London bus tender awards for mid August 2019 and pure electric double-deck bus for Reading Buses

TfL has recently revealed the new London bus tender awards and Abellio have won nearly all the new contracts.

LBSL intends to enter into new contracts for the following routes with the operators listed below:

Route	Current Operator	New Operator	PVR	Vehicles
218	N/A (new route)	Tower Transit	11	Existing single deck (details TBC)
278	N/A (new route)	Abellio West London	10	Existing double deck (details TBC)
285*	London United	Abellio West London	15	New Euro VI hybrid double deck
427	Abellio West London	Abellio West London	TBC	2017 Euro VI hybrid double deck

* 24 hour route.

The above contracts will commence on the following dates:

· 7th December 2019: Routes 218 (Hammersmith to North Acton) & 278 (Heathrow Central to Ruislip)
· 11th April 2020: Route 427
· 27th June 2020: Route 285

My own preference would be for Abellio to purchase pure electric double deck buses for their new route 285 contract.

A council owned bus operator ‘Reading Buses’ has converted a double deck hybrid bus (Alexander Dennis Enviro400H) to pure electric.

Extracts from Bus and Coach Buyer

The vehicle was converted by Magtec. The double-decker was formerly one of its diesel-electric hybrids new in 2010 that run the bulk of the Yellow 26 service. Magtec have removed the generator and replaced the batteries with a more modern system that is capable of covering more mileage.

Robert Williams, Reading Buses Chief Executive Officer, said: “To all intents and purposes the bus looks like any other yellow 26, but it is quieter. We have replaced the diesel generator with more batteries to gain added experience of electric vehicles. We will be running the electric bus on an extended trial on yellow 26 for the next nine months or so before trying it on other routes – it’s a big first for the town and area.

“Wider roll out would need significant investment in charging infrastructure, but we want to gain experience with the technology to see how it performs in a real-world scenario. In the meantime, Reading Buses is still very much committed to using compressed natural gas. Over one third of the fleet in Reading runs on carbon natural gas.

“Work is also underway with Reading Borough Council to retro-fit all remaining diesel vehicles to the latest standards by the end of the year. This means they will emit fewer particulates than a single modern car – regardless of occupancy.

“At the same time, our telematics system encourages smooth, efficient driving, and an internal campaign is underway to encourage staff to switch engines off when parked to reduce idling.”

Read more

An old friend returns! Bus 205 is back from conversion to a full electric powertrain by @MagtecEV, just needs an MOT and shakedown before we see it back in service around Reading. pic.twitter.com/gDZLeKiPMy

— John Bickerton (@johnbickerton) June 24, 2019

This would give TfL an opportunity to convert the existing hybrid New Routemaster buses to pure electric. Since TfL is having budget constraints due to loss of subsidy from the UK government, they have recently changed the boarding on route 8 New Routemaster buses to ensure passengers pay their fare by the driver. If TfL have plenty of funds for their budget then they should invest to convert some of the existing hybrid buses to pure electric in order to cut emissions.

As mentioned in my previous article, bus operator RATP-Dev have purchased pure electric double deck Alexander Dennis BYD Enviro400EV City buses for their route 94 contract which is expected to enter service early next year (2020). As technology keeps advancing, I personally think that TfL should start requiring bus operators to purchase pure electric buses upon new route contracts.

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Image attribution
By Koex73 - Abellio London - AD E40H/Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC - 2517 YX15OWF - Route 345, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49557101