Skip to main content

TfL to deploy 20 hydrogen buses in London

Transport for London (TfL) is to deploy 20 hydrogen double decker buses in London next year in a bid to improve air quality in the UK capital.
May 20, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

TfL says hydrogen buses only need to be refuelled once a day for five minutes, making them suitable for deployment on longer routes.  

The buses will operate on routes 245, 7 and N7, offering a service for people travelling to Wembley Stadium, or from west London to the West End. The vehicles will also feature on-board USB charging points.

The vehicles, which will cost TfL £12 million, are manufactured by 6616 Wrightbus in Northern Ireland.

More than £5 million of the funding is being provided by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, and the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency, an executive agency of the 1690 European Commission. Also, the Office of Low Emission Vehicles will provide £1 million.

The move follows hot on the heels of the introduction of London’s ultra low emission zone last month.

Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, says everyone has a role to play in “cleaning up London’s toxic air”.

Darren Shirley, chief executive of Campaign for Better Transport, says: "Millions of people across the country live in areas which currently exceed legal limits for air pollution. Cities need to be doing more to improve their air quality, including investing in clean technologies as a matter of urgency.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Passport roundtable examines London’s kerb space priorities
    March 19, 2019
    UK congestion is getting worse, in part due to the influx of deliveries coming into cities. At a roundtable discussion in London, software provider Passport examined new ways in which local authorities can work together to better manage the kerb. Ben Spencer listens in Competition for kerb space is one of the major conundrums of modern urban mobility. Some authorities are being creative about it, but good practice is not widespread. “There are individual pockets of good work going on with cities who a
  • Enforcement needs automation and communication
    February 1, 2012
    TISPOL's Peter van de Beek questions whether the thought processes which drive enforcement technology development are always the right ones. Peter van de Beek sees an ever-greater role for technology in traffic enforcement but is concerned that the emphasis of technological development and discussion is not always in the right places. 'Old-fashioned' face-to-face policing remains as valid as it ever did, he feels, but adds that there should be greater communication with those engaged at the sharp end of saf
  • New junction on London’s Cycle Superhighway offers safety measures for cyclists
    August 25, 2015
    Britain’s first junction designed to avoid cyclists being hit by left-turning traffic is unveiled today, the beginning of a new wave of such junctions on London’s busiest main roads. Cyclists and turning motor traffic will move in separate phases, with left-turning vehicles held back to allow cyclists to move without risk, and cyclists held when vehicles are turning left. There will also be a new ‘two-stage right turn’ to let cyclists make right turns in safety. For straight-ahead traffic, early-release
  • £143m for zero-emission buses in UK
    April 2, 2024
    Zebra programme funding will see new electric buses in towns, villages and cities in England