Friday 10 May 2024

The Real Reason Why The New Routemaster Buses Will Be Phased Out In 2030 For New Zero-Emission Buses?

New Routemaster - Expectation - Reality


In response to the ITV News London article by Simon Harris about the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, signalling the end of the three-door, two-staircase hybrid New Routemaster in favour of a 100% zero-emission bus fleet by 2030. The original purpose of the New Routemaster was to reinstate the open platform and conductor, which only lasted on six routes until September 2016. Then during the year 2020, it was converted to front-door only boarding due to increasing revenue losses from fare evasion.

In my previous article, I quoted the 2024 London Mayoral election manifestos from the Conservative, Green, Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates, as they pledged to accelerate the transition of the bus fleet to zero-emission.

Let's take a read of the document titled 'New Bus for London design supply and maintenance contract', which is on the 'Contracts released under FOI' page of the TfL website, where I have found the paragraphs that mention the words '14 years':

1.11 any reference to ‘life’ of the Vehicles shall mean a minimum operational life of 14 years from the date of delivery or acceptance, whichever is the later;
5.7 The Contractor shall maintain written documentation during the term of this Contract and for a period of 14 years after delivery or acceptance (whichever is the later) of the last Vehicle pursuant to this Contract properly demonstrating that the Prototype Tests have been carried out and successfully passed by the Prototype Vehicle. The Contractor will provide the Company with copies of such documentation in accordance with the Specification.
9. Supply of Spare Parts
9.1 Throughout the operational life of the Production Vehicles (being 14 years from the date the Production Vehicles pass inspection) and for a period of 15 years thereafter, the Contractor agrees with the Company to ensure that in accordance with this Clause 9 it is able to supply and will supply all Spare Parts required by the Company and Vehicle Operators to operate and maintain the Vehicles. Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the Contractor will hold in its stock and immediately available for supply under the Vehicle Warranty sufficient Spare Parts (including critical and specialist Spare Parts as well as generic parts and consumables) that may be required to keep supplied Vehicles operational during the relevant Vehicle Warranty period for that Vehicle.
14.2 In addition to the Limited Warranties referred to in Clause 14.1, the Contractor warrants that each Vehicle and Spare Part supplied under or in relation to this Contract:
14.2.5 has a rate of deterioration no more than is reasonably to be expected of well designed and engineered materials and goods and has a primary structural life span of 12 years and a target operational life span of not less than 14 years;
Part 1 - Technical Specification
1.02 Design and manufacturing expectations
The Contractor shall design and construct the Vehicle to be compliant with the legislative requirements for construction, sustainability and disposal, to be fit for purpose and be economic in its cost to operate. The Vehicle shall achieve a minimum operational life of 14 years.
1.03 Operational duties
The Vehicle will be expected to operate continuously for at least 18 hours per day without returning to its depot for refuelling or servicing, covering a minimum average of 250km during that duty cycle with an average operational speed of between 10-20kmh, for 7 days per week and for 364 days per year. The maximum expected operational life of the Vehicle under the Company's duties is 14 years.
1.04 Whole life cost
The whole life cost shall exclude tyre, driver and crew costs. The whole life costs shall be considered in two stages for both (1) an initial 7 year period based on the manufacturer’s repair & maintenance programme given in Schedule 14 (one route contract term), and (2) a second 7 year period (reflecting a maximum 14 year life), and shall be incorporated in the relevant tables in Schedule 4.

This shows that the New Routemaster has a 14 year lifespan in service in London. Back in 2020, I published an article showing how TfL and the previous Mayor Boris Johnson encouraged bus manufacturers to improve their bus products by using the New Routemaster design.

Although, I'm aware that one New Routemaster bus, the LT11, was converted to zero-emission battery-electric back in 2022 at zero cost to TfL.

Retrofitting New Routemasters to full battery-electric can be costly, I prefer bus manufacturers to build new zero-emission buses with the latest technology to help with the supply chains for bus manufacturers, including jobs.

In other areas of the UK, one passenger transport executive named Merseytravel and a municipal bus company named Reading Buses have purchased new double-deck buses with a similar design to the New Routemaster, which is the Enviro400 City by Alexander Dennis.

The New Routemasters have been in service for 12 years since the first prototypes entered service on the 27th February 2012 on route 38.

I went through the Freedom of Information requests and consultation reports on the TfL website. It reveals a number of complaints about conventional buses (including high-spec) and a huge number of requests for tram-style buses.

I'm not advocating for the New Routemaster project to be relaunched because it is obsolete, as various bus manufacturers have already adopted various design features of the New Routemaster into their products. But I have suggested a new accessible zero-emission double-deck bus to make it more accessible, stylish, improved safety, and convenient for passengers, not just for London; this includes other areas of the UK, especially Metro Mayors where they have bus franchising powers. The reason is that bus services throughout the UK predominantly use single-door buses, which have longer dwell times at bus stops.

There have been certain perks with the New Routemaster, such as the three-doors and two-staircases, which help improve passenger flows at bus stops, despite the fact that they are front-door only boarding for revenue collection and to reduce fare evasion. They can also be beneficial to wheelchair users as they board and exit using the middle door, while passengers can leave using the third door at the rear.

I have also suggested that public transport needs creativity to make their services more attractive, which is vital to tackling pollution, traffic congestion, and climate change.

Update - 29 May 2024

TfL stated on a Freedom of Information request about phasing out New Routemaster buses.

"We do not hold the information you have requested. There are no formal plans to withdraw the NRMs, other than when they reach the end of their design and economic life."

I invite you to follow me on Twitter/X by searching for @CLondoner92 or by clicking on the direct link to my Twitter/X page here. I'm also on BlueSky and Mastodon.

Further reading

Suggestion: Transport for London Should Revive the Old Speedbus Proposal From the 1970s as Part of Phase 2 of the Superloop

Suggestion: London Passenger Transport Area Including London Country Buses Should Be Revived To Enhance Cross-Boundary Connections

Suggestion: I Believe It’s Time for a New Regional Transport Body for the South East of England?

I Believe TfL Should Reform The Travelcard Agreement To Offer Smart Flexible Ticketing Options

Making A Case For New Rapid Transit Lines (Including New Tram Lines) By Increasing Bus Priority Measures

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