London Mayor announces the ‘world’s first’ double deck electric bus (With images)

Yes the 'World's first' purposely built
double deck electric bus.
Good Job BYD

This is a follow up to my previous article titled ‘2 new electric buses for London’.

The Greater London Authority has issued a press release about the ‘world’s first’ electric bus.

Released on 29^th June 2015          

The world’s first purpose-built purely electric double-decker bus will enter passenger service in London this year, Mayor Boris Johnson announced today, as he hosted representatives and major bus manufacturers from across the globe at City Hall for the first ever global Clean Bus Summit.

The Clean Bus Summit and new trial underlines the Mayor’s continuing efforts to reduce emissions from London’s bus fleet, which is already one of the cleanest in the world.  And thanks to today’s summit, following London’s example will become more affordable for more cities.

2 New Electric buses for London

Irizar and Go-Ahead, London’s biggest bus operator, have signed an agreement for two Irizar i2e electric buses to be put into operation in London from the end of July.

I am unable to copy the text from the press release from Irizar because the PDF file is from images instead of text, so you can view it here.

From Route One magazine:

By placing electric buses in the UK, Irizar not only shows its “capacity for adapting to the needs of markets and operators” but also “reaffirms its intention of positioning

New London Overground services to get new trains

TFL have just issued a press release regarding the new London Overground services getting the new Class 378 Capitalstar trains.

Thousands of customers on London Overground routes in East and North East London will travel on new air-conditioned trains from 2018, after TfL today announced that a contract with a capital value of around £260m will be awarded to Bombardier Transportation to build a new fleet of trains.

TfL unveils their new ‘Night Tube’ service map

We are not far away now until a few of the ‘deep level’ Underground lines begin to operate their overnight service at weekends.

TfL have just released their ‘Night Tube’ service map which looks interesting for overnight commuters.

From TFL’s press release:

The new map has been designed to show customers clearly which Tube lines and stations will operate 24-hour services from the early hours of 12 September 2015, transforming night time journeys across London for millions of people.

Rear door modification for the New Routemaster

Below is the latest information from LOTS, (London Omnibus Traction Society) where they talk about the Newer, New Routemaster fleet having modifications to the rear door.

They say:

Video Journey on the DLR from Stratford to Canary Wharf

Docklands Light Railway
B92 + B2K Rolling Stock
Operated by KeolisAmey Docklands Ltd.
From Stratford to Canary Wharf
filmed on 12th June 2015

Video: TfL Rail Class 315 at Stratford Station

Class 315
TFL Rail
Operated by MTR under contract to Transport for London
Filmed on 12th June 2015 at Stratford

Video: Buses, trucks and traffic at Rom Valley Way, Romford 08/06/2015

Buses, trucks and traffic at Rom Valley Way roundabout in Romford, Havering, England, UK.

Recorded on 8th June 2015

Video: TfL Rail Class 315 from Chadwell Heath to Romford

TfL Rail
Shenfield Branch
Part of National Rail
Chadwell Heath to Romford
Class 315
Recorded on 3rd June 2015 using a pen camera.
The operator of TfL Rail is MTR.

Video: Class 357 National Express c2c Dagenham Dock to Barking

Class 357 Electrostar
National Express C2C
Operates National Rail Essex Thameside franchise
From Dagenham Dock to Barking
Recorded on 3rd June 2015 using a pen camera.

TFL releases their 2014/15 Annual Report draft

On 9^th June 2015, TfL issued a press release regarding their new Annual report for 2014/15.

I'll give you my opinions as you read through the Annual Report, quoting from the press release.

“Transport for London (TfL) has published its draft Annual Report and Statement of Accounts for the year ending 31 March 2015, which will be considered by the TfL Board at its next meeting on 1 July.

2014/15 was another record year for TfL, with around half a billion more public transport journeys now taking place compared to five years ago. All parts of the TfLnetwork are seeing growing demand as London's population rose to its highest ever level, 8.6 million, this year and is predicted to rise to around 10 million by 2030”

Mixture of buses at Lakeside station (3rd June 2015)

On 3^rd June 2015, I visited Lakeside bus station which is on the outskirts of Lakeside Shopping Centre (branded as Intu Lakeside). The location is in West Thurrock, in the borough of Thurrock, Essex.

Ensignbus is the majority bus operating company which serves Lakeside Shopping Centre. They even have their own office which provides travel information to passengers.

Video: London Overground Romford to Upminster branch

On 31st May 2015, the Romford to Upminster line were transferred to TFL's London Overground from Abellio Greater Anglia. 

The service uses British Rail Class 317. Inside they feature a table which is unusual for a Commuter railway train to have. So I felt the service is first class because of the features which London Overground provided for the Romford to Upminster Line.

More New Routemaster route conversions and new tenders awards for June 2015

London Buses Route 73 is rolling out their conversion to New Routemasters. I have also previously mentioned that Routes 149 and 168 are due to convert to New Routemaster operation later this year.

On Tuesday 2nd June, LOTS reported about the London Bus route tenders.

FirstGroup announces £77.7M investment in 385 new buses including electric buses

First Group have issued a press release stating that they've ordered 385 new buses for their bus operations.

First Bus have placed their largest UK order on record for buses with Euro 6 engines which produce up to eight times less Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) and Particulate Matter (PM) emissions than Euro 5. This will positively impact air quality in town and city centres across the UK.

All of their buses will be fitted with free Wi-Fi and First Bus is to trial USB charging points on some vehicles. 97% of their order is manufactured in the United Kingdom.

Network Rail to Strike in June 2015

UPDATE: The strike has been called off due to talks over new pay for workers.

Members of the RMT Union that work for Network Rail have announced that they are striking over pay.

The dates and times that the strikes will occur on:

·         Thursday 4th June: 24 hours from 17:00 until 16:59 on Friday 5th June

·         Tuesday 9th June: 48 hours from 17:00 until 16:59 on Thursday 11th June

·         Saturday 6th June from 00:01 until 23:59 on Friday 12th June. RMT members will not work any overtime