Alexander Dennis and BYD have announced the conversion of London Buses route 153 to zero-emission single deck buses - which happened on Saturday 3rd February 2018.
From Alexander Dennis
Well before dawn on Saturday 3 February another fleet of BYD ADL pure electric buses took over operation of a fourth London bus route.
Route 153, operated by Go-Ahead London on behalf of Transport for London (TfL), runs an intensive service from before 05.00 to after 23.00 six days a week (with a slightly later start on Sundays). The Route spans many of the City of London’s most congested streets between its termini at Finsbury Park in the north to Moorgate in the heart of the financial district.
The new fleet consists of 11 of the 10.8m BYD ADL Enviro200EV single deckers, similar to others operated by Go-Ahead and now a familiar sight on London roads. The well proven zero emission vehicles entered service successfully and operate from the Northumberland Park Garage in Tottenham, north London. The new buses marked the transfer of the route to Go-Ahead from CT Plus. BYD has supplied the depot with its own-designed and manufactured charging points.
The other three ADL BYD serviced London routes, all with Go-Ahead, are the 521 and 507 from Waterloo and the 360 from Camberwell. Other routes and operators will receive fleets of BYD ADL electric buses in the coming months following tender wins by the partnership.
“We are delighted to make another significant step in the electrification of London’s bus routes and to be in the vanguard of the transformation. At Go-Ahead we have developed considerable practical knowledge of electric bus operation, gained over six years, and are well positioned to contribute further to the improvement of the capital’s air quality”, said Richard Harrington, Go-Ahead Group’s Engineering Director.
“The smooth switch on of our electric buses to operate another intensive London route is a testament to the strength of our overall offering – not just the proven and reliable buses themselves but of the back up and support of our partners in planning and installing the necessary equipment to make electric bus operation successful from day one”, said Frank Thorpe, UK Country Manager for BYD UK, speaking on behalf of the ADL BYD partnership.
BYD sold over 14,000 electric buses globally in 2017 and, in partnership with ADL, single deck market leader in the UK, its fleets in London, Liverpool and Nottingham have already accumulated well over a million miles of emissions free operation on UK roads.
NB: Pictures courtesy of Kristian Lake, Go-Ahead London
I’ve published my own review of the BYD D9UR Enviro200 MMC Electric Bus which you can read here.
Here’s a quick list of routes that are next to convert to zero emission electric buses:
| Route | Expected date |
| 46 | 23rd June 2018 |
| 70 | July 2018 |
| 214 | 17th August 2019 |
| C1 | July 2018 |
More information can be seen on the London Bus Routes Service Changes page.
Electric buses are currently on routes 98*, 108*, 312, 360, 507, 521 and H98*. Route RV1 is fully served with Hydrogen Buses.
*Routes served with a small allocation of electric buses
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