COMMENT
A series of developments that we report this month should leave no doubt that electrification of bus networks — especially in urban areas — is moving steadily mainstream.
This is one long-term bus-related activity — some may say the only one — for which the governments of the UK are prepared to be generous with public money.
Within recent weeks, funding and contract announcements have been made that could put around 1,200 zero-emission vehicles — mainly battery electric, but hydrogen fuel-cell too — on to town and city streets in 2021/22.
The UK government is providing £120million in England to support the purchase of over 800, some of them concentrated in an all-electric town. Coventry, Warrington and West Bromwich are among those competing for that prize.
Two major tranches of Transport for London contract awards require around 220 electric vehicles — mainly double-deck — by or soon after next November for 13 routes; TfL is likely to specify more for delivery before the end of the financial year.
