London to have more fully-electric bus routes

TfL and the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, have announced three more electric-only bus routes to cut toxic emissions.

This is the latest in a series of measures to tackle London’s toxic air.

The routes being converted to fully electric buses are Route 46, Paddington to St. Bartholomew's Hospital via King's Cross; Route 153, Finsbury Park to Moorgate via Angel; and Route 214, Highgate Village to Moorgate via Camden.

The 56 new buses will be built in the UK in a partnership between British manufacturer ADL and Chinese company BYD, and the routes will be fully electric by mid-2019.

London already boasts the largest electric bus fleet in Europe with more than 2,500 hybrid electric buses running across the Capital.

The addition of new fully electric buses on routes 46, 153 and 214 will bring the total number of electric buses in London to over 170.

This includes route 360, which will convert to fully electric buses later this year, and routes 70 and C1 are set to follow in spring 2018.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “London's buses have been one of the biggest contributors to harmful pollution coming from our transport network, and I'm proud that we continue to take some of the boldest action of any city in the world to clean up our bus fleet.”