More than 3,000 zero-emission buses are now in use on the Transport for London (TfL) contracted network, meaning that around one-third of the bus fleet in the capital has moved away from diesel.
The ceremonial 3,000th such bus is a Wrightbus StreetDeck Electroliner battery-electric double-deck with Stagecoach London. It follows achievement of the 1,000 total in summer 2023, and 2,000 around a year ago.
TfL says that the capital’s zero-emission bus fleet is the largest in Western Europe and that the latest milestone means there has been a 100-fold increase in numbers over the past decade.
It adds that making the London bus fleet entirely zero-emission at the point of use is vital and could save an estimated five million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions over the next two decades. The 3,000 buses in service are expected to save more than 100,000 tonnes over the course of a year.
In a green-based livery that has been applied to previous milestone buses in the zero-emission shift, the StreetDeck Electroliner will work from Stagecoach’s Rainham depot on route 165 between there and Romford. It is part of a wider order for more than 120 zero-emission vehicles from Wrightbus.
Beyond reducing fleet emissions, TfL has now converted all illumination across around 12,000 shelters in the capital to light-emitting diodes. They will use less than half of the energy as previous lights and be 10% brighter, TfL says.
While the vast majority of the capital’s zero-emission bus fleet is battery-electric, what is described as a trial of hydrogen fuel cell-electric technology on route 7 operated by Metroline continues. London has 135 routes that are fully zero-emission and a further 68 that are partially converted.
Stagecoach Chief Operating Officer Sam Greer says deployment of the capital’s 3,000th zero-emission bus in the group’s London fleet reflects “the strength of collaboration between TfL, operators and industry partners along with our shared commitment to delivering cleaner, greener journeys for the communities we serve.”
