First of all, welcome to 2020 and I wish all of my readers a very Happy New Year.
The purpose of this article is to show how the 'London' bus design has evolved from the New Routemaster (NRM) bus to the pure battery-electric and zero-emission Enviro400EV City, jointly manufactured by Alexander Dennis and BYD.
Ten years ago, the New Routemaster design with three-doors and two-staircases was first unveiled back in May 2010 and designed by Heatherwick Studios; the prototypes entered service in February 2012 and the full production of the New Routemaster commenced in September 2012. The original purpose of the New Routemaster project was to reinstate the rear open platform with conductor and the arrangement only served on six routes up until September 2016.
Despite the media and politicians criticising the New Routemaster bus and its downfalls such as air cooling faults, battery faults, its high cost of £346 million and ties to the former Mayor of London Boris Johnson (currently prime minister) I tend to be apolitical when it comes to politics and I do not take sides in politics; the purpose of this site is to discuss transport in general.
I've been looking at the evidence from TfL during the previous administration when Boris Johnson was Mayor of London. They had stated they had no intention in making new purchases beyond 1,000 NRMs because bus manufacturers Alexander Dennis and Wrightbus designed their own double deck variants with NRM design cues.
Some readers may have already seen some of the evidence such as Freedom of Information (FOI) extracts posted in my previous articles.
The first decision from TfL to end the New Routemaster purchases at 1,000 vehicles came from a TfL board paper during late 2014.
Here's the extract from the TfL board paper below.
5th November 2014
6 Views of the Finance and Policy Committee
6.1 At its meeting on 14 October 2014, the Finance and Policy Committee noted the proposals in this paper and endorsed the recommendations to the Board. Members were advised that the TfL remained on target to achieve the Mayors 2020 vision of 2,000 vehicles. TfL was able to purchase up to 1,000 buses from Wrightbus under the current contract. No decision was proposed on the order of the next 1,000 vehicles as other bus manufacturers were looking to develop their own double-decker buses with NRM features, which would give TfL options when considering future vehicle choices.
During early 2015, Mayor Boris Johnson (currently prime minister), TfL Commissioner and Managing Director of Surface Transport (during the previous administration) held a meeting with the management of bus manufacturers Wrightbus, Alexander Dennis Limited, Optare, Volvo UK, Scania UK, Mercedes bus, BAe, Siemens and BYD discussing the future of ultra-low emission buses for London.
One purpose of the meeting was to encourage bus manufacturers to improve their own bus designs by incorporating design cues from the New Routemaster bus.
25 February 2015
6. FUTURE PRODUCTION OF THE NEW ROUTEMASTER
6.1 Another key issue which you are keen to resolve is the future production of the New Routemaster bus. The current contract is limited to 1,000 buses and a further procurement would be required beyond that. However the current order for 8̶0̶0̶ (extended to 1,000) buses is likely to be a sensible limit for the three-door version of the bus as London’s constrained road layout restricts their use on some key corridors.
6.2. Both Wrightbus and Alexander Dennis are working on designs for their next-generation two-door one-staircase double-deck buses which will incorporate some key design features of the New Routemasters. While not identical, this development will allow some benefits of the New Routemasters to be rolled out across the remaining central and suburban double-deck fleet.
SUBJECT: BUS MANUFACTURERS MEETING ON 25th FEBRUARY 2015
1.2. The purpose of the meeting is to:
raise concerns you have about poor bus design and encourage the creation of a ‘family’ of buses incorporating New Routemaster ‘DNA’.
Improving the design of buses and incorporating New Routemaster ‘DNA’ into the bus fleet
Purpose
To improve the design of buses and secure New Routemaster-style design as the future standard for the London bus fleet
Background
• The design cues from the New Routemaster are being incorporated into designs from the other manufacturers. Many of these features are directly for passenger benefit involving detail issues such as seating, accessibility, and lighting and information provision.
• The low overall demand for new buses each year does mean that economic manufacturing volumes compel there only to be a small number of manufacturers making generic products suitable for many markets. It is unrealistic for competing companies to share too much of their plans for the future but there is evidence of them working to compete in styling terms to ensure the product is as exciting to see as New Routemaster.
• We do not favour New Routemaster lookalikes as these would almost certainly spoil the reputation of the true product but we do want to encourage all manufacturers to replicate its 'DNA' across its fleet delivering a high quality passenger experience in an exciting design.
During late September 2015, Alexander Dennis launched their New Routemaster spin-off named the Enviro400H City. Manufactures such as BYD and Scania adopted the City bodywork for their products.
Then the designer of the New Routemaster bus Thomas Heatherwick welcomed the spin-off Enviro400 City design by Alexander Dennis.
Extracts from Dezeen
Thomas Heatherwick welcomed the ADL Enviro400 City design as a "back-to-front" compliment.
London is to get a new, smaller version of Thomas Heatherwick's New Routemaster bus – although the British designer has had nothing to do with this iteration.
Bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis Limited's new Enviro400H City Bus, which will be introduced to the capital later this year (2015), features a diagonally glazed front staircase and curved rear windscreen similar to Heatherwick's design.
"In a back-to-front way the New Routemaster can take it as a compliment that it has influenced a 'London Look'," Heatherwick told Dezeen. "It confirms how it has become part of London's landscape and personality."
"Millions of us Londoners spend hundreds of hours of our lives on London's buses, and often those buses aren't as good as they could be," he added. "So the 78 route becoming more comfortable and efficient can only be a positive step."
Heatherwick said: "My studio's passion has always been the passengers' experience and if our New Routemaster has made people expect more from all buses then we're happy."
During the final months of Boris Johnson’s mayoralty, his vision of 2,000 New Routemaster buses had changed to a potential of 1,000 NRM spin-off vehicles which he expected to be introduced by 2020.
Meeting: MQT on 2015-12-16
Answered By: The Mayor Boris Johnson
Date: Thursday, 3rd March 2016
I expect to see the DNA of the NRM adopted on many of the new double deck buses introduced, as older vehicles are renewed and contracts re-let, through the normal tendering programme. TfL is therefore well positioned to meet my aspiration by 2020.
A document from the meeting has revealed TfL can contract another bus manufacture to build new buses incorporating NRM design features after the rollout of 1,000 NRMs.
Report to: Budget and Performance Committee
Date: 8th March 2016
TfL will have reached the 1,000 bus milestone and hence will be free to contract other bus manufacturers to build buses incorporating the NRM’s design features.
On 2 September 2015, the Budget and Performance Committee held a public meeting with TfL to discuss its decision-making in relation to the New Routemaster. At the meeting, the Managing Director of Surface Transport at TfL told the Committee that TfL did not have any plans to order more buses and increase its fleet to 1,000.
A couple of months before the 2016 London Mayoral election, the previous management of TfL stated there's no further need to purchase NRMs after the full 1,000 contract has been fulfilled.
Transcript of Agenda Item 6
Transport for London Investment Decision Making and the New Routemaster Bus
Leon Daniels (Managing Director – (now former) Surface Transport, Transport for London): On 5 September 2015, which is when I was before you last, truthfully, there were no plans to order any further New Routemasters. Two things happened towards the end of 2015. One was that - as I told you last time - the Mayor had called all of the suppliers in the UK bus market together for a session in which he had said to them that he wanted them to incorporate all of the successful features, the design features, the passenger features, all of the good things, in the New Routemaster.
Leon Daniels (Managing Director - Surface Transport, Transport for London): There is a whole range of them. Firstly, there are the aesthetic features. There is the adding of more light to the saloon by having a window at the staircase. The ADL version of this has added much more glass at the rear to make that whole upstairs back area brighter and so it took its cue from that.
Leon Daniels (Managing Director - Surface Transport, Transport for London): The Mayor had all the bus manufacturers in. It was ADL and Wrights who have been the first to come to the party. I am not surprised by that because they are the principal suppliers of buses in the London market. They are the principal suppliers in the UK market. We have yet to see what other manufacturers may well bring forward. They will be making some decisions about the likely volumes and so on.
Leon Daniels (Managing Director - Surface Transport, Transport for London): What it has done is to catapult bus design in many areas - environmental, emissions, aesthetics, features - from where it was, which was a box on wheels produced by manufacturers with very little reference to any of the users, and it has catapulted it into something now that looks different. Whether you like it or not is a matter of taste, but it looks different. It has an iconic look about it. It has a lot of features that are now transferable to other products. I am simply saying that it has accelerated the rate of progress that otherwise there would be.
Leon Daniels (Managing Director - Surface Transport, Transport for London): As at today’s date, my advice to a new Mayor would be that there is no further need to order --
Leon Daniels (Managing Director - Surface Transport, Transport for London): This time the question is what I would say to the new Mayor today. I would say to the new Mayor today that we have a continuous delivery of New Routemasters through now until 2017. The next generation of suitable buses for London is coming to the market. Therefore, the right thing to do is to revert to the original arrangement that we have typically in London, which is where the private sector buys the buses and takes the risk on the commercial negotiations in terms of the price, the operating cost and the value at disposal. My advice would be that TfL should in the future step out of owning the bus fleets. The only reason we have owned this particular bus fleet is because there is not a residual market for three-door, two-staircase buses. Therefore, since there is a risk at the end of the contract period that the contract might be lost, operators might be stuck with some three-door, two-staircase buses that have no further use and would add back to the contract price the risk associated with that and that would be expensive for us. In the case of these vehicles where there is no ready second-hand market, we have owned them. In normal business, I would prefer if the private sector took that risk and that is what I would be advising a new Mayor to do after the delivery of these.
Leon Daniels (Managing Director - Surface Transport, Transport for London): No, what we would say is that the future requirement is for two-door, one-staircase double-deckers because that is the next sort of bus we need in London. By definition, because it is a one-staircase, two-door bus, it is readily resalable in the second-hand market outside London.
During the launch of the SRM by Wrightbus under the previous management, various bus news sites stated that it’s not compulsory for bus operators to purchase buses with NRM design features.
Extracts from Bus and Coach Buyer
Ian Downie, MD Sales & Customcare for Wrightbus, explained the motivation behind the new bus, saying, ‘TfL presented us with a challenge to develop the iconic look of the Routemaster with a shorter overall length, single staircase and twin doors, which could be built on an alternative driveline combination. We took the challenge on board and used our design experience and expertise to develop the SRM.’
Leon Daniels, (now former) TfL’s MD for Surface Transport, obviously likes it, commenting, ‘It looks fabulous.’
Speaking at the launch, Leon said, ‘It is great to see the new Wrightbus SRM body arrive on the streets of London and this latest addition to the Wrightbus/Volvo Bus partnership will form an important part of our drive to provide the best in passenger transport around our city. Wrightbus has certainly risen to the challenge we set them, which has resulted in the state-of-the-art bus we have here today.’
He said that no matter who wins the (2016) Mayoral election, the next generation of London buses would incorporate the same features seen in the New Routemaster, though he also said that buying the new features was not compulsory because it was an open tendering process.
Extract from Route-One
Commentary on the cost difference between the two Wrightbus models is being studiously avoided, short of Wrights Group Chairman and CEO Mark Nodder commenting that the SRM will be competitively priced – and if it is to compete in a market that is becoming rather congested, that’s vital.
TfL is also careful to avoid mentioning that the Mayor’s challenge includes an element of reducing buses’ acquisition cost while retaining the NRM’s pluses, but there is heavy suggestion that NRM ‘lites’ such as the SRM and Enviro400 City may supersede the original in buying policy once all NRMs are delivered.
Both Wrightbus and ADL have boxed clever. By declaring from the start that provincial-spec variants of their new models will be available, political machinations in the capital have the potential to benefit operators outside it.
Extract from Coach & Bus Week : Issue 1232
Leon Daniels (now former Managing Director for Surface Transport) stressed it was "not compulsory" to buy one of these so-called DNA buses: "As part of open public sector procurement, we give the market the freedom to specify a value-for-money product in the hope of winning the tender It's for the operators to decide what products to offer and it will be for us (TfL) taking into account procurement rules, the available sums of money and the price offerings from the operators and it will be down to us to accept the best value for money "TfL will not be buying any SRMs," Leon continued. "TfL is not generally in the business of owning the bus fleet. I'm a great believer in the private sector doing what it does best including managing garage assets, labour and the fleet. We bought the fleet for the New Routemaster as we were of the view that a three-door, two-staircase vehicle would have limited prospects on the second-hand market, and therefore the operators would be building into their prices the high risk factor for potential losses upon disposal. We decided we would grant the operators an amnesty on that risk by owning the fleet. In general, we like the fleet to be owned by the operators."
Then I mentioned during the 2016 London Mayoral election campaign that the main candidates had stated they will end new purchases of the New Routemaster bus.
After the new mayor (Sadiq Khan) was elected in May 2016, TfL confirmed in their business plan that they’ve discontinued purchases of the New Routemaster bus at 1,000 vehicles.
December 2016
New capital investment will be reduced significantly as we discontinue purchases of New Routemaster buses. We will carry on investing in the fleet however, by retro-fitting 3,000 vehicles with Euro VI standard emission technology by 2020.
Then the CEO of Alexander Dennis welcomed the end of New Routemaster purchases with hopes of regaining ground in London.
Extract from Route-One
CEO Colin Robertson says the company hopes to regain ground lost in London in the coming year with Mayor Sadiq Khan having said he will stop buying the New Routemaster, produced by Wrightbus.
Due to the lack of Wright SRMs in service, TfL stated under a Freedom of information request that they do not restrict bus operators from purchasing the New Routemaster spin-off vehicles for their contracted routes.
Date published: 23 January 2018
We have interpreted SRM as being ‘son of routemaster’. In other words, the spin-off vehicles being produced by Wrightbus and Alexander Dennis. These vehicles are bought or leased by bus operators, not TfL, and we do not determine that these models should be used for routes. It is their choice and therefore if the operators choose to buy or lease them, this will increase this type of bus in the fleet. We don't hold details such as vehicle costs as our private operators buy or lease, and we weren't involved in a project to develop them.
We do not select vehicle makes and models for operators following completion of the NRM order. It is an operator choice.
Date published: 12 February 2018
Wrightbus has produced a body design which has some similarities with the NRM which is markets to its customers but we are not party to these arrangements as it is an operator choice which makes and models they buy or lease, within and outside London.
...Operators are free to purchase or lease spin-off vehicles which contain features of the NRM as long as they meet our Bus Specification.
Presently, we have the Enviro400EV with the City bodywork using the NRM design features such as the glazed staircase.
Extract from EV Bus
First new BYD ADL Enviro400EV double deck buses enter service in London
4th July 2019
A modern exterior retains the traditional design cues of London’s iconic red double deck buses with thoroughly modern bodywork designed and manufactured by ADL. ‘City’ styling features includes a striking glazed staircase providing aesthetic appeal for passengers, other road users and pedestrians. Further specification is to TfL’s exacting standards including a long wheelchair bay and automatic wheelchair ramp at the rear doors.
TfL stated they expect to see a mixture of new zero emission vehicles from different manufacturers.
Date published: 1 October 2019
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.
Then TfL said they have no plans to design and develop a new bus to succeed the New Routemaster bus.
Date published: 2 October 2019
There is no plan for a successor vehicle at this time but some manufacturers have taken some of the rounded design features from the vehicle and used them on their own makes and models.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan stated that he hasn’t cancelled any contracts for Wrightbus after the rollout of 1,000 New Routemaster buses. Currently TfL is expected to have 20 double deck hydrogens (with Gemini 3 bodywork) during the year 2020 built by Wrightbus under the current ownership of Bamford Bus Company.
Meeting: MQT on 2019-11-14
Answered By: The Mayor (Sadiq Khan)
Date: Thursday, 14th November 2019
Transport for London (TfL) procured the full allowance of 1,000 New Routemasters under its contract with Wrightbus.
TfL did not cancel further purchases as this contract had run its course. Like other manufacturers, Wrightbus has been competing for business from bus operators who buy and lease single and double-deck vehicles to fulfil commitments to run routes in London when they successfully tender for them.
Currently, TfL requires bus manufactures to meet London Bus Safety Standards for bus companies to purchase or lease for their route contracts. You can view the documents of the Bus Safety Standard released under a Freedom of Information request here .
Alexander Dennis mentioned on their website that they’re a ‘development partner’ of TfL’s Bus Safety Standard scheme; during December 2019 they won an award from TfL for their collaboration on Bus Safety Standards.
Conclusion
Now we know the real reason why TfL under Boris Johnson’s mayoralty and currently under Sadiq Khan's mayoralty decided not to go beyond the 1,000 hybrid (three-door, two-staircase) New Routemaster purchases in favour of two-door, one-staircase vehicles incorporating the NRM design features purchased by bus companies under new route contracts.
I believe the issue of having a bus dedicated exclusively for London has become obsolete, as Heatherwick Studios created the New Routemaster which enabled manufacturers to improve their products by using design cues from the NRM.
The New Routemaster has a 'legacy successor' thanks to Alexander Dennis which has now hit the 500th mark on building their City bodywork in various chassis with diesel, hybrid, biogas and battery electric drivelines. The Enviro400 City (bodywork) is not a London specific type as they are seen in different areas of Britain used by various bus operators.
The previous management of Wrightbus designed the SRM which hasn’t achieved huge sales from bus companies in Britain or elsewhere, hence the reason there’s only eight in London service (six Volvo B5LH for RATP-Dev and two Volvo B5LHC for Go-Ahead London). During September 2019, Wrightbus went in to administration, then Jo Bamford took over Wrightbus (currently part of Bamford Bus Company) in October 2019. The New Routemaster product remains to be featured on the Wrightbus website and I can’t confirm or deny if the new owners of Wrightbus will create a new exterior design with NRM features to succeed the NRM/SRM for their upcoming zero emission products.
Is there any need for TfL to contract bus manufactures to build newer vehicles using NRM design features?
I personally think there’s no need for TfL to start a new project on building a new iconic bus as the previous administration of TfL encouraged bus operators to build their own buses containing NRM design features. There are products (such as the Enviro400EV City) already available in the market which bus operators are purchasing or leasing for their contracted routes.
TfL in theory could change the London bus specification to require bus operators to purchase or lease vehicles using NRM design features such as the diagonal glazed staircase; some operators prefer to cover the glazed staircase of the Enviro400 City to maximise their advertising space to earn more revenue. For the interior colour scheme, I did ask in my previous article if London buses should have a standard interior colour scheme as a requirement for bus operators to use on their contracted routes.
I do personally believe bus manufactures should use different designs to bring character to their own products and bus services used by bus companies.
The London Cab has an iconic design which has been ongoing for several decades and now we have the newest design with zero emission battery technology called TX eCity manufactured by LEVC. The iconic design of the London Taxi is seen in various areas in Britain and various cities around the world.
Vehicle designs in general, such as cars, look similar to each other due to aerodynamic designs which are required to reduce drag. I’m aware the controversial electric vehicle manufacture called Tesla, which is led by Elon Musk has unveiled their new vehicle called the Cybertruck, which is expected to start production by late 2021.
2020 is the New Year and new era for vehicle design and technology as London is approaching the 2020 London Mayoral election and no matter the outcome, some new zero-emission buses may contain design features from the New Routemaster bus chosen by private bus companies for their contracted routes, as mentioned above. Most notably, London bus operator HCT Plus have opted to use the NRM design features such as the Enviro400H City with NRM colour scheme as standard for their contracted routes.
“The landscape is changing”; indeed it is, and the legacy of the New Routemaster lives on with the Enviro400 City produced by Alexander Dennis.
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