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Saturday 12 February 2022

TfL Launches ‘Enhanced Customer Specification Electric Buses’ on Route 63

It’s been nearly two months since I’ve published an article on my website due to the fact that I’ve been posting on Twitter more often, and also because there hasn’t really been any interesting bus related news to report on, due to TfL’s current financial situation.

TfL Press Release:

New green, productivity boosting buses introduced – but no more will be delivered until a long-term funding deal is secured

New route 63 buses include a host of customer-friendly features to make bus travel an even more attractive alternative to the car

A fleet of new, higher specification all-electric buses are being introduced on a key London bus route to encourage even more people back on to public transport as London recovers from the pandemic.

The new ultra-modern buses were first developed around two years ago, and are a sign of what the future of buses could be if the Government agrees a long term funding deal with Transport for London (TfL). Without a deal, the less green and increasingly ageing bus fleet will have to remain on the roads.

TfL is introducing new buses to the north-south route 63 that have a range of innovative features aimed at making them an even more attractive, green alternative to the car. In development over the last couple of years, the first buses came into service in December, with the whole route transformed in the coming weeks. It comes as ridership between on the route, between King's Cross and Honor Oak, has returned to close to pre-pandemic levels.

The new route 63 buses were manufactured by ADL, the country's largest bus and coach manufacturer, in Scarborough. ADL employs 2,000 people in skilled jobs, as well as supporting a successful apprenticeship scheme. Other London buses are produced around the UK in places such as Ballymena and Falkirk, demonstrating how investment in the capital's transport network helps level up the whole country.

The new buses feature USB chargers and mobile phone holders in the seats so that passengers can work or relax more easily as they travel. They have a more open feel - with a skylight on the upper deck, larger rear window, and handles on the backs of seats rather than vertical poles for an unobstructed view. With high back seats throughout journeys will be more comfortable and a wood-effect floor adds to the cutting-edge design.

New covers for the priority seats, with a contrasting colour scheme, help differentiate them from other seats for passengers who are less able to stand. The vehicles also have a larger wheelchair and buggy area, improving accessibility and helping parents getting around town. CCTV cameras have also been upgraded to provide higher-definition footage, making travel even more safe and secure.

Customers expect to have up-to-the-second information about their journey to make instant decisions on the move. New digital signage on board the buses shares a wider range of real-time information, including the time to the next stop, disruptions, and service updates for Tube and Overground services. Later in the year, the route will not only have next bus information at most bus shelters but also new real time information screens at many bus stops.

Adding to the appeal of the state-of-the-art vehicles, a new bus lane on New Kent Road is already making journeys faster and more reliable. This complements a route that is already high frequency, with a bus every 5-8 minutes in the morning peak.

The buses join an expanding number of zero-emission buses across London, currently standing at more than 650. It follows the Mayoral commitment for all new buses in the city to be zero-emission, with TfL aiming to convert the whole fleet by 2034. With sustained Government funding, this could be brought forward to 2030. Continued investment in London's bus network not only makes buses more attractive to passengers in the capital but creates 3,000 green jobs around the UK.

Investing in new buses - which are cleaner, safer and encourage sustainable travel - is essential to growing bus use in London. Electric buses cut congestion, with a double decker carrying more than up to 80 times the number of passengers as a car and with no harmful emissions from their exhausts. Electric buses help Londoners breathe cleaner air and are central to the national decarbonisation agenda. In 2022, it is even more important that TfL makes the bus network attractive to encourage more people to use it, ensuring revenue is maintained and reinvested into the network, supporting the Mayor's target of 80 per cent of people walking, cycling or using public transport by 2041.

TfL will use customer feedback from the route 63 to inform plans for the wider bus network, with sustained Government funding essential to enable TfL to continue supporting the city's economic recovery. Without a funding resolution, these economic advantages, along with the health and environmental benefits of an improved bus network, will not be realised.

Read more

TfL have also published a ‘Questions & Answers’ article about the route 63 improvements on their ‘Made By TfL’ website.

You can read my review of the new route 63 electric buses in my previous article which I published in December 2021.

TfL have mentioned that no new zero-emission buses will be rolled out until they secure new long-term funding with the Government. That explains why there are no announcements of new route contracts, which includes rollout of new zero-emission buses procured by bus operating companies.

TfL stated in a Freedom of Information release:

FOI-2383-2122
08 February 2022

All bus contract awards are currently on hold in light of the current funding discussions with the Department of Transport (DfT). We anticipate new contract awards will re-commence once there is greater certainty over our future funding. We anticipate that this will be well in advance of expiry of any current contracts for which replacement contracts have yet to be awarded.

Back in December 2021, I tweeted the financial performance of London Transport during the 1990s, when they were under direct control of the Government (Department for Transport) and receiving minimal operating subsidy.

Let’s take a look at the information from the UK Parliament website regarding the procurement of new buses during 1990s:

London Buses

HC Deb 15 April 1993 vol 222 cc691-2W

Mr. Corbyn:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has on the ages of the current fleet of full-sized buses in London; what provision for investment has been made for the future for buses; and what was the level of past investment in each of the last 10 years.

Mr. Norris:

The current average age of full-sized buses in the LBL fleet is 13.1 years. Bus investment expenditure is given in the table:

£ Million

Year Investment expenditure 1993-94 prices

1983 52.5

1984-85 31.7

1985-86 20.9

1986-87 13.1

1987-88 3.7

1988-89 8.5

1989-90 15.2

1990-91 15.7

1991-92 24.9

1992-93 26.0

1984-85 was a 15-month year.

I understand that LBL plans to invest £12 million on new buses in 1993–94, which will be the last full year before the completion of privatisation of the LBL subsidiaries.

I've found the table of London's Transport Infrastructure Spending (including London Buses) during the 1990’s, which you can see here.

Here are the statements from London Bus operators on the investment of new buses for their route contracts during the 1990’s.

1999 Select Committee on Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs, Appendices to the Minutes of Evidence

Memorandum by ARRIVA plc (TBS 33)

Capital Investment

London Transport has also adopted two policies which, in themselves, would have increased tender prices even if no other factors had changed. These were to respond to the investment drought of the 1980's by opting for new buses on contracts. The additional cost of providing a modern fully accessible double deck bus is some £20,000 per annum when compared to a 16 year old doored double deck bus. Indeed since 1995 Arriva has invested £20m to date on new vehicles in the capital and plans to invest at least a further £7m this year.

Arriva is proud to have led the way in bringing the first low floor double deck bus into operation in London. The Alexander/DAF ALX 400 was launched in 1998 by Glenda Jackson and embodies many new innovative features designed to encourage even greater use of public transport and bus use in particular. The design closely follows the recommendations produced by London Transport who were consulted and involved throughout the design process.

A recent report commissioned by London Transport concluded "the new low floor vehicle represents a significant improvement. . . has genuine potential for impacting positively on the journey experience and . . . customer satisfaction levels".

At the present time Arriva operates some 400 double decker buses in London which have an average age of 16 years and are therefore technically life expired. A further 160 vehicles have a current age of 13 years and will require replacement in the foreseeable future. Arriva is totally committed to providing a modern customer focused fleet of vehicles. It will require substantial investment of some £73 million just to replace the above vehicles. The much loved Routemaster fleet would need further investment from Arriva alone of £22 million to replace on a like for like basis.

We believe it is right to invest in a modern fleet of vehicles but it should be no surprise that as a consequence the cost of providing the service is increasing.

Memorandum by The Go-Ahead Group plc (TBS 17)

Capital Expenditure on New Buses

4.15 During the five year period from 1989-90-1994-95 when the LT companies were in public ownership, there was very little expenditure on new buses. The LT fleet comprised elderly Routemasters and OPO double deck buses bought in large batches between 1978 and 1985. With some limited exceptions, all new LT vehicle purchases 1986-1994 were limited to midibuses.

4.16 ITT's during this period did not usually specify a limit on vehicle age. For example, for tenders awarded to London General for double deck operation between 1989 and 1991, the average vehicle age at the start of each contract was 8.3 years.

4.17 From 1995, following the privatisation of the LT subsidiary bus companies, virtually all new tenders have been secured with new buses. ITT's specified that vehicles had to be Euro 2 compliant, and later had also to be of a low floor configuration. Recent LT changes to vehicle specification place further emphasis on specific design features, only capable of being provided with new and more expensive vehicles. In most cases, all tenders won since privatisation have been on the basis of new vehicles, both double and single deck.

4.18 Table 2 demonstrates the impact of this feature—from 1990-91 to 1994-95 annual capital expenditure on new buses averaged £553,000. Since privatisation, this had risen twelvefold to £6,639,600 per annum for London General alone.

I will be keeping an eye on the new bus manufacturer named ‘Arrival’ as they will soon be launching their new single deck electric bus in to service with First Bus throughout this year.

I also suggest checking out the video of behind the scenes at Arrival’s R&D lab in Banbury. The new way of manufacturing by Arrival may help TfL and London Bus operators in procuring enhanced new electric buses at a reduced cost.

I invite you to follow me on Twitter by searching for @CLondoner92 or by clicking on the direct link to my Twitter page here.

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