London Bus Tender Awards: RATP Dev London Retains Route 70 with Existing Single-Deck Electric Buses and Route 135 to be Operated by Tower Transit with Existing Double-Deck Hybrid Buses

London Bus news update: TfL announces the new London Bus tender awards on 5 August 2021.

 

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

Route	Current Operator	New Operator	PVR	Vehicles
70	London United	London United	19	Existing electric single deck
135	Docklands Buses	Tower Transit	15	Existing hybrid double deck
217	Sullivan Buses	Sullivan Buses	11	Existing diesel double deck
617	Sullivan Buses	Sullivan Buses	2	Existing diesel double deck
629	Sullivan Buses	Sullivan Buses	1	Existing diesel double deck
678	Stagecoach East London	Tower Transit	4	Existing hybrid double deck
733	n/a	Tower Transit	15	Existing hybrid double deck

 

The hybrid and diesel vehicles detailed above will meet Euro VI emissions standards. Route 733 is a temporary service operating during the planned 17 week closure of the Bank Branch of the Northern Line.  

 

The above contracts will commence on the following dates: 

 

15th January 2022: Route 733.

2nd April 2022: Routes 617, 629 & 678. 

21st May 2022: Route 135.

4th June 2022: Route 217.

25th June 2022: Route 70.

In my opinion, this is quite disappointing because I was expecting route 135 to receive new double-deck electric or hydrogen buses as part of the new route contract.

 

You can read more in my previous article about TfL choosing to continue to use existing hybrid and diesel buses for some new route contracts instead of new zero-emission electric and/or hydrogen buses.

 

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