The New Routemaster has been in service for almost 10 years. Whilst some would see it as a vanity project of Boris, the fact is there are 1,000 buses in London which probably will not see service anywhere else. The bus is a hybrid and introduced when such buses were still fairly new and innovative. Since then, electric buses have become the norm.
Two questions:
- What will happen when they are time expired?
- Could they be converted to battery power - Magitec have converted some buses, why not the New Routemaster?
Ultimately, Sadiq Khan will probably want to get rid of them as soon as possible since they were a Boris idea, but Boris holds some sway over TfL because of their funding crisis, so may instruct Khan to keep the buses (whether or not converted to battery power) as part of a future funding agreement. It may be a cheaper option to convert them in order to introduce full electric powered buses.
Any views?