London Bus Tender Awards: First Bus London secures five School Bus Routes; South Yorkshire launches Franchising Procurement; and Bus Éireann takes over Limerick Route 310

This news follows the official reports first released on 14th April 2026. It confirms that First Bus London (operating as London United) has successfully retained four school bus contracts and gained one additional route. These services will continue to be operated using existing diesel and hybrid vehicles that meet Euro VI emissions standards.

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

The case for dual-door buses outside London: why is it important to improve journey times?

On 15th March 2026, I published an article outlining my review of the West Yorkshire Bus Specification Options Report regarding the design of the new "Weaver Network" buses, which are expected to launch from April 2027.

Then, on 18th March 2026, I hosted an opinion poll on X (formerly Twitter) regarding whether high-frequency buses should have dual-door and/or triple-door configurations.

̶L̶o̶n̶d̶o̶n̶ Dublin Bus Tender Awards: Go-Ahead Ireland Wins Contract to Operate 65 PSO Bus Routes in the Outer Dublin Metropolitan Area

As we are in the final month of the year, December 2025, Transport for London (TfL), ahem, the National Transport Authority (NTA) in Ireland has announced that Go-Ahead Ireland has won a contract to operate 65 Public Service Obligation (PSO) bus routes across the Outer Dublin Metropolitan Area.

This is a brief follow-up to my previous article in September, when Go-Ahead Singapore won the contract from the Land Transport Authority to operate 27 bus routes in Singapore.

From The National Transport Authority 

UK Budget 2025: Rail Fares Frozen and £3 Bus Cap Retained, While Ireland Separately Announces €24.3bn Transport Plan

Following the UK Government’s Budget 2025 announcement, a look through the Treasury’s document reveals that railway fares will be frozen, the £3 bus fare cap will be retained, funding will be provided for new railway improvements, support will be given to Transport for London’s plan to extend the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) to Thamesmead, primarily funded by London with long-term government contributions, and in Ireland, €2 billion from the Irish Government’s Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund will support the construction of MetroLink, reflecting its scale and national importance.

Over £1 Billion Investment to Enhance Bus Services Across England as Fares are Capped at £3 🚍

• The UK government announces an investment of over £1 billion to revitalise bus services. 🚍
• A cap on single bus fares is set at £3, effective from 1 January 2025.
• The initiative aims to ensure affordable public transport for millions, especially in rural areas and towns.

Mid-February 2023 Transport News Round-Up: UK Government Extends £2 Bus Fare Till June, New DLR Trains Unveiled, TfL Fare Rises From March, All-Electric Bus Towns for Athlone, Ireland & Inverness, Scotland, Ensignbus Sells to First Group and More

Since I haven’t posted an article for a month. I’ve decided to post a round-up of various transport news stories that happened during this month and last month (January).

Firstly, here’s the news recently published by the Department for Transport extending their £2 bus fare scheme in England till the end of June 2023.

From Department for Transport

My Response To TfL’s Bus Action Plan, Published In March 2022 - Does London Have The Largest Bus Rapid Transit System? And Bus Improvement Plans In The UK And Ireland

I realise I’m rather late with my report covering this news but I’ve been writing this article in my spare time. I have also included the news from Manchester and Ireland about their bus improvement plans.

On 11th March 2022, Transport for London unveiled their new Bus Action Plan to help improve bus services in Greater London.

From TfL Press Release

Bus Action Plan sets out TfL's priorities for faster journeys, an improved customer experience, and the decarbonising of the network.

Ireland's NTA and Bus Éireann Unveils Hydrogen Buses and Orders Electric Buses. Funding to Increase Zero-Emission Buses in Scotland and TfL Launches ‘future Bus Project’

Four news items today in one article on the progress of the zero-emission bus rollout within the British Isles.

Two major cities in the Island of Ireland now have bus services served with double-deck hydrogen fuel cell buses; one in Belfast and now also in Dublin.

From National Transport Authority

The National Transport Authority (NTA) in conjunction with Bus Éireann has today unveiled three new hydrogen-fuel-cell-electric double-deck buses that will initially be used on commuter services in the Greater Dublin Area.

Ireland’s NTA reveals tender process for 800 pure double-deck electric buses and proposal on DLR extension to Thamesmead approved

News update for Ireland once again.

It has been revealed that Ireland’s governing body National Transport Authority have commenced a tender process to purchase 800 double-deck electric buses for services in the Republic of Ireland.

From National Transport Authority

The National Transport Authority (NTA) has today commenced the procurement process for up to 800 double-deck battery electric buses as part of a shift towards greater sustainability in the public transport fleet.

The process is part of a continued effort to transition to low and zero emission buses as provided for in Project Ireland 2040 and the Climate Action Plan. The NTA intends to purchase up to 800 buses under this Framework Agreement over a period of five years, with the first buses expected to arrive in the second half of 2022.

Ireland’s National Transport Authority unveils eye-catching ADL’s Enviro400ER City buses as they order 180 more

More news from Ireland this month; the Republic of Ireland’s governing body National Transport Authority has unveiled the Enviro400ER City vehicles manufacturered by Alexander Dennis and announced an order of 180 more buses.

This follows on from last week when the Northern Irish Department for Infrastructure announced a £66 million order for 100 zero and 45 low emission buses manufactured by Wrightbus - you can read more in my previous article here.

Northern Ireland Invests £66 million for 145 Zero & Low Emission Buses. Also, The Latest London Bus Tender Awards

Good news for Wrightbus, the Northern Irish Department of Infrastructure have announced an investment of £66 million for 100 zero and 45 low emission buses, manufactured by Wrightbus.

From Department for Infrastructure

The decarbonisation of public transport in Northern Ireland has taken a significant leap forward with a new contract for 145 zero and low emission buses.

Double-Deck Hydrogens and “New Routemaster spin-off” plug-in hybrid buses for Ireland!

Good news for Wrightbus as they are a few months in to the new ownership from Jo Bamford; the Northern Irish transport authority Translink is set to roll out double deck hydrogen buses for Belfast.

Electric bus types revealed for London bus routes 94, C10 & P5

Hot off the press is the news that RATP-Dev placed an order for 29 of the Alexander Dennis BYD Enviro400EV for use on their London Buses Route 94 contract.

Extracts from Alexander Dennis

Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) and BYD Europe jointly announced today that the companies’ electric vehicle partnership, which delivers the leading UK electric bus, has already topped 100 double deck bus sales. ADL is a subsidiary of NFI Group Inc. (NFI), one of the world’s largest independent global bus manufacturers and BYD is a global leader in batteries and electric buses.

Cross-City Extension for the Dublin Trams Luas has opened!

In Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Luas has opened up the extension for the Green Line Tram service which began on 9^th December 2017.

From Transport Infrastructure Ireland

An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar; Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport, Shane Ross; and Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe were in attendance today at the official opening of Luas Cross City at the GPO in Dublin.

Belfast Rapid Transit unveils new Glider vehicle and launch of new Abbey Wood Station building

This is a follow up to my previous article about the Belfast Rapid Transit project in Northern Ireland.

From Department for Infrastructure Northern Ireland

The new Belfast Rapid Transit Glider vehicle has been unveiled today at the Busworld Europe exhibition in Belgium.

The new Glider service will come into operation in September 2018 and is set to transform public transport in Belfast. It will offer passengers a modern, efficient public transport service with shorter, more reliable journey times and high frequency services.

Go Ahead Group wins Dublin Bus contract but loses West Midlands Rail franchise

Go Ahead has won a contract from Ireland’s National Transport Authority (NTA) to operate 24 bus routes in Dublin but they lost the West Midlands rail franchise.

From National Transport Authority Ireland

Go-Ahead has been selected as the preferred bidder for the contract relating to the operation of 24 Public Service Obligation (PSO) bus routes in the Dublin metropolitan area. NTA has written to Go-Ahead to inform the company of the decision. Go-Ahead is expected to begin operating some of these routes by the end of November 2018 and all routes by February 2019.

Chief Executive of the National Transport Authority Anne Graham said:

Bus services in Limerick Town Centre, Ireland

In a previous article I said that I was preparing for a short holiday and promised that upon my return I would be writing a ‘first hand’ report on the bus services in Limerick, Ireland. I aplologise for the delay as I have been rather busy since then but finally, here is that report.

Limerick has a small number of bus routes linking to the Town Centre and their bus services are still regulated and operated by Bus Éireann which is owned by Transport for Ireland. It’s interesting to note how most of the bus services in Ireland are still owned and run by the government compared to Britain where the bus services have been privatised and deregulated.

Belfast Rapid Transit and some London Bus News

Just a missing piece of the puzzle; I found out in Northern Ireland that Belfast is having its own rapid transit scheme using bendy buses.

Recently, we have seen Van Hool being awarded the contract to build buses for the Belfast Rapid Transit scheme.

From Department of Regional Development (Northern Ireland)

Transport Minister Michelle McIlveen has announced the award of a £19 million contract to supply a fleet of 30 vehicles for the new Belfast Rapid Transit (BRT) system.

Belgian-based company Van Hool won the contract and will be supported locally by Road Trucks Limited of Larne.

Strikes for Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann in Ireland on May 2015

Over in the Republic of Ireland, Unions SIPTU are holding a strike on Friday 1st May, Saturday 2nd May, Friday 15th May and Saturday 16th May whilst NBRU are striking on 15^th & 16^th May and 19^th, 30^th and 31^st of May. The reason why they’re striking is because 10% of the routes are going to be contracted out to private operating companies.

Press release from NBRU

NBRU to Undertake 48 hour Bus on the 1st & 2nd May and announces plans for further action.

Transport systems that use smartcard in Britain and Ireland

Logos for various smartcard transport systems.

Logos belong to their respective trademarks

Smartcard is a system where you can top up on pay as you go smartcard or have season tickets like weekly, monthly or yearly for use on the transport system.

Various cities around the world which have a smartcard system to travel by bus or train services, so you can use it for pre pay so you don’t have to fiddle with the change where you travel.