Photo: 300-low-emission-buses-introduced-to-London
More than 300 low emission buses to be introduced into London by the end of the year
03 December 2014
by Richard Forster
Transport for London (TfL) has announced that more than 300 buses with the latest Euro VI engines will be operating on London’s roads by the end of this year.
Over two thirds of the vehicles will be hybrid diesel-electric double decker buses. Under the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) proposal, all buses driving in central London from 2020 will need to meet the Euro VI standard for NOx (nitrogen oxide) emissions.
“Improving London’s air quality is one of the Mayor’s top priorities and by 2020 all buses in central London will be either hybrid or electric as we look to radically cut emissions,” said Matthew Pencharz, the Mayor’s Senior Advisor for Environment and Energy. “We have already significantly reduced the number of buses on some of London’s busiest streets and taken many of the most polluting ones off the road.”
The effectiveness of Euro VI engines in reducing harmful emissions has been substantiated in testing by TfL that recreates real world driving conditions in London. During this testing, a bus with a Euro VI Engine was found to have 95 percent lower NOx emissions than a bus with a Euro V engine.
On average, around 700 new buses enter London’s fleet each year. The Euro VI programme complements the acceleration in the roll out of hybrid buses, with nearly 1,000 currently in service on London’s roads and 1,700 due to be in operation by 2016, equivalent to around 20 percent of the total bus fleet.
“Despite the growth of the network due to passenger demand, our overall emissions are continuing to reduce as we trial electricity and hydrogen and increase the use of bio-diesel to power the capital’s fleet,” said Mike Weston, TfL’s Director of Buses. “We are also retrofitting older vehicles and continuing the expansion of our hybrid fleet with nearly a thousand of these buses now in service on London’s roads.”
In addition, as part of the ULEZ proposals, TfL will progressively increase the number of these buses to the point that, from 2020, all double deck buses operating in central London will be hybrid and all single deck buses in central London will be zero emission.
