Abellio London Bus has opened a new depot in West London in Hayes. It replaces Abellio’s North Hyde Gardens site.
The completely new site opened on 11 July and is Abellio’s first fully owned bus depot in London. It goes into operation with “full electric vehicle (EV) capacity” and room for up to 56 buses. It will house routes 278, 350, 482, U5, U7 and U9, serving West London. The depot will act as a dedicated operating centre, features a living roof and nesting boxes, and an energy efficiency rating of B.
BYD ADL battery-electric buses will operate out of the depot on route U5. Electrification was provided by Enel X, which will maintain six 300kW high-powered Enel X way charging stations. Connection to the grid was undertaken by ESP Utilities Group via an 11kV substation which provides a 2,000kVA capacity.
Ongoing operational delivery of the depot, including the introduction of the U5 fleet, has been led by Lorna Murphy, Abellio London Bus Operations Director, and Marta Leszczynska, Operations Manager, Hayes Depot.
Director of Bus at Transport for London (TfL) Louise Cheeseman attended the opening alongside Ms Murphy, Ms Leszczynska, and Kimberly Littlefield, Communications Manager from Enel X. Lauren Diederich of ESP was also in attendance.
Says Ms Murphy: “The opening of our Hayes depot marks a leap forward for Abellio London Bus. This depot allows us to provide more accessible and comfortable electric journeys for our customers in West London, while working with TfL to decarbonise and support climate resilience as we lead the way toward a zero emission fleet.”
Kevin O’Connor, CEO, ESP Utilities Group says: “It is wonderful to celebrate the launch of Abellio’s new Hayes Depot and recognise the important step this takes on their journey towards a zero emission fleet. Depots that have a full EV capacity play a huge part towards realising the Mayor’s zero emission ambition for London by 2030 . As part of our partnership with Abellio, we supported the connection to the grid through the provision of technical support, value engineering, procurement support and accelerated land rights.”
Adds Ms Cheeseman: “The opening of Abellio’s new Hayes depot is another exciting step in London’s journey towards a zero-emission bus fleet, with the depot’s EV charging infrastructure modernising the industry, bringing fresh skills and a new generation of engineers and drivers,” adds Ms Cheeseman. “This will see us add to the more than 850 zero-emission buses already on our city’s roads. These cleaner, greener buses, including the state-of-the-art models now operating on route U5, are part of the Mayor’s drive to clean up our air, reduce the effects of climate change by bringing down carbon emissions and cut congestion on our roads.”
A new facility in Waterway Park nearby will house maintenance, driver training and driver theory testing.
