TfL in £9.65m Order of Hydrogen Buses

As part of Transport for London's continued commitment to the environment, mayor Ken Livingstone has announced an order of ten Wright Group badged hydrogen powered buses to be delivered by 2010.

All ten of the new Wrightbus single deck vehicles will be powered by a hybrid-electric drive system, five of which will incorporate Ballard Fuel Cells, with the other five buses utilising a hydrogen internal combustion engine developed by Ford Power Products. As there is no carbon in the fuel, hydrogen-powered vehicles produce no carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide or particulate emissions. They also have the additional benefit of being exceptionally quiet in operation.

Use of hydrogen also opens up the possibility of creating fuel from renewable sources, which can reduce world dependence on imported oil and other fossil fuels. Hydrogen can be derived from water through electrolysis, a process that can be achieved with clean electricity generated from solar, wind, or hydroelectric power.

“Hydrogen technology offers a sustainable, safe and clean power source which is ideally suited for a densely populated, major international city like London. Working closely with our technical partners and Transport for London, this order is another significant step towards making the vision of a “hydrogen economy” a reality and demonstrates our determination to be at the vanguard of development of ever cleaner and even more efficient buses.”
Jonathon Poynton, Business Development Director, The Wright Group

Wrightbus has played a proactive role in the development of cleaner buses in the capital, which has already seen 12 Hybrid Electric Vehicles already in successful operation on two TfL routes.