I find it interesting that TFL
has placed an order for another 30 hybrid buses with 3 doors and 2 staircases
known as the Wrightbus New Routemaster!
As we approach the
Mayoral and London Assembly elections to be held in May, TFL have decided to
order another 30 New Routemasters, increasing the fleet to 835 NRM’s. It's
strange though that they subtracted 3 from the fleet of 808 NRMs which TFL
mentioned on its previous order back in October 2014.
During mid 2015, TFL unveiled the rear door modification
of the New Routemaster which removes the ability to have an optional rear
platform which was the original purpose of the project.
I have made a short video which features the rear door modification
where the door opens outwards like the middle doors do. So this means that the
New Routemaster is now a 3 door 2
staircase hybrid bus.
Anyway, the new small
order has lead to an increase of the Estimated
Final Cost to £315.6 Million!!!
Let’s see what the
Finance and Policy Committee New Routemaster paper
says:
The
Committee is asked to recommend that the Board approves additional unbudgeted
Financial, Project and Procurement Authority for the purchase of 30 additional
New Routemaster (NRM) buses for passenger service by September 2016, taking the
NRM fleet size to 835. This is an increase to the current project scope.
Authority is also sought for iBus and ticketing equipment, and normal mid-life
refurbishment and related matters necessary for the operation of these 30 NRMs.
Why the increase?
From
section 4.2
The
rationale for this proposal is that placing an order now will enable Wrightbus to maintain the operation of one of the two
current production lines, which keeps open
a more cost effective option for
purchasing additional vehicles, if TfL chooses to do so. If both production
lines were to close, it would increase
the cost of any subsequent order due to the need to remobilise production.
The paper included in Part 2 of the agenda sets out further details.
So does it mean TFL
have to keep ordering the New Routemasters in order to keep the production lines
in operation? We better wait and see in May 2016 when Londoners elect a new
Mayor as some of the candidates have said in their policies that they wish to
move forward from the New Routemaster orders and probably on to order more zero
emission buses.
What will the new 30
NRM’s feature?
From
section 4.4
The
30 additional buses would include adjustments made to the original design, including upper and lower deck opening
windows to improve ventilation and alterations to the rear door
(modifications to the mechanism, voice warning and markings to improve safety).
Buses would also include Microvast batteries, with improved operational
performance over the original types.
Obviously they will
have the new rear door modification, the same as the recently delivered batches
have. I have a feeling they might be the shortened New Routemasters which London Bus Club reported on exclusively.
Which route will the
additional 30 New Routemasters be in service?
From
section 4.10
While
no final decision has yet been taken
on which additional route will be converted to NRM, three potential routes have been identified. Introduction of
vehicles will be through negotiation with the current operator.
I have already
reported that routes 3, 68 and 91 are on the list to convert to
New Routemasters but I don’t know what other routes are listed; please let me
know in the comments section below.
Section
4.11
The
route will run entirely as One Person Operated (OPO). As a result there would
be no additional safety and security
benefits or disbenefits compared to a standard double deck bus.
This means that
the NRM is a 3 door 2 staircase hybrid bus. The security disbenefit is when
passengers enter by the middle or rear door, they don’t touch in which is what
contributes to fare evasion. This problem first happened when the bendy buses
were in service because of the open boarding proof of payment service which allowed passengers to board
at any door.
I think it’s time that
TFL bought more zero emission buses
in order to combat climate change/global warming and diesel emissions. The zero
emission buses may be hydrogen or battery powered buses, but what I would
really like to see is for TFL to have zero
emission double decker buses by 2030 in the Central London area.
Another alternative is
to increase the Alexander Dennis
Enviro400H MMC Virtual Electric in to London service as is the case with
route 69. I really do think Alexander Dennis should roll out the Virtual
Electric with Enviro400H City bodywork though. I am still waiting for the 2
door spec of the New Routemaster which enables bus companies to buy them.
I found out from the
London Assembly publication ‘is the New Routemaster value for money’ that
there are PDF’s which contain letters from The
Budget and Performance Committee and the Managing Director of Surface Transport.
I found one section
from one of the documents interesting where it said that London gets an average
of around 700 new buses per year, all thanks to the route tender process.
Here
is a short update from LOTS regards to the NRM:
New
deliveries of LTs have begun for route
68 (batch LT 664-683, 685-686) and are due to begin next week for route 3/N3 (batch LT 684, 687-710).
None are yet in service. The present
order for LTs has been reduced by three
(thus to fleet number 805) to better suit the proposed route allocations.
However, a submission to the TfL Board next week will recommend that a
further 30 NRMs be ordered (thus to LT 835) and this would maintain Wright’s production line, transcending the Mayoral
Election.
What else now for TfL
after the extra 30 NRM’s have been delivered? Well, we are still waiting for
the two-door single staircase New Routemaster bus to unveil but at least the
design cues have been spread to the Alexander Dennis Enviro400H City. Also, the
original purpose of the New Routemaster was to restore the rear platform, but
it evolved to a 3 door 2 staircase hybrid bus where the new rear door modification ditched the
traditional use of the rear platform.
I think I've covered
everything now, suffice to say that it will be interesting to see what will
succeed the New Routemaster project? Will it be a zero emission bus?
As I've said in
previous articles, I do not oppose the New Routemaster, in fact, I love the bus
and am just reporting on events as they unfold and watching how the London Bus
project evolves as we move into the future.
Please
share my article and follow me on Twitter,
Tumblr, Pinterest and Google Plus
which is @CLondoner92
Previous New Routemaster articles that I've written:- Failed Route tests for New Routemaster conversion
- TFL releases fuel consumption figures for the New Routemasters'
- A New Bus From Wrightbus
- No more Heatherwick designed buses for London?
- New Completion date for 600 New Routemasters revealed
- Rear door modification for the New Routemaster
- Specs for the new BYD Double Deck Electric Bus compared to the New Routemaster
- TfL’s Green Bond, so more New Routemasters?
- More New Routemasters for Route 88 and 16, plus more news…
- New Bus from Alexander Dennis (Enviro400H City)
- New Routemaster project now costs over £300 million, time for electric buses?
- New window openings for New Routemaster
- Video: The New Routemaster rear door
- REVEALED: Short New Routemaster is unveiled
- Update on short New Routemaster
- Routes 3 & 68 to convert to New Routemaster
Image attribution
"Metroline bus LT98 (LTZ 1098), 22 January 2015" by Oast House Archive. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Metroline_bus_LT98_(LTZ_1098),_22_January_2015.jpg#/media/File:Metroline_bus_LT98_(LTZ_1098),_22_January_2015.jpg
"Enviro400H-City-Rte78-Shoreditch-P1370197" by Spsmiler - Own work. Licensed under CC0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Enviro400H-City-Rte78-Shoreditch-P1370197.JPG#/media/File:Enviro400H-City-Rte78-Shoreditch-P1370197.JPG