Route 10 to operate New Routemasters from Saturday

24 April 2014
Sixth bus route in the capital to operate entirely with the world's greenest diesel electric hybrid buses
  • Seventh bus route - the route 38 and night service N38 - will be next to convert to running with New Routemasters   

From Saturday 26 April route 10 will become the latest in the capital to be served entirely by New Routemasters. 

These are the cleanest and greenest diesel electric hybrid buses in the world and are part of a comprehensive programme to reduce emissions from London's bus fleet.  

Currently, five bus routes in London are served by around 140 New Routemasters. 

By 2016 there will be 600 of these new buses on London's streets.  

Route 10, which runs 24-hours a day and is operated by London United, runs between Hammersmith Bus Station and King's Cross St Pancras via Olympia, High Street Kensington, Knightsbridge, Hyde Park Corner, Marble Arch, Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road and Euston.  

Buses on route 10 will operate with the rear door open and a conductor on the rear platform for the majority of the day on weekdays (6am-6pm Monday to Friday). 

In the evenings and at weekends the rear platform will be closed when the bus is moving but all three sets of doors will be open and closed by the driver at bus stops. 

During peak hours, 23 of the new buses will be in passenger service to carry the 19,000 people who travel on the route each week day.  

The next route to be converted will be the 38 along with night service N38, operated by Arriva, which will see more New Routemasters being introduced on a phased basis, with full conversion expected by the end of May. 

It was the route on which the first prototype New Routemaster entered service in February 2012. 

The route 38 runs between Victoria Station and Hackney, via Hyde Park Corner, Green Park, Piccadilly Circus, Bloomsbury, Islington, Dalston, Hackney Central Station and Clapton Pond. 

The route N38, which operates at night, has an extended service running additionally via Lea Bridge, Leyton (Bakers Arms) and Walthamstow Central.  

Once converted, buses on route 38 will operate with the rear door open and a conductor on the rear platform for the majority of the day on weekdays (6am-7pm Monday to Friday) on the busiest section of the route between Islington and Victoria.  

On the remainder of the route, in the evenings and at weekends the rear platform will be closed when the bus is moving but all three sets of doors will be open and closed by the driver at bus stops.  

During peaks hours, 59 of these state of the art buses will be in passenger service to carry the 42,000 people who travel on the route each week day.   

  • The introduction of the New Routemaster is part of a comprehensive programme to reduce emissions from London's bus fleet with 1,700 hybrids on the street by 2016, accelerating the introduction of ultra low emission Euro VI buses and retrofitting 900 older buses to reduce their NOx emissions by up to 80 per cent
  • In tests a New Routemaster prototype bus was found to emit a quarter of the NOx (Oxides of Nitrogen) and harmful 'PM' particles of a fleet average hybrid bus and 20 per cent less CO2.  When all 600 are in service in 2016 they will reduce CO2 emissions in the capital by around 20,600 tonnes a year
  • London United is a wholly owned subsidiary of RATP Dev SA, which operates public transportation in over 12 countries.  The London United network of routes covers central, west and south west London
  • Arriva is part of Deutsche Bahn, one of the world's leading passenger transport and logistics service providers, and operates in 14 European countries.  Headquartered in Sunderland, Arriva is responsible for Deutsche Bahn's regional passenger transport services outside of Germany
  • These buses are manufactured by the family-owned Wrightbus company in Northern Ireland.  The order for 600 vehicles resulted in the opening of a new chassis plant in Antrim and the safeguarding of 220 jobs, including 18 apprenticeships and the creation of 50 new jobs
  • As well as the manufacture of the chassis and superstructure in Northern Ireland, a number of components for the bus are made by companies from around the UK; including engines from Darlington, seats from Telford, seat moquette from Huddersfield, wheelchair ramps from Hoddesdon (Hertfordshire), destination blinds from Middleton near Manchester and flooring from Liskeard (Cornwall).  All of these companies have received a boost as a result of the new bus project