It has been revealed that London will be getting more electric buses during 2020.
Taking a look at a recent Freedom of information (FOI) request submitted to Tfl; they have released some interesting information regarding the electric bus project for London. TfL stated under a Freedom of Information request:
We are currently converting routes 43 and 134 to double deck electric buses – and all buses will be in service by the end of the year. These double decks are made by two manufacturers – Optare and a partnership with BYD/ADL.
Next year, the following routes will be converted to electric:
94, 100, 106, 212, 230, 323, 357, 444, C10 and P5.
LOTS bus news has revealed the electric bus types for the upcoming route conversion.
Delivery of new buses to London of late has been very slow with a few Metroline BDEs and a lot of OMEs still outstanding. Within the next week or so the two E40H-City buses for CT Plus and Metroline’s 16 x E20Ds (DEM 2681-2696) for the 393 should be arriving as well as the 11 x BYD/ADL E200EVs (SEe 99-109) for Go-Ahead route 100 once type certification is completed.
On the electric bus front and adding to the 29 x BYD/ADL E400EVs for London United route 94, another order is for 49 of the same for Go-Ahead routes 106, 212, 230 and 357 next Spring.
This means the fleet of New Routemaster spin-off 'Enviro400EV City buses' has increased again.
It has been revealed that the Enviro400EV City demonstrator at Coach & Bus 2019, at Birmingham NEC, features the colour scheme from the New Routemaster bus.
this
demonstration vcl has the ADL Citi / TfL style seat fabric - and also,
the new electronic door mirrors!
but pax capacity is
lower than on hybrid double deckers - if this was a part-time trolleybus
with in-motion charging it would need fewer batteries so could carry
more pax pic.twitter.com/d2H6RRIOVu
—
Simon (@citytransportin) October
5, 2019
TfL stated under FOI they don't select the electric bus types used for contracted routes:
We do not select the buses, only the capacity, emissions and generic type. Bus operators will choose from the range of makes and models available that meets the requirement of the route they are bidding for, and buy or lease these, depending on their fleet management strategies.
We expect the buses on upcoming electric routes to be a mix of manufacturers, including but not exclusive to BYD/ADL, Optare, and Caetano.
Since TfL ended the hybrid New Routemaster rollout at 1,000 vehicles, bus operators can now purchase the New Routemaster spin-offs which are the Wright SRM and Alexander Dennis Enviro400 City. Unfortunately Wrightbus has gone in to administration due to cash flow problems.
So far, TfL stated it’s not mandatory for bus operators to purchase electric double deck buses.
TfL’s statement under FOI:
Since 2018, we have only procured new hybrid or zero-emission double deck buses into the fleet. We specify the emissions standards on all bus routes. It is not mandatory for bus companies to purchase double deck EV buses for their new route contracts.
We will be formulating an electrification strategy for bus operation in London from the end of 2019 onwards as we need a road map to get us from the current 200 vehicles to our ultimate objective of an entirely zero-emission bus fleet by 2037. The Mayor’s Transport Strategy details the current blueprint.
According to the Mayor’s Transport Strategy, by 2025, TfL will require bus operators to only purchase electric or hydrogen double deck buses; bus operators will also be required to only purchase electric or hydrogen single deck buses by 2020.
Every four years (next London Mayoral election in May 2020), a new Mayor could change the plan and bring the date forward to roll out zero-emission buses ahead of schedule.
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