Abellio London’s Walworth depot has clocked up over two million electric bus miles since the introduction of its fleet of Caetano e.City Gold single-deckers, cutting emissions of carbon and nitrogen oxides. Thirty-four Caetano e.City Gold electric buses were introduced during 2020 on two of Abellio’s South-East London routes.
Abellio said the two million miles clocked-up equate to 10m customer journeys, a saving of 3,647 tonnes of carbon emissions from bus exhausts and a saving of 1,609kg of nitrogen oxides.
The Caetano e.City Gold buses were the first of their type built specifically for the UK market and incorporate advanced safety features and better accessibility. They include fully flat flooring throughout, rear-view cameras, Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) and Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS), which generates artificial vehicle sounds for vulnerable road users.
Abellio London Bus Managing Director Jon Eardley said: “Walworth is the first of our depots to operate electric buses with five out of our six depots being upgraded to run zero-emissions buses by autumn 2022. This will take Abellio London’s operation of electric buses to over 15% of the fleet size.
“These cutting-edge electric vehicles further strengthen our position of operating one of the cleanest bus fleets in the UK. We meet the minimum emission standard of Euro VI for internal combustion engine vehicles, and more than half of our fleet of 900 buses are diesel-electric hybrid vehicles.
“We are committed to introducing further, best-in-class electric buses and look forward to making a significant contribution towards the Mayor of London’s vision of having a complete zero-emission bus system in the capital by 2030.”
Abellio London Bus driver Kingsford Koi-Otto has driven the Caetano electric buses from day one, clocking up over 24,000 electric miles, the equivalent of driving to New Zealand and back.
Kingsford said: “With the advanced safety features and a modern specification, these buses are even more comfortable and safe to drive. They are a step-up in terms of overall experience, and help us to ensure a comfortable and enjoyable journey for customers.”
Nuno Carvalho, Caetano UK Board Director at CaetanoBus said: “We are delighted with this achievement on the e.City Gold electric bus, proving its operation within the London bus market. We look forward to working closely with Abellio London for the next two million miles on these vehicles and on future orders.”
Louise Cheeseman, TfL’s Director of Buses, said: “On just two routes, these numbers show the huge number of people taking advantage of convenient, affordable bus travel, and just how many tonnes of harmful emissions that buses can save, making a significant contribution towards reducing the effects of climate change and helping people breathe cleaner air.
“This demonstrates how transformative the impact will be when scaled and the entire London bus fleet is zero-emission. We already have more than 800 zero-emission buses in operation across the city, but sustained Government funding is essential if we are to convert the entire network at the pace required to help tackle the climate emergency and address the capital’s toxic air crisis.”
