Red buses turn green

FIRST ELECTRIC BUS ROUTE RUNS FROM ACTON TO PICCADILLY CIRCUS

A BUS route has become the first ever in West London to run only on electricity.

The Route 94, which runs from Piccadilly Circus to Acton, from now on will only be served by allelectric double-decker buses.

As well as lessening fumes on London’s already-polluted roads, the new bus introduces a series of safety features and neat passenger luxuries like USB charging points.

Safety features include acoustic vehicle alerting system (AVAS) that generates a noise when the bus is driving at slower speeds to alert other road users to the presence of the quieter running electric vehicle.

Route 94 joins two other routes, the 43 and 134, as the only fully-electric routes in the capital.

Although there are other routes than run hybrid buses or a mix of electric and diesel buses, it is the 94, 43 and 134 that are the routes of the future.

The roll out is part of TfL’s plans to cut air pollution and tackle the climate emergency.

They hope to have 2,000 zeroemission buses on London’s roads by 2025.

Another 12 routes are expected to be all-electric by the end of this year with the C3, which runs between West Cromwell Road and Clapham Junction, and the 23, between Westbourne Park and Hammersmith, are the next to be upgraded.

Heidi Alexander, deputy mayor for transport, said: “At City Hall we are doing everything in our power to tackle London’s toxic air crisis and the climate emergency.

“This third route in London will exclusively use electric doubledeck buses and, with many more set to follow by the end of the year, we are continuing to make real progress towards improving air quality in the capital.

“Today’s initiative forms part of our plan to make London’s entire bus fleet greener and cleaner, which is set to reduce bus NOx emissions across the capital by an average of 90 per cent by October 2020.”

TFL One of the new whollyelectric buses