These futuristic new electric buses come into service in south London today

It’s a big week for London transport. Not only is the Overground service finally graduating to its new route names and colours, but swanky new electric buses will also be making an appearance on the roads for the first time. 

South London is getting a fleet of new ‘zero-emission’ electric buses, running on the 358 route between Crystal Palace and Orpington. A far cry from the trad red London buses, these bad boys look more akin to trams, with rounded fronts and special pantograph tech which charges the vehicles using an arm-like structure attached to the roof. 

This allows the buses to be powered up on either end of the route in only six minutes – meaning more time on the roads and less in the garages so that fewer buses are needed overall. 

What else is so special about these new vehicles? They have speed-limiting technology, ‘audible warnings to alert pedestrians and other road users’, as well as mirror-like camera monitoring to help drivers with vision on the roads. Inside, there will be slip-protection flooring, those all-important USB ports as well as palm-operated assistance buttons. Swanky stuff. 

Lorna Murphy, director of buses at TfL, said about the roll-out: ‘Installing new rapid-charging pantograph infrastructure on one of London’s longest bus routes is an innovative step forward, helping us to run cleaner, greener services that get Londoners where they need to be.’

These buses are the first of their kind in the UK, and add to TfL’s zero-emission fleet of 1,700 zero-emission buses in operation, helping to clean up London’s air and contribute to the mayor’s aim of making the capital a ‘net-zero carbon city by 2030’.

ICYMI: London’s biggest bus company has just ordered 1,000 more electric buses for the capital.

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