I'd
like to announce that the Alexander
Dennis Enviro400H MMC Virtual Electric buses haven’t been in service for a
month.
According
to London Vehicle Finder,
one of the Virtual Electric buses for route 69 was last seen on 4th February 2016. I don’t know what's happened to
them and can only guess they have a mechanical problem due to the electric
hybrid system. LOTS bus news have also reported that “The electric Enviro400s DH38501-03, always very intermittent in
service, have not been used since 4th February.”
Quick Update: (8th March) as ZeEUS responded to me on Twitter:
@CLondoner92 planned software upgrades + small technical issues. All fixed, 2 buses back in service, the 3rd one back next week.— ZeEUSproject (@zeeusproject) March 8, 2016
The
project for the Virtual Electric bus is supported by UITP Europe and
ZeEUS.
Here is the small
fleet list for the Virtual Electric buses on route 69:
Fleet
no.
|
Number
Plate
|
DH38501
|
SN65ZGO
|
DH38502
|
SN65ZGP
|
DH38503
|
SN65ZGR
|
These
buses are operated by Tower Transit from (LI) Lea Interchange garage.
A
small number of battery electric buses currently operate on routes H98, 312,
507 and 521, all single deck. Single deck Hydrogen buses operate on route RV1
as they are zero emission buses.
Here is a fleet list
of the battery electric single deck buses:
Operator
|
Fleet
number
|
Number
Plate
|
Arriva
London
|
EMC1
|
LK64DWG
|
Arriva
London
|
EMC2
|
LK64DWJ
|
Arriva
London
|
EMC3
|
LK15FKB
|
Arriva
London
|
EMC4
|
LK15FKD
|
Arriva
London
|
EMC5
|
LK15FKE
|
Arriva
London
|
EMC6
|
LK15FKF
|
Arriva
London
|
EMC7
|
LK15FKG
|
Arriva
London
|
EMC8
|
LK15FKH
|
Arriva
London
|
EMC9
|
LK15FKI
|
London
United
|
OCE1
|
LJ14SZO
|
London
United
|
OCE2
|
LJ14SZP
|
London
United
|
OCE3
|
LJ14SZR
|
London
United
|
OCE4
|
LJ14SZT
|
Go
Ahead London
|
EB1
|
LC63CYA
|
Go
Ahead London
|
EB2
|
LC63CXY
|
Go
Ahead London
|
EI1
|
YP15NLM
|
Go
Ahead London
|
EI2
|
YP15NLN
|
Go
Ahead London
|
OE1
|
YJ65EOV
|
.jpg/1920px-Arriva_London_EMC1_on_Route_312%2C_Norwood_Junction_(16059500445).jpg)
I
should also mention that the EMC2 (Optare Electric Metrocity) which is used on
route 312 suffered fire damage on 20th January
2016; it is unknown what happened to it . Now Go Ahead London’s OE1 has been loaned to Arriva London as a temporary replacement for route 312.
In
other news, routes 507 and 521 will be fully served with single deck electric buses
which are expecting to enter service on 27th August 2016.
In
my previous article I commented that the main
candidates for the upcoming London Mayoral election are not ordering any more 3
door 2 staircase hybrid buses called the New
Routemaster, this is because they are promising to invest more on zero
emission battery electric or hydrogen buses as a major step forward in helping
to combat diesel emissions which contribute to Climate Change.
I
will leave you with a news update from LOTS
(London Omnibus Traction Society).
1) StreetLite
demonstrator SL15ZGR that had been with Metroline until about a month ago is
now to come to Arriva London for trials at Thornton Heath on route 289. Meanwhile the StreetLite demonstrator SN65OKM
with London United has still not been used in service at Tolworth but that
should start to happen soon on route K4.
The electric Enviro400s DH38501-03, always very intermittent in service,
have not been used since 4th February.
2) No 16-reg buses
have entered service yet in our area, but the first should be some of the 10.9m
E20Ds on Abellio route C10. Deliveries of LTs to Arriva London for route
59 commenced last week. Deliveries of Volvo B5LH/ Gemini 3s started
for London United (some for Shepherd’s Bush
route 94) and Tower Transit (batch VH 38112-136) for Atlas Road route 328. None
of either batch are yet in use.
Metroline’s new E20Ds for route
487 and Carousel’s StreetLites for Wycombe park-and-ride are now not due until
May.
You
can follow me on Twitter, Tumblr,
Pinterest and Google Plus which
is @CLondoner92
Related Articles:
Image
attribution
By Spsmiler - Own work, CC0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45823233
By Aubrey Morandarte from Guildford or Coventry, England - Arriva London EMC1 on Route 312, Norwood Junction, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40983086