As part of the new London Bus tender awards, routes 125 and 235 have been awarded to London Sovereign and London United (part of RATP Group) with new electric buses.
LBSL intends to enter into new contracts for the following routes with the operators listed below:
Route |
Current Operator |
New Operator |
PVR |
Vehicles |
125 |
Metroline |
London Sovereign |
17 |
New electric double deck* |
234 |
Metroline |
Metroline |
9 |
Existing diesel single deck |
235 |
Metroline |
London United |
20 |
New electric single deck |
298 |
Sullivan Buses |
Sullivan Buses |
6 |
Existing diesel single deck** |
488 |
Tower Transit |
Tower Transit |
9 |
Existing diesel single deck |
696 |
London United |
London Sovereign |
2 |
Existing diesel double deck |
W9 |
Sullivan Buses |
Sullivan Buses |
7 |
Existing diesel single deck |
** One vehicle is double deck.
All diesel vehicles detailed above will meet Euro VI emissions standards.
The above contracts will commence on the following dates:
• 8th January 2022: Route 235.
• 22nd January 2022: Route 696.
• 29th January 2022: Routes 125 & 234.
• 5th February 2022: Routes 298 & W9.
• 26th February 2022: Route 488.
TfL has revealed, via a Freedom of Information request, that route 319’s conversion to double deck electric buses has been delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic and complex Electric Bus infrastructure works needed at the bus garage.
FOI request detail: electric buses for route 319
It is scheduled for September 2021 but this is subject to delays caused by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Arriva approached TfL with a request to delay the start of electric operation on this route by 12 months from September 2020 to September 2021 to allow for complex infrastructure works to take place at the depot as well as product development by manufacturers. An appropriate saving has been agreed with Arriva for the 12 month period where existing vehicles will remain in use.
The choice of manufacturer is for the operator to decide, however Arriva has confirmed it has placed an order for BYD/ADL double-deck vehicles for this route.
I presume that bus operator Arriva needed a 1 year delay because they wish to take part in the Bus2Grid project which bus operator Go-Ahead London is currently part of.
BYD has posted in their news release about the Bus2Grid project:
From BYD Europe
BYD, the world’s leading electric bus manufacturer, has revealed that plans are well advanced ahead of the switching-on of the world’s first high power discharge Bus2Grid project at Go-Ahead London’s Northumberland Park bus depot.
BYD UK, through its partnership with Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL), is supplying 28 BYD ADL Enviro 400EV double deck eBuses which, using smart technology, will provide bi-directional charging capable of feeding energy back to the power grid. The project represents a notable contribution from the bus sector towards the UK government’s commitment to deliver ‘net zero’ greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
With its world-class battery, motor and core technology expertise, BYD has been instrumental in the project from the outset by delivering a total eBus management solution. Alongside its partners, BYD has been responsible for installing the innovative new ‘Vehicle-2-Grid’ (V2G) infrastructure, and is the first company in the commercial vehicle sector to provide high-power discharge technology as a V2G capability for electric buses.
The Bus2Grid consortium is led by energy provider SSE Enterprise in partnership with BYD UK, UK Power Networks and Leeds University. Funding for the project comes from the UK government through its delivery partner, Innovate UK. Further support comes from technology provider, Origami and Transport for London. This consortium has seen excellent cooperation between the automotive industry, the energy community and academia in bringing forth pioneering V2G technology into public transport. V2G enables stored energy on-board a BYD ADL eBus to be fed back into London’s power network. Vehicles are recharged overnight when energy demand is low, and tariffs cheaper, with electricity fed back to the grid when demand is high, thus helping to balance the network and increase efficiency.
Go-Ahead London’s 28 V2G eBuses from BYD ADL will be part of a total fleet of 120 electric vehicles at what is set to become UK’s largest electric bus garage with overnight charging capability at Northumberland Park. While current COVID-19 lockdown restrictions prevent the setting of a specific ‘switch on’ date, the Bus2Grid project is nonetheless gearing-up for operations to commence in the summer 2021.
BYD, in partnership with Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL), is also a leading player in the UK electric bus market. ADL is a subsidiary of leading independent global bus manufacturer, the NFI Group Inc. The 28 BYD ADL double decks for the Bus2Grid project are part of a larger fleet order from Go-Ahead London delivered in 2020 comprising 49 Enviro 400EV double decks. There are now in excess of 500 BYD ADL pure-electric buses either delivered or on order with operators across the UK, to date clocking-up over 16-million emission-free miles since 2015.
“We share a vision with our project partners to deliver a cleaner, sustainable future,” said BYD UK Managing Director, Frank Thorpe, “we have a common goal to realise the full potential of eMobility. Soon, we will be actually generating energy for London’s power grid, as well as delivering safe, clean, emissions-free public transport to the nation’s capital. We’re very proud to be part of the project team and to be supporting Go-Ahead London as it begins the V2G project. This Bus2Grid project also has huge potential elsewhere in the UK,” he said, “it is a movable energy storage system with the capacity to deliver significant quantities of electricity to help balance a city’s power grid and optimise its energy management system.”
Kevin Welstead, EV Sector Director for SSE Enterprise, said: “If we’re going to make real progress in decarbonising transport and hitting climate change targets, we need to optimise the existing flexibility within the energy system.”
“Developing a charging infrastructure that operates in two directions so that batteries can give back as well as take from the grid is an important part of this. Delivering the Bus2Grid project is the next natural step in using smart technology to make bidirectional charging the reality for today’s bus users.”
You can read more about the Bus2Grid project from the SSE Enterprise Utilities website.
I’ll wrap up the article by showing you a news clipping of the launch of Wrightbus double-deck hydrogen buses in Aberdeen, Scotland, posted by Wrightbus on Twitter.
Happy Friday one and all. We’re delighted to see our Zero-emission hydrogen bus on another front page! #hydrogen #emissions #climateaction #greenrecovery #hydrogenbus #wrightbus pic.twitter.com/qxjDvZyG1P
— Wrightbus (@Wright_bus) February 5, 2021
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