TfL takes delivery of 20 hydrogen fuel cell double-deckers

London has taken delivery of twenty hydrogen fuel cell buses, built by Northern Ireland’s Wrightbus, which will serve the bus route between East Acton and Oxford Circus. 

The new London bus fleet is part of a larger push for hydrogen power in public transport across Europe. Transport for London (TfL) has led the UK procurement within the Joint Initiative for Hydrogen Vehicles across Europe (JIVE) to buy in bulk with other UK authorities.

Under the procurement process, Wrightbus is the Great Britain’s sole supplier of double-deckers. By November there will be a total of 55 hydrogen fuel cell buses across London, Birmingham and Aberdeen.

Transport for London already has more than 500 electric buses in its fleet, and aims to be zero-emission by 2030.

A fuelling station built by Danish engineering firm Nel Hydrogen is used to top up each hydrogen fuel cell bus once per day in as little as five minutes.

The gas cylinders are manufactured by Luxfer in Nottingham. The hydrogen for the buses is produced at Air Liquide’s plant in Runcorn, harnessing waste hydrogen as a by-product from an industrial chlor-alkali plant. Oxford-based Ryze Hydrogen is responsible for transporting the fuel to the fuelling station.

From 2023, the hydrogen will be produced by electrolysis powered by a direct connection to an offshore windfarm.

“Our investment in these hydrogen buses is not only helping us to clean up London’s air but is supporting jobs and local economies across the UK,” said Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, upon launching the new fuel cell buses.

“London may have one of the cleanest bus fleets in Europe, but we need to continue to act now to tackle climate change and the city’s toxic air quality,” said Geoff Hobbs, Interim Director of Buses at TfL.

“Introducing these hydrogen double decker buses to our fleet, alongside electric buses, diversifies our green bus portfolio and helps us use the right technology for the varying operational requirements of our vast network. This will help Londoners breathe cleaner air.”

Funding came through TfL at around £6 million. More than £5 million of funding has been provided by European bodies such as the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, and the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA), an executive agency of the European Commission, as well as £1 million from the Office of Zero-Emission Vehicles.