List of London Bus Routes Currently Served Using Electric Buses (as of March 2021)

TfL has published a Freedom of Information (FOI) request regarding London Bus Routes serving with zero-emission electric buses.

Request ID: FOI-2431-2021
Date published: 09 March 2021

1. Can you list the routes currently served using electric buses? If possible, can you specify them by operator, make & model including type (double/single deck) of the EV buses?

Please see details below showing the allocation of electric buses to routes. Other non-electric vehicles may also form part of the allocations for some of these routes, either at all times or a certain times of day.

Route	Operator	Make/Model	Decker
312	Arriva	Optare MetroCity	Single
108	Go-Ahead	Irizar i2	Single
507	Go-Ahead	BYD / ADL	Single
521	Go-Ahead	BYD / ADL	Single
360	Go-Ahead	BYD / ADL	Single
153	Go-Ahead	BYD / ADL	Single
70	RATP	BYD / ADL	Single
C1	RATP	BYD / ADL	Single
46	Metroline	BYD / ADL	Single
214	Go-Ahead	BYD / ADL	Single
43	Metroline	BYD / ADL	DOUBLE
134	Metroline	Optare Metrodecker	DOUBLE
100	Go-Ahead	BYD / ADL	Single
94	RATP	BYD / ADL	DOUBLE
444	Go-Ahead	BYD / ADL	Single
212	Go-Ahead	BYD / ADL	DOUBLE
106	Go-Ahead	BYD / ADL	DOUBLE
323	Stagecoach	BYD / ADL	Single
230	Go-Ahead	BYD / ADL	DOUBLE
P5	Abellio	Caetano	Single
357	Go-Ahead	BYD / ADL	DOUBLE
C10	Abellio	Caetano	Single
C3	Tower	Optare Metrodecker	DOUBLE
692/699	Uno	BYD	DOUBLE
23 ***	Tower	Optare Metrodecker	DOUBLE
174/674 ***	Stagecoach	BYD / ADL	DOUBLE
184	Go-Ahead	BYD / ADL	Single
173/673 ***	Stagecoach	BYD / ADL	DOUBLE

*** - Still in course of delivery

2. Can you list the upcoming routes due to convert to electric buses? If possible, can you provide bus operator, start dates, make & model including type (double/single deck) used for the route?

Further routes awards on the basis of electric vehicles are as follows. Start dates have yet to be confirmed (and are highly uncertain while the Covid-19 outbreak as this continues to impact the ability of vehicle manufacturing to meet orders and the implementation of infrastructure works). Many roll outs are not expected to take place until 2022. As above, it should be noted that other non-electric vehicles may also form part of the allocations for some routes, either at all times or a certain times of day.

Route	Operator	Make/Model	Decker
484	Go-Ahead	BYD / ADL	Single
200	Go-Ahead	Optare Metrodecker	DOUBLE
69	Go-Ahead	BYD / ADL	DOUBLE
20	HCT	BYD / ADL	DOUBLE
160/660	Stagecoach	tbc	DOUBLE
180	Stagecoach	tbc	DOUBLE
319	Arriva	BYD / ADL	DOUBLE
132	Go-Ahead	tbc	DOUBLE
63	Abellio	tbc	DOUBLE
65	RATP	tbc	DOUBLE
281	RATP	tbc	DOUBLE
371	RATP	tbc	DOUBLE
371	RATP	tbc	Single
290	RATP	tbc	Single
H9/H10	RATP	tbc	Single
398	RATP	tbc	Single
183	RATP	tbc	DOUBLE
X140	RATP	tbc	DOUBLE
49	RATP	tbc	DOUBLE
358	Go-Ahead	tbc	Single
235	RATP	tbc	Single
125	RATP	tbc	DOUBLE

tbc - to be confirmed.

For contract start dates of the routes mentioned above, I suggest checking out the Service Changes page from London Bus Routes website.

3. How many bus garages are now using electric buses?
14.

4. Why certain routes are won/retained by bus operator using existing diesel and hybrid buses instead of new zero emission buses?

This depends on the relative cost of a new contract awarded on new zero emission vehicles and existing diesel / hybrids, and whether the increment for new zero emission vehicles represents good value for money or not.

5. Can you list the bus manufacturers TfL are currently in negotiations with?
Bus operators normally procure vehicles, either by leasing or buying, and include these costs in their tenders for route contracts. As TfL awards contracts for routes and invites private operators to bid for them, it is not involved in negotiations with manufacturers in respect of vehicle orders. The only recent exception to this was with Wrightbus (under the ownership of Bamford Bus Company) where we placed a contract for 20 double-deck hydrogen fuel-cell buses.

You can read more about the double-deck hydrogens for route 7 in my previous article.

The next route due to convert to electric buses is route 69; the new contract start date is on 1^st May 2020.

Our #BuildBusesBackBetter agenda takes us to Scarborough today for some time with our friends @ADLbus - both investigating current zero emission, electric solutions now and what will become available in the future. pic.twitter.com/QT64dttaHx

— Alex Hornby (@alextransdev) March 9, 2021

According to TfL’s Financial and Substainability Plan, their ambition is to have the entire London bus fleet zero-emission electric and hydrogen by 2030 with leasing arrangement by bus operators and support from the government... and they expect their bus electrification plans to be completed by 2037 at the latest.

Why do you quote answers from Freedom of Information requests on your articles?

Transport for London and many UK governing bodies post their FOI answers on the disclosure log of their websites. Some of the FOI answers may be very interesting and worth reporting to increase awareness.

Why do some of the new double-deck electric buses look similar to New Routemasters (NRMs)?

TfL and the previous Mayor Boris Johnson encouraged bus manufacturers to adopt New Routemaster DNA to improve their designs. Alexander Dennis (ADL) in partnership with BYD, have manufactured an electric double-decker bus with an eye-catching design based on the NRM, you can read more about it in my previous article.

There’s a new electric bus manufacturer coming soon to London named Arrival and they have stated their designs are modular, which means they can design and build different variants for many cities around the world; this will make it very interesting for bus enthusiasts in the future. You can read more about Arrival in my previous article.

I expect more London bus operators to choose different makes and models of electric buses for their contracted routes in the near future.

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