UK debut for Euro 6 bendy buses and end of June 2017 transport news roundup

Just to wrap up the end of the month, here’s some transport news relayed from other sites.

First off, Gatwick and Bristol Airports are now operating the new Mercedes-Benz Citaro artic with Euro 6 engines.

From Route-One:

The UK’s first Euro 6 articulated buses are now running, thanks to orders from two airport operators.

Right-hand drive versions of the latest 18m Citaro G model are now in operation at Gatwick and Bristol airports. Internally, they have luggage racks, along with the trademark floor-to-ceiling ‘wardrobe’ on the rear nearside interior, housing the engine bay.

Rail franchise bidders announced for West Coast Partnership and South Eastern

A short news update: the Department for Transport has announced the bidders for the West Coast Partnership and South Eastern rail franchises.

From Department for Transport

I am pleased to inform the House that we have today (22 June 2017) published the shortlists of companies that will bid for the new West Coast Partnership (WCP) franchise which will launch the first services on HS2, and the next South Eastern franchise.

The House will be aware passenger numbers have more than doubled since privatisation of the railways 20 years ago and our country’s railways need to adapt and change to be able to cope with this and future demands. This government is committed to revolutionising our railways through innovation and investment to transform passengers’ experiences and ensure our railways work for everyone.

Class 345 Crossrail train finally launches on TfL Rail line!

News update: After a long wait, the Class 345 was finally launched on the TfL rail service on 22^nd June 2017.

From TfL press release

FirstGroup and MTR purchase Crossrail style trains for South Western Railway franchise

Bombardier has signed a contract with FirstGroup and MTR worth nearly £900 million to build Aventra trains for their new South Western Railway franchise. These new trains are to be built at Bombardier's rail vehicles production site in Derby, England.

From Bombardier

Contract for 750 cars is the largest AVENTRA train order ever

AVENTRA train designed to help FirstGroup and MTR deliver greater passenger capacity and comfort on the South Western network

20 new ‘Wrightbus Streetlite’ buses for London’s Tower Transit

Tower Transit has purchased 20 new single deck Streetlite buses from Wrightbus for their contracted routes 236 and W4.

From Wrightbus

Electric buses for London Bus routes C1 and 70

RATP-Dev has placed an order for 36 single deck electric buses for their contracted routes C1 and 70.

From Alexander Dennis

The BYD ADL electric bus partnership has scored another major victory in being selected as preferred bidder by RATP Dev London for the latter’s order of a total of 36 10.8m pure electric buses. Following a comprehensive technical evaluation of zero emissions buses from a range of electric bus suppliers, RATP Dev London has entered into a letter of intent for the procurement of BYD ADL’s Enviro200 electric vehicle. The commercial terms for the supply of the vehicles are currently being negotiated, with contract signature due shortly, for vehicle delivery in Spring 2018.

Consultation on Stratford gyratory removal and routes 53 and 363 changes

TfL has released two consultations to improve London Bus services for Stratford and routes 53 and 363.

From TfL consultations

The London Borough of Newham has developed proposals that will transform Stratford town centre. This will include removing the gyratory around the Stratford Centre and introducing two-way traffic movement on Great Eastern Road, The Grove, Romford Road and Broadway.

The current configuration of the gyratory prevents the operation of a simple bus network (i.e. one that serves stops on both sides of the same road). Two way operation would simplify the bus network and allow buses to serve stops on both sides of the road. In particular, it would allow Stratford bus station to be served in both directions by westbound routes serving Broadway and Stratford High Street.

TfL enters procurement for hydrogen fuel cell buses

TfL has given out a formal invitation to search for a supplier to build double and single deck hydrogen buses.

From EU Tenders Electronic Daily

TfL is conducting a competition to establish a multi supplier, multi lot framework for the purchase of single and double deck buses which use hydrogen fuel cells as their primary source of drive-train power, which will also allow for the capability to provide support services such as maintenance.

An objective of this Framework is to encourage local, national and international collaboration in an attempt to generate large scale deployment, standardisation, and ultimately commercialisation of fuel cell buses. A number of UK city transport authorities and transport operators have expressed their desire to use this Framework.

London Bus tender awards for 1st June 2017

By Spsmiler - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49014434

Here’s a short London Bus news update for you with the recent London Bus tender awards.

Fare evasion on New Routemaster buses

This is going to be a controversial topic about the New Routemaster bus because of the fare evasion issue. Please bare in mind, it is not my intention to make this a political or biased article in any way. The only purpose of this article is to compile information from various sources into one article.