.