Hybrid buses to hit London

[Mark]

Hybrid buses to hit London

Boris Johnson, the London Mayor, has unveiled an all-new hybrid efficient London bus.

The yet to be named bus was built by Wrightbus, also sees the return of the traditional open rear platform, allowing passengers to jump on and off quickly.

It features two staircases to make embarking and disembarking quicker and the open back can be closed off if necessary.

Passenger comfort has been prioritised, too. The bus has a torque limiter in first gear to allow it to pull away smoothly meaning that falling over in the aisles should be a thing of the past.

The diesel-electric hybrid drivetrain uses a battery-powered motor at the rear to boost power. It also improves economy by making less work for the diesel engine. Noise will be lower than ever.

The battery is charged by a generator linked to the 4.5-litre diesel engine. Hybrid buses are already on the streets of London, but Wrightbus claims that this is the most efficient by some way.

Testing will begin in early 2011 at a closed track, before the bus hits the city's streets later that year. The current London bus will be gradually phased out from 2012 and this version will eventually make up the entire 8,000 strong fleet.

PS. It also looks bad ass!

[bigsharn]

Wrightbus are innovative, but in practice not everything they do works

Look (for example) at the ftr services in York and Leeds (and Swansea I suppose), York's city streets have had to be widened, the machine you pay for your tickets on has been replaced by a "host" (Or a conductor to you and me) and the buses themselves have no more seating space than a normal city bus.

Also: I work promoting a service which takes on the ftr's route in York