London mayor: cut price deal could signal end for 'Boris Bus'

Boris Johnson is to increase the number of his signature “New Routemaster” buses on the capital’s streets to 1000 with what could be the final bulk delivery of the bespoke vehicle, which none of his potential successors as London mayor have pledged to continue buying after the election on 5 May.

The board of Transport for London (TfL), which Johnson chairs, on Wednesday approved the purchase of a further 195 vehicles from manufacturer Wrightbus of Ballymena at what is understood to be a significantly lower price than was paid for the first 805, of which 600 are already in service.

The new cost per bus being agreed with manufacturer Wrightbus of Ballymena is expected to be around £310,000-£315,000, which is much closer to that of off-the-peg diesel-electric “hybrid” buses than the £354,000 paid per bus for TfL’s initial bulk consignment of 600 New Routemasters in 2012 and approximately £325,000 for an additional 200 in 2014. The London Assembly’s budget and performance committee heard in September 2015 that TfL had “no plans” to take its order up to 1000 buses at that time although Johnson had said he hoped that 2000 would be in service by 2020.

The price drop is described as largely a reflection of the hybrid bus market becoming more competitive, although it has also been indicated that uncertainty about the New Routemaster’s future was a contributory factor. Despite Johnson and TfL previously insisting that the “Boris Bus” would attract customers from other cities in the UK and elsewhere, none have come forward.

Labour candidate Sadiq Khan, who said on Tuesday that if elected he will take over from Johnson as TfL chair, wrote last month that he would “freeze purchases” of the New Routemaster as a way of making budget savings to help pay for his promised four-year public transport fares freeze. Responding to TfL’s decision he welcomed the drop in price but confirmed he would still introduce “a moratorium” on buying New Routemasters if elected and that he would “want London to only be buying electric hydrogen or truly hybrid buses” by the end of 2020 as part of seeking to improve air quality.

Liberal Democrat candidate Caroline Pidgeon too has cast doubt on the New Routemaster’s future, describing Johnson as “obsessed with getting as many of them as possible on to London’s roads before he leaves City Hall” and arguing that, whilst the lower price is welcome, “they remain considerably more expensive than comparable hybrid double deckers” when “a better policy would ensure that London has hundreds of single and double decker fully electric buses on its roads as quickly as possible.

Sian Berry, who is running for the Greens, said she would welcome “new versions of the bus that are better for people in wheelchairs so they are no longer in conflict with parents in buggies” and had cleaner engines. Berry notes that full intellectual property rights to the bus will revert to TfL once it has bought 1000 of them. This will mean that competitors to Wrightbus could, if they wished, produce models incorporating similar features without fear of legal challenge for copyright infringement.

Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith, Khan’s closest rival in the mayoral race, has repeatedly praised Johnson, describing him as “a fantastic mayor”, but has yet to say what he would do about the New Routemaster. No response has so far been received from his campaign to requests for a comment. Last November, Goldsmith told LBC radio that “within two or three years there will be no point in having bus lanes” because by then “everyone” would be driving around in electric cars.

The New Routemaster was a flagship Johnson policy when he became mayor in 2008 and was intended to combine the best of new, green technology with a revival of hallmark features of the original London Routemaster, including a second crew member (or conductor) and an open rear platform, which passengers could use to board or leave the bus between stops at will.

However, both conductors and the open platform are being phased out and TfL has acknowledged that the latest technology is set to improve on the higher emission standards initially achieved by the New Routemaster’s groundbreaking “series hybrid” engineering, which involves a small diesel engine charging batteries which power an electric engine, rather than the bus switching between parallel diesel and electric modes, as with other hybrids. The newest models will have windows that can be opened following well-publicised complaints about a lack of ventilation in the summer.

Claims that problems with some of the batteries from the original supplier (now replaced) resulted in New Routemasters running “entirely on diesel” were denied by TfL, which pointed out that the vehicle’s “driveline” makes this impossible. Even so, it is privately conceded by the transport body that the only wholly surviving unique key feature of the bus Johnson commissioned is its distinctive bodywork and interior design.