London’s most polluting buses to be upgraded

The most polluting buses in the capital are going to be upgraded to cut their emissions by 95 per cent

The announcement has been made by the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and is the latest part of his plans to clean up the capital’s air.

More than half of London’s entire bus fleet are to be upgraded to meet the latest ultra-low Euro VI emissions standard.

Through the new £86.1 million programme, around 5,000 buses will be retrofitted with a new exhaust system that will significantly cut their emissions.

This will mean that by September 2020 the entire bus fleet will be at least Euro VI standard.

Transport for London (TfL) will work with bus operators and five chosen suppliers to install the new bespoke exhaust systems which will reduce nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.

Diesel particulate filters will also be installed alongside this Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) equipment to reduce air pollution.

Currently, 700-800 new low-emission buses are being introduced to the fleet every year, with diesel-only buses being phased out.

From next year, all new double-deck buses will be hybrid, electric or hydrogen. In addition, all buses within the central London Ultra-Low Emission Zone will be Euro VI hybrid standard by 2019.

Last week, the Mayor also set out in his draft Transport Strategy that by 2037 at the latest, all 9,200 buses across London will be zero emission.

Khan said: “We know that pollution from our roads is a major contributor to London’s toxic air. That’s why we are working so hard to introduce new clean buses on our streets and why we are continually looking for innovative ways to clean up the most polluting buses.

“There’s no doubt that by cutting the emissions of more than half of the fleet by up to 95 per cent, this innovative retrofit programme is going to make a huge difference to Londoners.”