TfL Confirm The Last AEC Routemasters For Route 15 Withdrawn

A Freedom of Information request revealed TfL have confirmed the withdrawal of AEC Routemasters by not renewing the route 15H contract.

Route 15H was the very last route to be served with AEC Routemasters after the withdrawal of 9H in 2014.

The Coronavirus pandemic affected the route 15H service hence the reason they haven’t appeared on route 15 last year (2020), which quietly led to the withdrawal of the route.

Huge funding for Zero-Emission Vehicles (Including Buses) for Great Britain and Northern Ireland

This week has seen some big news for Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The UK Government have announced an investment of £54 million for projects to create new zero-emission vehicles.

From Gov.UK

• £54 million for projects including motorsport technology in car motors, hydrogen fuel cells for buses, and lightweight structures for electric heavy goods vehicles

• projects in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will secure nearly 10,000 jobs and save 45 million tonnes of CO₂

• investment will help drive energy-saving technology across a wide range of vehicles and propel forward a green economy recovery

London Bus Tender Awards: Go-Ahead London Retains Routes 507 & 521 with Single Deck Electric Buses

This is a quick news update for London Buses.

The new tender awards have revealed that Go-Ahead London General retained their routes 507 & 521 contract with existing electric single-deck buses.

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

List of London Bus Routes Currently Served Using Electric Buses (as of March 2021)

TfL has published a Freedom of Information (FOI) request regarding London Bus Routes serving with zero-emission electric buses.

Request ID: FOI-2431-2021
Date published: 09 March 2021

1. Can you list the routes currently served using electric buses? If possible, can you specify them by operator, make & model including type (double/single deck) of the EV buses?

TfL and Siemens Mobility Unveil Design of the New London Underground Piccadilly Line Trains

It’s been a while since I’ve posted London Underground related content on my website.

Recently, Siemens Mobility and TfL have unveiled the design of the new Tube Trains for the Piccadilly Line, expecting to enter passenger service from 2025.

From Siemens Mobility Press Release

Transport for London (TfL) and Siemens Mobility have today unveiled the detailed design of the new generation Tube trains for the Piccadilly line, which will soon be in production to replace the existing 1970s fleet.

The trains currently running on the line have become increasingly unreliable and expensive to maintain and will be 50 years old by the time they are replaced. Despite the devastating impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on its finances, TfL is continuing to replace these assets, meaning that from 2025, new spacious ‘Inspiro London’ trains will serve customers on the Piccadilly line, future-proofed to ensure they are suitable for many years to come.

TfL Updates on Double-Deck Hydrogen Rollout for London Bus Route 7

A few days ago, TfL responded to a Freedom of Information request on the rollout of double-deck hydrogen buses for route 7.

Request ID: FOI-2253-2021
Date published: 26 February 2021

1. Can you confirm the date of delivery and conversion of route 7 to double-deck electric buses?

Alexander Dennis Reveals Double-Deck Hydrogen Bus Project, and New Shorter Enviro400EV Variant - Wrightbus Teams up with Voith for Electrical Drive System

This week has been a busy week for bus manufacturing in the UK, so here’s a brief roundup of articles from UK bus manufacturers.

From Alexander Dennis

Larbert, Scotland, UK – 25th February 2021: (TSX: NFI) Alexander Dennis Limited (“ADL”), a subsidiary of NFI Group Inc. (“NFI”), one of the world’s leading independent global bus manufacturers, today announced that its next generation double deck hydrogen bus will deliver a zero-emission range of up to 300 miles. It will be powered by a Ballard fuel cell power module through the efficient Voith Electrical Drive System (VEDS).

British Bus Operator First Bus Confirmed to Trial Arrival’s Single-Deck Electric Bus

I was checking my Twitter feed and a Tweet emerged from Arrival that their single-deck electric bus will be trialled by First Bus.

From Arrival Press Release

LONDON, Feb 22, 2021 — Arrival, the company creating electric vehicles using its radical new technologies, today announced that it will begin trials of its zero-emission Bus with First Bus, one of the UK’s largest transport operators. The trials, which will see Arrival buses navigating existing First Bus routes in the UK, will begin this Autumn. The new partnership comes just seven months after First Bus announced their commitment to purchase no diesel buses after 2022 and to operate a fully zero- emission fleet by 2035.

London Bus Tender News: Routes 125 & 235 to Convert to New Electric Buses and Delays to Route 319 Conversion to Enviro400EV Citys

As part of the new London Bus tender awards, routes 125 and 235 have been awarded to London Sovereign and London United (part of RATP Group) with new electric buses.

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

TfL Proposed Fare Hikes to Start on 1 March 2021 and Huge Retains on London Bus Tender Awards

For the first time in five years, TfL fares are set to rise by 2.6% as part of the government’s requirement for TfL’s funding deal.

From London Mayor news release

• The Mayor has already confirmed fares will rise by RPI+1 (2.6 per cent) overall across all services as a condition of the emergency TfL funding deal made with the Government, but Sadiq has kept some single pay as you go Tube, DLR, London Overground and TfL rail fares unchanged.
• Bus and tram ‘Hopper’ fare - introduced by the Mayor and allowing unlimited journeys within an hour - will increase by just 5p to £1.55, the smallest increase possible and keeping the fare one of the best value in the country.
• This rise –from 1 March 2021 – follows five years of frozen TfL fares set by the Mayor.
• Details announced as TfL publishes plan setting out the level of Government funding required to place its finances on a sustainable footing, after fare income was decimated by the pandemic.

As part of TfL’s funding deal with Government in October 2020, the Mayor was required to increase fares under his control in order to deliver an overall fares rise of 2.6 per cent (RPI+1).