TfL to retrofit 5,000 Euro 4 and 5 buses with the help of five suppliers, ensuring entire fleet meets Euro 6 criteria by the autumn of 2020
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced plans to retrofit more than half of London’s bus fleet to meet Euro 6 emissions standards by 2020, following the draft transport strategy covered by CBW last week (CBW1297) which aims to have a zero emission bus network by 2037.
Through the £86.1m programme, around 5,000 buses will be retrofitted with a new exhaust system that will significantly cut their emissions. This means that by September 2020, the entire bus fleet should be at a Euro 6 or higher standard.
Transport for London (TfL) will work with bus operators and five chosen suppliers to install the new bespoke exhaust systems. Diesel Particulate filters will also be installed alongside this Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) equipment to reduce air pollution.
Currently 700-800 new low-emission buses are being introduced to the fleet every year. From next year, all new double-decker buses will be hybrid, electric or hydrogen. In addition, all buses within the central London Ultra-Low Emission Zone will be Euro 6 hybrid standard by 2019.
Sadiq Khan said: “We know that pollution from our roads is a major contributor to London’s toxic air. That’s why we are working so hard to introduce new clean buses on our streets and why we are continually looking for innovative ways to clean up the most polluting buses. There’s no doubt that by cutting the emissions of more than half of the fleet by up to 95%, this innovative retrofit programme is going to make a huge difference to Londoners.”
Leon Daniels, TfL’s Managing Director of Surface Transport, said: “Air pollution has reached unacceptable levels in London and we are doing everything we can to tackle the problem in one of the most ambitious programmes of its type. By retrofitting 5,000 buses – over half of our fleet – with the latest green engine technology, we will be able to reduce vehicle exhaust emissions significantly. We will continue to take action to ensure London’s bus fleet remains the greenest and cleanest of any major world city.”
Lianna Etkind, Public Transport Campaigner for the Campaign for Better Transport, said: “London is consistently breaching legal limits on air pollution, which seriously affects people’s health, so it’s good to see that TfL recognises the need for urgent action on the capital’s air pollution crisis. Buses are very much part of the solution, so the retrofitting of the London’s bus fleet up to Euro 6 standard will come at a small cost compared to the huge benefit to people’s health.”
Following a competitive tender process, the five suppliers appointed to retrofit the exhaust systems are Amminex, Baumot Twintec, Eminox, HJS and Proventia. More than 40 new apprenticeships are being created to support the programme, who will be employed by the five suppliers and will work across the project a range of areas, from installation and servicing to management.
Proventia’s NOxBUSTER City system is specifically designed for stop-and-go city traffic, where exhaust temperatures usually remain low. It uses standard commercial AdBlue for reducing NOx. The installation does not require any major changes to the bus structure.
The Proventia retrofit system also includes an online emissions monitoring system, PROCARE Drive, which provides 24/7 updates of the level of NOx emissions from the buses, and full remote monitoring of the system operation.
Proventia will supply technology and components and Proventia’s long-term UK partner, Excalibre, will provide the installation and servicing of the systems. The two firms have retrofitted over 350 Euro 3 ADL Tridents and Darts to the Euro 5 standard.
“We are very proud that TfL has selected state-of-the-art emission control technology from Finland,” said Jari Lotvonen, President and CEO of Proventia. “It is great to continue retrofit projects in London.”
Danish firm Amminex will utilise its ASDS technology, which it said works particularly well in slow, urban driving.
Metroline has recently upgraded 55 Euro 5 buses to use ASDS technology, and independent testing at Millbrook confirmed that the ASDS technology on a typical London double-decker meets the retrofit target of 95% NOx reduction by demonstrating 97.8% NOx reduction.
Annika Isaksson, CEO of Amminex, said: “The air quality crisis in London calls for urgent action. According to the UK Government, each pound spent on NOx retrofit solutions will save £2.50 in health costs. Our solution will only make that ratio better due to the improved NOx reduction in congested driving and the immediate NOx reduction achieved when hybrid buses are shifting between electric and diesel mode.”
