According to TFL’s board paper to be presented at the 24th September 2015 meeting and titled “Operational and Financial Performance and Investment Programme Reports,” the Estimated Final Costs have now increased to a whopping £302.5 million!
Also, the target date
for 600 New Routemasters has moved to the 31st October 2015. And their final target to have
all 800 NRM buses is by the 30th April
2016 which means the New Routemaster deliveries are finished.
Taking a look at one
of the TFL board papers from 24th September
2015, it says:
“The number of New Routemasters in London has risen to 500 following the
phased conversion of route 73, including the N73 night service from Victoria to
Stoke Newington in early August. This is the fourteenth route to be selected in
the roll-out of 800 vehicles by 2016. We have awarded further contracts for the
conversion of routes 91, 149 and 159 with exact dates for conversion to be set
later this year.”
So I believe the plan
for route 168 conversion has been dropped in favour of route 16 having New
Routemasters which are expected to be in service on 26th September 2015, according to ‘London Bus
Routes’ website. I've also found out the dates for other routes that are
mentioned in the board paper which are 6th February 2016 for route 91, 17th
October 2015 for route 149 and 12th December 2015 for route 159.
Currently, New
Routemasters are in operation on routes 8*, 9, 10*, 11, 12*, 15, 24*, 38*, 55*,
73*, 88*, 137, 148*, 390* & 453*. *New
Routemasters operate on 24 hour routes and on night routes.
Recently, news has
surfaced that TFL are spending £2 million in order to retrofit the existing New
Routemaster buses with window openings after TFL recieved a massive amount of
complaints from passengers about the air cooling system and sweltering
temperatures during the summer.
Personally, I think
that the successor to the Wrightbus New Routemaster will be the Alexander
Dennis Enviro400H City as it has features based on the New Routemaster design.
Also, TFL should start investing more in electric buses which are an
alternative to the diesel-electric hybrid bus in order to combat climate change
and diesel emissions. Technology has now advanced to the point where investing
in electric buses should be a given. And from an enthusiasts point of view, I
prefer seeing different bus types on different routes as it adds 'variety' to
our streets instead the uniform boredom you would have if the same bus type was
used on every route.
The Wrightbus New
Routemaster is part of London Transport’s history, just as with previous bus
types such as the Leyland Titan, MCW Metrobus, Daimler Fleetlines, AEC
Routemasters and AEC Regent Three (RT). Ever since the New Routemasters arrived
they have been heavily scrutinised which has lead to new routes converting to
New Routemaster without a 2nd crew
member; it also lead to the modification of the rear door that opens outwards
in tandem with the middle door. And also
problems such as battery failures of the hybrid system, the air cooling system
which lead to modifications and most recently, window openings to increase
ventilation in the bus.
Anyway, here is some
news about Electric buses from the
board papers:
“From September, the Capital’s first entirely electric route will be
operating on the 312 when the two existing Optare Metro City vehicles will be
joined by seven other battery-powered buses. In October we plan to launch the
Capital’s first all-electric double-decker vehicles.
The
number of pure-electric buses in London will rise to 70 by autumn 2016,
following the award of new operating contracts for routes 507 and 521 through
central London. There are currently 10 battery-powered buses in the fleet on
routes 507, 521, H98 and the 312.”
October 2015 is going
to be an interesting month because of the Alexander Dennis Enviro400H City
which commences for route 78, the Alexander Dennis Enviro400 Virtual Electric
for route 69 and the BYD double deck electric bus. And according to my previous article, Go Ahead London paid £19
million for 51 single deck Electric buses manufactured jointly by Alexander
Dennis and BYD for routes 507 & 521.
With
the fate of the New Routemaster project now known, I think the fleet of 800 is
enough, and bear in mind that the popularity of the New Routemaster is high
because of the design. I personally think that the new administration will move
on from the New Routemaster project and start investing in more electric buses
to help combat climate change. The jaw dropping price seems to be a lot for a 3
door and 2 staircase diesel-electric hybrid bus. But even if TFL set the tender
requirements for the private bus operating companies to purchase New
Routemasters for their route contracts, millions of pounds are still given to
those companies in order to purchase New Routemasters. But after the contract
ends, the private operating companies would have problems selling the buses on
because of the 3 door and 2 staircase spec. However, with the standard 2 door
and single staircase bus, they can easily be sold on because the middle door
can be modified to a window to make it a single door bus.
I do think it's time
that new contract requirements should require that buses to be used be either
electric or hydrogen, the main thing being that they do not emit diesel
emissions. I keep seeing the new route tenders and its always “existing/new
diesel double/single deck bus” for the private bus companies to operate.
Realistically though, anything can happen as times have changed a lot, along
with technology. With over £300 million spent on 800 New Routemaster buses,
that amount can be used to extend or form a new light railway service which
could take more capacity than a bus.
Time flies quickly but
history is being made from the present.
I'll finish this
article with this video.
Link to video
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word deserves to be spread and this can happen quickly if we all utilise the
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Sources:
TfL’s quarterly finance, investment and operational performance reports Quarter 1, 2015/16
Also see: