Arriva North West is trialling a biogas bus on its number 263 route from Manchester-Altrincham.
The vehicle is claimed to be Britain’s first double-decker bus powered by biogas produced by food and water waste.
The vehicle has been developed over a two year period by Scania, specifically for the UK market. The Scania N280 UD4x2EB chassis has Alexander Dennis Enviro400 bodywork and is powered by Scania’s OC09 101 nine-litre five cylinder Euro 6 gas engine, coupled to a six-speed ZF EcoLife automatic gearbox. It produces 290hp (206kW) of power.
Alastair Nuttall, General Manager at Arriva North West, said: “Arriva is committed to reducing its environmental impacts.
“Trialling new low-emission technologies to reduce air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions helps us move towards our environmental goals and supports our Group-wide ‘Destination Green’ environmental programme.
“The biogas bus is now on trial on our route 263 between Manchester and Altrincham, where customers can experience it first-hand. We will be encouraging feedback and are very much looking forward to our passengers’ comments on this exciting new double decker.”
Mark Oliver, Scania’s UK Bus & Coach Fleet Sales General Manager, explained: “Unlike mainland Europe, British bus networks use a high proportion of double-decker buses.
“Across Europe single deck buses with gas tanks on the roof are a common sight, but for the UK we have had to accommodate the tanks within the double deck bodywork itself.”
For the trial, the bus will be fuelled using a mobile refuelling station provided by Scania’s infrastructure partner Roadgas. In permanent operations, operators can install a gas filling station with dispensers which can be shared with other gas-fuelled vehicles in the local area, including trucks and municipal vehicles such as refuse collectors.
Tanya Neech, Senior Advisor Sustainable Fuels at Scania, added: “The double-decker gas bus is being trialled in Manchester to demonstrate the vehicle’s reliability, running costs and the benefits of running on Biogas in real life service. Gas double deckers offer real savings in carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.”
