New bus for London track testing starts

On 27 May 2011 a prototype of the New Bus for London was shown to the media at Millbrook Proving Ground as testing got underway. If all goes well then the new bus, with its hop on hop off platform, is expected to enter service in central London by early 2012.

While at Millbrook the new bus will undergo months of testing to check every aspect of the engineering design. That will include the performance of the diesel-electric hybrid system, operating performance and engine emissions. General handling of the bus, as well as the chassis and superstructure, will be put through stringent tests.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Routemaster
• Boris
• Wrightbus
• bus
• Millbrook
• london
• transport

[evantis121]

beautiful piece of design. cant wait to try one out. First the boris bikes, now this, i;m beginning to really warm to johnson. he's delivering for London.

[jj1517]

Fair play to the Ballymena men for having a little faith and up-rating their game. Good luck with your design

[conwaytwitty33]

@ian2003cam Hydrogen Fuel Cell isn't a viable technology, just the infrastructure to keep them fuelled would cost a ton!

[conwaytwitty33]

@ian2003cam They don't cost that much, it was £10m for 8 buses including research and development, which is actually pretty good value really.

[conwaytwitty33]

@dancolemanmusic At least this should be built 100% in Britain. Wright only make the bodies and marry them to a Volvo chassis. So jobs will created there. Also it is a good thing to bring back conductors! It provides jobs for people and plenty of people feel safer with a conductor on the bus, especially late at night.

[dancolemanmusic]

The hybrid Gemini buses from Wrightbus that are in service on some routes in the capital are more efficient, have a greater capacity, and can be operated by just the driver. They're also a fraction of the cost. It seems completely ludicrous to invest so much money in a cosmetic gimmick. A couple of them for a tourist route perhaps.. but as a viable alternative for everyday use?

[cantfixstupidity]

@ian2003cam How exactly are these two the same manufacturers? The "Bendy Buses" are Mercedes Citaro Articulated Buses, where as these "Boris Double Deckers" are being made by Wrightbus, which are two separate companies.

Mercedes is owned by the Daimler Group

Wrightbus is an independent corporation

I fail to see a connection between the two

[LondonDada]

Yeah nice and wide, just like the present big red clots clogging up Londons traffic arteries!

The old Routemaster was designed narrow to allow traffic overtaking at stops. The new bus, like the present ones beasting about, keep traffic stuck behind at stops.

'Genius' just seems never-ending these days.

[COOLxTM]

ugly

[ian2003cam]

Be suspicious of the Boris Bus Deal. The manufacuturer is the same as the bendy bus. scrap the bendy busses then replace them with double decker busses at £1.7million each?

Is that funny bussiness or what? merry xmas!