The Anonymous Widower

Sutton Station To Gatwick Airport By Hydrogen-Powered Bus

In Central London and Gatwick Airport For Free On A Freedom Pass, I indicated it was possible to go to Gatwick Airport for nothing, if you had a Freedom Pass, which is also a free bus pass for England.

This morning I took public transport to Gatwick Airport by this route.

• I took a 43 bus to London Bridge station.
• This bus terminates in the bus station in front of the train station, so it was a simple step-free entry into the part of the station, where Southern Trains terminate.
• I took a Southern Train to Sutton station.
• I then took a Metrobus 420 bus from Sutton station to Gatwick Airport.

These pictures show the journey.

Note.

1. The bus stop is directly outside the entrance to Sutton station.
2. Sutton station is step-free.
3. The information on the Metrobus’s buses at Sutton station is poor.
4. The bus had a 74 number plate, so was registered after September 1st, 2024.
5. The bus said it was a hydrogen bus.
6. The seats were comfortable with leather facings.
7. The route was mainly through rural Surrey.
8. There were sections of dual-carriageway road with continuous 40 mph running.
9. There were a number of steep hills.
10. Previously, I have been told by a Bradford Councillor, that the City of Bradford is going for hydrogen-powered buses , as the city has lots of steep hills.
11. The unusual Reigate and Redhill War Memorial on the A25.
12. The route goes past Hadworth, Reigate and Redhill stations.
13. Just before Gatwick Airport, the bus called at East Surrey Hospital.

I have some thoughts.

Does This Hydrogen Bus Have Almost The Quality Passengers Would Expect From A Coach?

Consider.

• I was very impressed with the quality of the bus and its fittings.
• But its biggest assets were the ride and mouse-quiet noise and being vibration-free.
• It was certainly up there, with the best British buses on UK roads.
• Strangely, I never rode in any of London’s Green Line coaches of the 1950s and 1960s.

But as Wrightbus are selling hydrogen-powered single-decker buses to the Germans, the quality must be of a certain standard.

The Performance Of The Bus

I would sum up the bus as follows.

• The bus didn’t hang around and it was well-driven.
• On much of the dual-carriageway, the bus appeared to be at the maximum speed limit of 40 mph
• Ride and seats were comfortable.
• There was virtually no vibration.
• At times, you almost felt you were in a top-of-the-range coach.
• The running gear is from German company ZF, which certainly doesn’t hinder the ride.
• The journey from Sutton to Gatwick Airport is twenty miles and took about ninety minutes.

I would feel that if Wrightbus design their CoachH2 chassis to the same standard of this bus, they’ll have a difficulty to meet sales demand.

Wrightbus Hydrogen Buses For My Local Bus Route 141

Consider.

• The 141 bus route is my local bus, which gets me to Moorgate, Bank, London Bridge and Manor House.
• The length of the full route is twenty miles and it takes about an hour to go from London Bridge station to Palmers Green.
• The route is currently run by older Wrightbus hybrid diesel-electric buses.
• I suspect that modern hydrogen buses could last almost all day on one fill of hydrogen, with perhaps a top-up at lunchtime.

They would have no difficulty handling the route  and would greatly increase the customers current rock-bottom satisfaction.

Hydrogen Buses In Leafy Suburbs

• Where I live, is not particularly leafy or a suburb.
• But I seems to remember, when I moved here, that some of my neighbours complained about the noise of the 76 bus route.
• So Transport for London put on some quieter buses.

I would expect, that Metrobus might use the mouse quieter hydrogen buses in post areas, to avoid annoyance.

Hydrogen Buses As Route Extenders

Effectively, the Metrobus route 420 is acting as a route extender for Southern and Thameslink services coming South from London.

As it is a quality bus, that gets a move on, I suspect that some travellers, who previously  took a train to Sutton, Tadworth, Reigate, Redhill or other stations and were then picked up, may take a hydrogen bus to a more convenient bus stop.

Because of the long range of a hydrogen bus or coach, zero-carbon performance, should be achieved without any range anxiety for passengers, driver or bus company.

Onward From Oakhampton Parkway Station

Consider.

• In 2014, storms destroyed the railway at Dawlish in Devon.
• As there was no alternative route, the storms cut everything west of Dawlish off from the rest of the UK.
• It is now likely, that a Park-and-Ride station will be built close to Okehanpton, which commuters would use for travel to Exeter.
• The main road to the South-West ; the A 30 will pass nearby.

It  would appear, that Okehampton Interchange station could be used, if Nepture decided to show his power again.

Hopefully, the emergency plan will scare Nepture away.

Lumo To The Scottish Borders

Consider.

• Lumo have applied to extend some of their Edinburgh services to Glasgow.
• Talking to a friend in the Scottish Borders, they said, that travelers drive to Newcastle or Morpeth to catch Lumo for London.
• Four or five Lumo services every day stop in each direction at Morpeth station.
• So would it be sensible to run  a bus or coach through the Scottish Borders to connect with the Lumo services?

This Google Map shows Morpeth in relation to the Border towns.

Note.

1. Morpeth is marked by the red arrow in the South-East corner of the map.
2. Galashiels, Galashiels, Hawick, Jedburgh, Peebles, Saint Boswells and Selkirk can be picked out on the map.
4. The coach service would probably terminate at Galashiels, as it has a large bus terminal and and a railway station.
5. Click the map to show it to a larger scale.

Morpeth to Galashiels is 69 miles and it should take about an hour and a half.

Hydrogen Buses As Rail Replacement Buses

Consider.

• I have had Rail Replacement Coaches as opposed to buses a few times in the UK.
• Once on the East Coast Main Line but usually on the Great Eastern Main Line to Ipswich or Norwich.
• They are generally more suited to their task. as they are faster and more luxurious.
• Many of our major rail lines run alongside trunk roads or motorways or fast dual carriageways.

So because hydrogen buses and coaches a have superior performance, than their diesel cousins, will hydrogen be the better fuel for a Rail Replacement Bus.

Metrobus’s Hydrogen Buses

This press release on the Metrobus web site is entitled Hydrogen Buses.

This is the sub-heading.

Our commitment to Zero Emissions

As part of our commitment to reducing emissions, twenty new hydrogen fuelled buses will operate on Fastway routes 10 & 20. These new buses demonstrate an ongoing commitment to reducing our local emissions. They deliver against science-based targets set by Metrobus and its parent company, The Go-Ahead Group, of becoming a net zero business by 2045 and decarbonising our bus fleet by 2035.

Conclusion

This bus is the best I’ve ridden in.

February 22, 2025 Posted by AnonW | Hydrogen, Transport/Travel | 420, Borderlands, Buses, CoacH2, East Surrey Hospital, Freedom Pass, Gatwick Airport, Gatwick Airport Station, Go-Ahead Group, Hydrogen-Powered Buses, London Bridge Station, London Bus 141, London Bus 43, Lumo, Metrobus, Metrobus 420, Morpeth Station, Okehampton Interchange Station, Redhill Station, Reigate Station, Southern, Surrey, Sutton Station, Tadworth Station, Thameslink, Wrightbus | 7 Comments