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.

Electric buses rollout continues with announcement of mid-November London Bus tender awards

TfL has announced the latest London Bus tender awards for November 2020 with more routes converting to double deck electric buses. This is a followup to my previous article.

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

November 2020 London Bus Tender awards with route conversions to Electric Buses

At last the London Bus tender awards have finally been announced. This is a surprising announcement because 10 routes have been awarded using electric buses.

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

New era for Wrightbus as Birmingham City Council orders double deck hydrogens - delivery commences for Aberdeen…

It’s been a year since Wrightbus went in to Administration and were taken over by Jo Bamford.

This week, there has been progress in Wrightbus with their double deck hydrogen rollout.

From Birmingham City Council News Release

Birmingham City Council has purchased 20 new hydrogen double decker buses as part of their Clean Air Hydrogen Bus Pilot.

The Clean Air Hydrogen Bus Pilot looks to ‘kick-start’ the hydrogen market as a viable zero-emission fuel with the procurement and deployment of 20 hydrogen buses in Birmingham. The buses, which are made by Wrightbus and are the world's first zero-emission hydrogen fuel-cell double deckers, will be introduced with National Express West Midlands from April 2021.

It’s intended that pilot will be the catalyst for the next generation of hydrogen buses, hydrogen production and re-fuelling infrastructure development. The council have also collaborated with ITM, who will be producing and dispensing the hydrogen fuel from the new re-fuelling hub at Tyseley Energy Park.

5 years of the Enviro400 City!

It's been five years since bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) unveiled their eye-catching double deck variant, the Enviro400 City!

The body design of the Enviro400 City is based on the New Routemaster (NRM), designed by Heatherwick Studio and manufactured by Wrightbus. Thomas Heatherwick, the founder of Heatherwick Studio, praised the Enviro400 City as a "back-to-front compliment".

TfL confirms route 313 to be served using New Routemasters – Delays to electric bus rollout

I know it’s been a while since I posted a new article on my site but here’s a round-up of the latest London Bus news:

The Peak Vehicle Requirement (PVR) reduction of New Routemasters (NRM) on London Bus route 38 has led to the conversion of one route.

TfL to push forward their zero-emission bus fleet plan to 2030

I’ve been looking through the board papers on the TfL website, and at the recent papers which were published for the July 29 meeting. I discovered that there are plans to accelerate the zero-emission bus fleet plan, also known as MTS (Mayor Transport Strategy) to 2030 in order to achieve the ambition of making London Transport carbon neutral.

The extracts from the board papers:

Mid-July 2020 Tender awards: London Bus route 69 to be served with double deck electric buses

TfL have recently announced new London Bus tender awards for mid-July 2020.

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

TfL resume New Routemaster conversion to front door only boarding and the launch of Enviro400EV City for West Midlands

The fares for London buses have now been fully restored and TfL mentioned in their press release that they are finishing off converting the three-door, two-staircase hybrid New Routemasters to front-door only boarding.