Extracts from Alexander Dennis
The 10 new Enviro400 City double decker buses built by Alexander Dennis in Falkirk will double the capacity on these popular services and the new vehicles will be in operation on the 500 service from Sunday, April 14th serving one of the busiest airports in the UK.
The new vehicles come with luxury double padded seating, free 4G WIFI, USB charging points as well as new state-of-the-art wireless charging facilities on both the tables and seatbacks, luggage racks and most important of all, ultra-low emission Euro VI diesel engines.
All 10 vehicles have also been fitted with the state-of-the-art SmartVision system, which replaces the traditional wing mirrors with a CCTV system fitted within the Driver’s cab to provide extra vision and safety. This system was originally trialled on the 75 services when the new vehicles were originally launched last October and now First Glasgow has extended the trial to all 10 of its Glasgow Airport Express service vehicles.
The 500 service runs from Glasgow City Centre to the airport in as little as 15 minutes. This is one of the Glasgow operator’s most popular services carrying over 1.9 million passengers annually and an open return ticket on this frequent service is just £13.50, available on the First Bus App, when you plan your journey in advance.
The new buses went on display to the public at a special launch event with Capital FM presenter Garry Spence entertaining the crowd at George Square in Glasgow city centre on Saturday, April 13th prior to the 10 new vehicles going into active service.
Extracts from Nottingham City Transport
UK Bus Awards Environment Award winner, Nottingham City Transport, has introduced the first of its sixty-seven brand new bio-gas double deck buses due in 2019 today (15 April).
The first buses entered service on Brown Line 17 between Bulwell, City Hospital, Hucknall Road and the City Centre this morning and will be followed by Lilac 27, Purple 89 and Pink 28 by the early summer.
Later in the year, five further routes will receive these low emission, environmentally friendly bio-gas double deck buses, increasing the total to 120 operating in the city by Christmas.
This £20m investment in 67 new bio-gas buses is supported by £1.12m of funding from the Office of Low Emission Vehicles, which is being used to expand the bio-methane refuelling station at NCT’s main bus depot.
Alongside the introduction of these brand new buses, NCT is continuing with a programme of retrofitting the Baumot exhaust treatment system to 180 diesel buses, which will reduce their emissions to the same Euro VI levels as the new gas-buses, which has been made possible through funding applied for by Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council.
By the end of the year, the oldest bus in the fleet will be 2010 registered, with NCT’s average age one of the youngest in the UK, at less than 5 years old.
LBSL intends to enter into new contracts for the following routes with the operators listed below:
| Route | Current Operator | New Operator | PVR | Vehicles |
| 29/N29 | Arriva | Arriva | 36 | 2013 Euro V hybrid double deck |
| 34 | Metroline | Arriva | 22 | Hybrid double deck (details TBC) |
| 52* | Metroline | Metroline | 18 | 2014 Euro VI hybrid double deck |
| 102* | Arriva | Arriva | 26 | Hybrid double deck (details TBC) |
| 109/N109 | Abellio | Abellio | 26 | 2015 Euro VI hybrid double deck |
| 192 | London General | Arriva | 15 | New Euro VI diesel single deck |
* 24 hour route (34 at weekends only)
** Already upgraded to Euro VI emissions standards
The above contracts will commence on the following dates:
· 9th November 2019: Routes 34, 102 & 192
· 7th December 2019: Route 52
· 11th January 2020: Route 29/N29
· 1st February 2020: Route 109/N109
There are still no new electric buses on this tender award. I had been expecting TfL to increase the number of zero emission electric buses by increasing them under new bus route contracts.
Since the TfL budget is getting tighter, they mentioned the following on their recent press release:
“London is one of the only major cities in the world without a government subsidy covering the costs of operating its transport. Every year £700m of Tube fares and other commercial revenues used to fund the bus network and keep these vital services running. This makes it even more important to ensure that every bus in London is where it is really needed.”
This is not the first time it happened; during the mid 1990’s when the Department of Transport was in control of London (Regional) Transport, London Transport did not require a day-to-day operating subsidy by the government during those years. This is nothing new for TfL.
So this could be the reason why TfL haven’t commenced a big rollout of the zero emission electric buses due to budget constraints.
With the recent Green Bus fund awarded to TfL, hopefully we’ll see new route awards with new electric buses.
Since the Enviro400H City was unveiled by Alexander Dennis back in 2015, many bus operators in Britain showed increased interest in the bus because the design is similar to the New Routemaster bus which was unveiled back in 2010.
I believe the Enviro400 City to be an icon of Britain because of the unique design features such as the glazed stairwell and wrap around rear window on the bus.
We don’t have long to wait now until the first of the zero-emission BYD Enviro400EV City commences on London Bus route 43 which is expected to enter service in May 2019. Stagecoach have also purchased 105 Enviro400EV City buses for their Manchester services.
London bus route 134 will be getting the Optare electric double deck buses which are expected to enter service in August 2019. The City of York Council, First Bus York and bus manufacturer Optare announced there will be 21 of the zero emission electric double deck buses arriving in York in October 2019.
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