First of all, due to the lack of articles during the last month, I’ve decided to feature most of this months transport news in one article.
Nexus has placed an order for new trains for the Tyne and Wear Metro in North East of England.
Extracts from Nexus
28 January 2020
Nexus today announced a chosen manufacturer for its contract to build new trains for the Tyne and Wear Metro, as part of a £362m investment which will transform performance and passenger experience, deliver huge energy savings and secure and create hundreds of jobs in the UK supply chain.
The Department for Transport has confirmed it is providing £337m to Nexus towards funding the cost of the programme, as the Government invests in the North of England’s economy.
Stadler, the Swiss train builder currently delivering new trains for Glasgow and Liverpool, has been chosen by Nexus after an 18-month global search for the best manufacturing partner for 42 new trains to be delivered up to 2024.
The company will work with more than 30 new supply chain partners in the UK advanced manufacturing, technology and construction sectors, half of them in North East England, creating and securing hundreds of skilled jobs.
Stadler will also build and run a £70m new maintenance facility at Metro’s current depot site in South Gosforth, Newcastle, as part of the deal, creating scores more jobs in construction and employing around 100 people directly.
Nexus and Stadler today unveiled the fully-realised design for new Metro trains, based on the ideas and suggestions of more than 3,000 passengers.
The new trains will cut Metro’s high voltage power consumption by 30% while providing 15 times better reliability than the current fleet. Metro’s 36 million passengers will benefit from modern features including wifi, charging points, air conditioning and a step-change in accessibility.
Read more
Here’s the image of the new Metro train posted on Twitter.
An historic day
for Tyne and Wear Metro as we announce our new trains. Swiss company
Stadler will build them for us. Full story here: https://t.co/LTlWmfqT0S
#NewMetroTrains
pic.twitter.com/6dWIqMYumT
—
Tyne and Wear Metro (@My_Metro) January
28, 2020
We look at news releases from various manufactures in Europe as they supply zero emission electric buses for Europe.
We start off in Spain:
Extract from Irizar
The first Irizar Group autonomous bus is presented in Malaga
the first Irizar Group autonomous bus has been presented to Malaga City Council. A pioneering project in mobility that in a few months will begin to move, under Avanza, around the city of Malaga.
The bus developed for this test is the Irizar ie bus model, a 100% zero emissions electric vehicle with dual driving mode, manual mode and automatic mode (autopilot). It is 12 metres long and has capacity for 60 passengers.
This first autonomous bus is the fruit of the AutoMost Project funded by the CDTI (Centre for Industrial Technological Development) of the Ministry of Economy of Spain which aims to develop technologies for the automation of vehicles in urban and industrial transport applications, in order to make significant increases in efficiency, safety and sustainability. Avanza participates as an operator with 11 partners, including the Irizar Group through Irizar e-mobility and Datik. The project also has the participation of the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Insia, CEIT-IK4 and the University of Vigo.
Malaga will therefore become the first city in Europe to have an autonomous bus moving through its streets. It will do so from the port to the city centre and, in principle, will transfer cruise passengers arriving in the capital of Malaga.
The bus will use a high-precision positioning and guidance system and will be connected to a control centre from which specific instructions can be sent to each unit and the buses can be monitored and their itineraries accessed in real time.
Read more here
Germany:
Extracts from Daimler
Emil, Edith and Elton in Hamburg: VHH are charged and ready with 16 new eCitaro buses
Hamburg drives electrically: Rüdiger Kappel, Head of Fleet Sales for Daimler Buses Germany, today handed over 16 fully electric Mercedes-Benz eCitaro buses to Toralf Müller and Nora Wolters, Managing Directors at Verkehrsbetriebe Hamburg-Holstein GmbH (VHH). VHH has around 2100 employees and 667 buses at 12 locations and is thus the second-biggest public transport company in northern Germany. The company is based in Hamburg and transports 106.6 million passengers every year. VHH operates within the Hamburg Verkehrsverbund (HVV) transport association where it runs 160 lines in the Hamburg metropolitan region. From this year, VHH will be procuring only locally emission-free buses for use in Hamburg's city centre areas.
The eCitaro buses bear a conspicuous livery: "elexity – Hamburg drives electrically". Under the elexity brand, VHH combines all aspects of sustainable mobility – with everything from the infrastructure at their depots to specially trained personnel and even vehicles which run entirely on green power. What's more, all of the electric buses at VHH also bear a name beginning with the letter "E". The first 16 names, which include Emil, Edith and Elton, were chosen by employees of the transport company. During the handover, VHH invited its passengers to take part in a naming competition for further electric buses.
Read more here
Russia:
Extract from KAMAZ
KAMAZ won another tender for the delivery of 200 electric buses to Moscow. They must be delivered during 2020 and will provide their service for 15 years.
The company won the tender announced by Mosgortrans and will deliver the equipment at the initial price stated by the customer. According to the technical specification, the warranty period for electric buses will be at least four years; the capacity must be at least 85 people with 30 seats for passengers. On the left side of the electric bus, the supplier will place the coat of arms of Moscow, on the right – the logo of Mosgortrans. The manufacturer will also fulfill a number of other customer requirements.
Delivery of KAMAZ electric buses to Moscow is planned in several batches until August 31 of this year. The first batch of ten new-generation vehicles will be shipped in February.
KAMAZ entered the Moscow market for the first time with electric-powered passenger transport in 2018: the company won a tender for the delivery of the first 100 electric buses and 31 charging stations to the capital. In addition, the manufacturer has fully assumed the maintenance of all KAMAZ electric buses and charging infrastructure for 15 years from the date of delivery. In 2019, the company transferred another 100 electric buses and 38 charging stations to the city.
Today there are already 19 routes in Moscow that are used by KAMAZ electric buses. Every day, eco-friendly transport carries about 150 thousand passengers.
Netherlands:
Extract from Ebusco
The Netherlands is the European forerunner for switching to electric buses
The main reason for doing so is that the authorities responsible for procuring bus transport are very environmentally aware. The European Union has set stringent objectives for reducing CO2 emissions in the very near future. The Netherlands is the most progressive EU state in this regard. In 2016 the Dutch government signed an agreement with all public transport providers stipulating that no new diesel buses may be sold from 2025 and that from 2030 no diesel buses will be allowed to operate.
15% of all public transport buses in the Netherlands are now electric
By the end of 2018, there were 360 electric buses in the Dutch public transport system, but by the end of 2019 the number had already reached 770. This represents 15 percent of the entire Dutch fleet (5,236 buses). This was demonstrated in an -as yet unpublished- inventory by CROW, the public knowledge institution for infrastructure, traffic and transport.
This growth is now increasing rapidly; by the end of 2020 there will be almost 1,400 electric buses
The number of zero emission (ZE) buses is growing faster in the Netherlands than anywhere else in Europe. At least 618 more are expected in 2020, taking the total number of buses to 1,388.
For the period after 2021 almost one thousand ZE buses have already been ordered. The size of the entire bus fleet has remained more less stable over the years, at around 5,000 buses.
The provinces of Groningen and Drenthe are in first place
Groningen and Drenthe are by far the most electrified provinces in terms of public bus transport. In the north of the Netherlands, 47 percent of the buses are electric. Limburg (37 percent) and North Holland (31 percent) hold second and third place. But in Zeeland and Overijssel there is still not a single electric bus.
Read more here
Sweden:
Extract from Volvo Bus
Volvo Buses Receives Order for 60 High-capacity Electric Buses From Malmö
Volvo Buses has signed yet another large order for electrified buses. Nobina has placed an order for 60 high-capacity electric buses which will enter service in Malmö next year.
The electric high-capacity buses ordered by Nobina in Malmo are of the Volvo 7900 Electric Articulated model, which was launched in autumn 2019. They can carry up to 150 passengers and are 80 per cent more energy-efficient than corresponding diesel models. Their batteries can be quick-charged via OppChargeTM stations located on the bus route, or they can be charged when the buses are parked in the depot.
Delivery of the 60 electric buses will start in January 2021 and all the buses will be delivered by April the same year. They will operate on route 5 and 7 in Malmö. The Volvo 7900 Electric Articulated is prepared to be able to run in restricted areas with particularly tough standards for noise, exhaust emissions and speed, for instance in zero-emission zones and indoor bus stops.
Read more here
Now going back to England, a bus operator and the local authority has launched Single deck electric buses for Salisbury!
Extract from Salisbury Reds – part of Go-Ahead Group
Salisbury Reds and Wiltshire Council are thrilled to be adding 3 electric buses to the Reds fleet. These state of the art, zero emission buses will service the park & ride 9 and park & ride 15 routes.
We're overjoyed to be providing these environmentally friendly buses which will help provide greener and cleaner journeys across our region. Just one of our new zero emission buses alone can take up to 40 cars off our roads.
Each electric bus can travel 160 miles on one full charge and can save 32.2 tonnes of CO2 and 15.5 tonnes of NOx.
Source
It’s a bit of a
grey day but these newly unveiled three electric buses are brightening
things up. We’ve worked with @SalisburyReds
to bring these to the city.
These state of the art,
zero emission buses will service the park & ride 9 and park
& ride 15 routes. pic.twitter.com/tXiOcw4UPu
—
Wiltshire Council (@wiltscouncil) January
30, 2020
The first
electric buses in Salisbury have been launched this morning by Go South
Coast's @SalisburyReds.
Each of the three zero-emission BYD ADL Enviro200EV, built by ADL in
Britain on @BYD_Europe
chassis, will avoid 32 tons of CO2 and 15kg of NOx emissions per year.
pic.twitter.com/MF3gtj4nay
—
Alexander Dennis (@ADLbus) January
30, 2020
Then to London:
Extract from Alexander Dennis
BYD Europe and Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) jointly announced today that their electric vehicle partnership, the UK’s leading electric bus producer, has delivered 11 new 100% emissions-free, pure electric BYD ADL Enviro200EV electric buses to Go-Ahead London. BYD is a global leader in batteries, energy management and electric mobility, while ADL is a subsidiary of leading independent global bus manufacturer NFI Group Inc. (NFI).
The delivery also signals the introduction of the partnership’s latest single deck 9.6-metre model – a shorter wheelbase chassis to suit narrow, complex road network such as those on Go-Ahead’s Route 100. Go-Ahead continues to electrify key routes in the capital and is increasingly looking to the BYD ADL partnership to provide exacting solutions to meet specific route requirements.
With 24 seats and an overall 66 passenger capacity, the 9.6-metre BYD ADL Enviro200EV achieves 150 miles on a single charge. Power is delivered through its pure-electric drivetrain comprising 330 kWh electric motor and BYD Iron-Phosphate batteries.
The delivery also brings up the 100th BYD ADL Enviro200EV for Go-Ahead London, with the company having to date completed over 6.3 million kilometres and saving over 5,500 tons of CO2 courtesy of the BYD ADL single deck model. A further 13 10.9-metre BYD ADL Enviro200EVs are scheduled to go into service with Go-Ahead London in March 2020. Since the introduction of the BYD ADL Enviro200EV electric bus in only 2016, over 200 units are now either delivered or on order with operators across the UK.
Read more here
With technology evolving so quickly, I think it’s time for bus operators to purchase zero emission vehicles to tackle toxic diesel emissions which contribute to climate change.
My website will be dedicated to reporting on the upcoming zero emission electric buses for London, Britain and elsewhere around the world. I will also report on various transport related subjects such as the Underground and railway services.
I may have missed out some of the news, but I invite you to follow me on Twitter by searching for @CLondoner92 or clicking on the direct link to my Twitter page here, then you will be able to view more transport related news.
