300th diesel-electric hybrid bus joins TfL’s London fleet 11 July 2012

TfL is celebrating the arrival of its 300th hybrid bus, which is now in service in London, operating between Waterloo and Hammersmith.

Its hybrid bus fleet now comprises 180 Alexander Dennis vehicles, 77 Volvos, 32 from Wrightbus and 11 Optare.

A further 104 hybrid buses are on order, folloowing £5 million funding from the Department for Transport. This grant was initially set to finance 70 buses, but Transport for London has managed to increase funding to cover more than 400 hybrid buses, which are now due to be in service by next year.

In addition the Mayor of London has committed to taking delivery of 600 of the new 'bus for London' vehicles, seven of which are already in service on Route 38. These hop-on hop-off vehicles also harness hybrid diesel-electric technology, claiming to cut emissions by half, compared to standard diesel buses.

TfL makes the point that, combined, this means at least 1,000 hybrid buses will be on the capital's streets by 2016, joined by nearly 1,000 other conventional buses retrofitted with equipment to cut pollution, specifically NOx emissions.

Mike Weston, London Buses operations director, reports that the diesel-electric hybrid buses are delivering fuel savings of 30%, reducing operational costs for TfL and delivering a 20% reduction in NOx and carbon emissions.

"Bus operator confidence in hybrids has increased immensely, which, alongside reductions in the capital premiums and increasing fuel prices, is making this technology increasingly attractive," states Weston.

"We have reached a significant milestone at 300 hybrid buses and the benefits of these cleaner, greener buses only increase as we add more to our fleet," he continues.

"That's great news for Londoners and the health and wellbeing of all who live here. We look forward to hitting the 1,000th hybrid bus milestone, which will make a real difference to the quality of life in London."

Author
Brian Tinham

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