road vehicles
London signs up for hydrogen bus fleet T ransport for London (TfL), an inte- grated body responsible for the UK capital's transportation systems, has signed a contract with US-based ISE Corporation to supply 10 hydrogenpowered buses for delivery by 2010. The contract, worth £9.65 million (US$19 million), covers not only the initial cost of the vehicles themselves, but also the specialist maintenance and replacement parts over a five-year period after delivery.
Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, confirmed that the 10 hydrogen-powered buses are part of his plan to have up to 70 hydrogen vehicles in operation in London by 2010, as set out in the London Hydrogen Partnership's Transport Action Plan. London will become the first city in Europe to operate a fleet of hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen hybrid internal combustion engine (HHICE) buses.
All of the hydrogen-powered buses will use ISE's ThunderVolt series hybrid drive system technology. Five will be hydrogen hybrid fuel cell buses, while the rest will be HHICE vehicles. ISE will be working with a number of partners, including The Wright Group, a bus manufacturer in Northern Ireland, and Canadian-based Ballard Power Systems. Transit operator First Group will operate the new fleet for TfL.
Ballard is providing its sixth-generation HD6 bus module to the consortium. Building on the momentum of the recently announced program, involving 20 buses for BC Transit in Canada, the London project will be the first to incorporate a 75 kW version of the HD6 module in a fuel cell hybrid transit bus.
This project complements the activities of the Hydrogen Bus Alliance, which TfL was integral in setting up [FCB, November 2007]. The alliance comprises representatives from the public transport authorities of several international cities and regions that have made a commitment to buy at least five new hydrogen buses each to enter operation between 2008 and 2012.
TfL previously took part in the EC-funded Clean Urban Transport for Europe (CUTE) project to test hydrogen technology in nine European cities. Several of the participants (including London) also took part in the oneyear Hy:FLEET CUTE extension.