A Bus For The Twenty-First Century
What puzzles me, is why bus drivers in London, seem to be suffering more from COVID-19 infection, than drivers elsewhere!
In London, all buses have two or three doors and contactless ticketing, whereas in many parts of the UK, there is often only one door and no contactless ticketing.
This must mean, that there is generally less interaction between the driver and passengers in the capital. So logic would say, that outside of London, there should be more passing of infections between everybody on the bus.
An Observation In Manchester
Ten years ago, I observed behaviour on a single-door Manchester bus going to Oldham, with a union rep for bus drivers, who by chance happened to be sitting beside me.
The scrum as passengers entered and left the bus by the same door was horrific and the rep told me, that the local riff-raff were always trying to nick the driver’s money.
He told me, that a London system based on contactless ticketing was union policy and would cut attacks on staff, which he said had virtually stopped in London.
A Bus For The Twenty-First Century
The government has said that millions will be available for new zero-carbon buses, powered by hydrogen. I doubt that batteries will be able to provide enough power for many years.
It is my belief that given the new circumstances, that the bus should also have the following features.
- It should be as infection-unfriendly as possible, as COVID-19 won’t be the last deadly infection.
- Contactless ticketing by credit card or pass.
- Full CCTV to identify non-payers or those with stolen cards.
- Two doors with one in the middle for entry and one at the back for exit.
- It would be possible on some routes for both doors to be used for entry and exit.
- Wheelchairs would enter and leave by the middle door, where the ramp would be fitted.
I would put the stairs to the top deck on the left hand side of the bus, with the foot of the stairs leading directly into the lobby by the middle door.
The Van Hool ExquiCity
The Van Hool ExquiCity is an alternative solution, that is already running in Belfast, where it is named Glider.
It is probably best described as a double-ended articulated bus, that runs on rubber tyres, that thinks it’s a tram.
This press release from Ballard is entitled Ballard-Powered Fuel Cell Tram-Buses From Van Hool Now in Revenue Service in France, describes the latest hydrogen-powered version of the Exquicity, which is now in service in Pau in France.
- Each bus appears to be powered by a 100 kW hydrogen fuel cell.
- The buses are over eighteen metres long.
- Twenty-four metre double-articulated tram-buses are available.
- The buses seat 125 passengers
- The buses have a range of 300 kilometres between refuelling.
I like the concept, as it brings all the advantages of a tram at a lower cost.
Here’s a video.
It certainly seems a quiet bus.
I desperately need to get to Pau to see these vehicles.
Conclusion
We could design a new bus for the twenty-first century, that tackles the problems facing the bus industry.
- Climate change and global warming.
- Control of deadly infections like COVID-19.
- Efficient, fast ticketing.
- Attacks on staff.
- Petty crime.
- Access to public transport for the disabled, the elderly and those with reduced mobility.
We certainly have the skills to design and manufacture a suitable bus.
Tees Valley Wins £1.3million Project To Bring Hydrogen Vehicles To The Region
The title of this post, is the same as that as this article on the Tees Valley Combined Authority web site.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Hydrogen vehicles and refuelling stations will soon be coming to Tees Valley after it was today (February 5) announced that a £1.3million bid to Government had been successful.
The next two paragraphs give more detail.
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen welcomed the result of a Government competition that will see two refuelling stations built in Middlesbrough and Redcar, plus a fleet of cars which use hydrogen technology for long-range travel (300+ miles) and fast refuelling capability.
The new refuelling stations could allow cars, buses, bin lorries and even trains to be powered by the super fuel.
This later paragraph details the expected economic benefits.
Figures from a draft report commissioned by the Combined Authority and produced by KPMG suggest that exploiting the opportunities of the hydrogen economy could add up to £7billion to the region’s economy by 2050, with the creation of as many as 1,000 jobs.
These figures seem to say hydrogen is good for the economy and jobs.
Batteries Come Of Age In Railway Construction
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Rail Engineer.
It is very much a must-read article on the subject of constructing and repairing railways in a zero-carbon manner.
These are some extra comments of mine!
Smaller And Lighter First
This is a paragraph from the article.
Smaller and lighter equipment is getting the treatment first – the batteries and motors can be smaller. Volvo Construction Equipment has already supplied its first electric compact loader, to a customer in Germany.
Volvo seems to be busy creating electric loaders.
Size Appears To Be No Limit
This extract shows how a large dump truck can go electric.
If a 25-tonne excavator is not big enough, how about a Komatsu HD605-7 off-highway truck, which weighs 51 tonnes unladen and has a payload of 63 tonnes? Kuhn Switzerland, working with Lithium Storage and the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), has converted this 111-tonne gross vehicle weight monster into an electric vehicle.
Out came the 23-litre, 778hp (578kW) diesel engine and in went a synchronous electric motor rated at 789hp (588kW) electric motors. An additional 120kW motor is fitted just to power the hydraulic systems. The battery was a challenge – the four large packs have a combined rating of 700kWh and weigh 4.5 tonnes.
Do you get much bigger than 111 tonne, nearly 600 kW and a 700 kWh battery pack?
Regenerative Braking
The article also says that in some applications, vehicles go up and down a route and can charge the batteries using regenerative braking on the downhill run. In one application batteries only need charging every three days.
Rail Application Of Off-Road Equipment
The article says this.
While an eDumper may be too large to use on the railway, it does show what can now be done. Between JCB’s mini-excavator and eMining’s dump truck, there is room to battery-power almost any item used on the railway today.
I would suspect that there are a lot of companies, including giants like Caterpillar, JCB, Komatsu. Volvo and others working to produce electric versions of their successful products.
What About The Workers
The article says this.
These new machines are only the tip of the ‘electric’ iceberg. As pressure mounts to cut carbon emissions and to protect workers from harmful fumes, there will be more to come.
Health and safety will lead to a big push towards electric, as electric vehicles are pollution, carbon and fume-free, with a substantial noise reduction.
Hydrogen Will Have A Part To Play
This statement is from the Wikipedia entry for ITM Power.
In March 2015 JCB made a strategic investment of £4.9M in ITM Power.
Why would a construction equipment company invest in a company, that makes equipment that generates hydrogen to power vehicles?
- It is known, that the Bamford heir has purchased Wrightbus and intend to make hydrogen-powered buses for the world.
- JCB have built their own diesel engines, so are they building their own hydrogen engine?
- JCB make tractors and I believe a hydrogen-powered tractor may be more than a niche market.
- Is it possible to build a hydrogen-powered JCB?
Buy any of these products and you get a gas station in the price.
To deliver hydrogen, all you need to do is connect it to the water and electricity mains and switch on.
If you’re using it to power rail or site construction equipment, the gas station could be on wheels, so it can be moved from site to site.
Conclusion
This is the writer’s conclusion.
It seems that ‘battery is the new diesel’. It will be fascinating to see how this sector develops over the next few years.
I don’t disagree, but would add, that I feel that JCB are the elephant in this room!
JCB Heir And Wrightbus Owner Jo Bamford: ‘We Can Sell Our Hydrogen Bus Around The World’
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in The Telegraph.
The sub-title is.
The Wrightbus boss has a dream: using JCB skills, he hopes to turn its iconic red ‘Boris bus’ green.
The article is hope for the future of Northern Ireland.
Remember that hydrogen buses like diesel buses need an appropriate fuel, so where do they get hydrogen from?
Step forward ITM Power, who are the UK’s hydrogen company, based in Rotherham.
They are backed by a variety of companies and Government agencies including JCB.
Hydrogen Mobility: Coming Soon to a Bus or Truck Near You?
The title of this post is the same as that as this article on Green Tech Media.
The article is a must-read and makes these points.
- Hydrogen could have a significant impact on the transportation sector, even though sales of fuel-cell cars have been minuscule to date.
- More than nine million passenger fuel-cell vehicles could be built.
- In the short term hydrogen could be used for buses and heavy trucks.
- There are only 17,000 hydrogen vehicles worldwide.
- In 2019, there was a 246 percent increase in hydrogen vehicles.
- Hydrogen-powered garbage trucks are being tested in Germany, The Netherlands and the UK.
Overall there seems to be a lot of growth and enthusiasm for hydrogen-powered vehicles.
Could Battery-Electric Hitachi Trains Work Hull Trains’s Services?
Before I answer this question, I will lay out the battery-electric train’s specification.
Hitachi’s Proposed Battery Electric Train
Based on information in an article in Issue 898 of Rail Magazine, which is entitled Sparking A Revolution, the specification of Hitachi’s proposed battery-electric train is given as follows.
- Based on Class 800-802/804 trains or Class 385 trains.
- Range of 55-65 miles.
- Operating speed of 90-100 mph
- Recharge in ten minutes when static.
- A battery life of 8-10 years.
- Battery-only power for stations and urban areas.
- Trains are designed to be created by conversion of existing Class 80x trains.
For this post, I will assume that the train is five cars long. This is the length of Hull Trains’s Class 802 trains.
Recently, Hitachi have released this infographic.
This seems to give the same information and a definitive range of 90 km or 56 miles.
Hull Trains’s Services
Hull Trains run a train between Kings Cross and Hull, with some trains extending to Beverley.
- The service runs at a frequency of five trains per day (tpd) to Hull station and two tpd to Beverley station.
- Intermediate stations are Stevenage, Grantham, Retford, Doncaster, Selby, Howden, Brough and Cottingham
The Beverley service is 213 miles long and takes three hours and seven minutes.
These are facts about the operation of the service.
- The train changes between diesel and electric operation at Temple Hirst Junction, which is on the electrified East Coast Main Line.
- Temple Hirst Junction is forty-four miles from Beverley and thirty-six miles from Hull.
- Trains to and from Beverley reverse at Hull and and are allowed eighteen minutes for the operation.
- This reverse at Hull is enough time to charge the train’s batteries using a Fast-Charging system.
As these trains could have a range of at least fifty-five miles on battery power, is there any point to bother with diesel?
Could Hull Trains and TransPennineExpress Share A Fast-Charger?
In Could Battery-Electric Hitachi Trains Work TransPennine Express’s Services?, I said this about their Manchester Piccadilly and Hull service.
As with the Scarborough and Redcar Central services, a Fast-Charging system would probably be needed at Hull.
As Hull Trains and TransPennine Express are both First Group companies, I would assume they would share amicably!
But would they allow LNER’s Azumas to use their Fast-Charger?
Could Hull Station Go Zero-Carbon?
If all the Hitachi trains used by Hull Trains, LNER and TransPrnnine Express were to use battery power to run between Hull station and the nearest electrification, the only diesel trains using the station would be Northern‘s assortment.
Northern run services through or to Hull as follows.
- Sheffield and Hull
- Sheffield and Bridlington
- Hull and Scarborough
- Hull and York
All services have a frequency of around one train per hour (tph).
These services could be run by either battery-electric or hydrogen-electric trains.
Hull station is also a big bus interchange, so these would need to be converted to electric or hydrogen.
I’m sure iTM Power not far away in Sheffield, would be happy to provide a hydrogen system to fuel the buses and the trains.
Conclusion
It looks to me, that if a Fast-Charging system, were to be fitted at Hull and used during reverse or turnround at the station, that a Class 802 train fitted with batteries could work Hull Train’s service without using a drop of diesel.
I can just see the advertising – Hull Trains – Your carbon-free way between London and Hull!
It wouldn’t even need any electrification, other than the Fast-Charging system at Hull.
I also believe that Hull station and the co-located bus station could go carbon-free.
Ballard-Powered Fuel-Cell Tram-Buses From Van Hool Now In Revenue Service In France
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Green Car Congress.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Ballard Power Systems announcedthat 8 ExquiCity tram-buses built by Van Hool NV and powered by 8 Ballard FCveloCity-HD 100-kilowatt fuel cell modules have been inaugurated at a ceremony in Pau, France and are now in revenue service in Pau’s Bus Rapid Transit System.
The Van Hool ExquiCity tram buses have the following specification.
- Two sections
- Length – 18.6 metres (New Routemaster – 11.2 metres)
- Width – 2.6 metres (New Routemaster – 2.52 metres)
- Weight – 18.5 tonnes (New Routemaster – 12.8 tonnes)
- Passengers – 125 (New Routemaster – 80-87 – More on a 21/38/73 in the Peak)
- Hydrogen Range – 300 km.
- Power – 100 kW (New Routemaster – 138 kW)
I have compared with a New Routemaster, as both vehicles are designed as hybrids with a power source charging a battery which drives the vehicle, through a Siemens traction motor.
The Glider buses in Belfast are diesel-electric hybrid versions of the ExquiCity.
Conclusion
I do wonder from looking at the comparison with a New Routemaster, that the ExquiCity could be an interesting way to get 56 % more passengers into 66 % more road space. But it may be more efficient to use two New Routemasters to carry 28 % more passengers in 29 % more road space than the ExquiCity.
It is interesting to note that the Mercedes Citaro bendy buses in London, which were so hated by motorists because they blocked junctions were also eighteen metres long like the ExquiCity.
Obviously, if buses ran on a separated bus way, the length is not a problem.
I do feel though, that a purpose-built hydrogen-powered double-deck bus, will be better for most UK towns and cities.
This article on the BBC is entitled Wrightbus Owner Jo Bamford Says Coming To NI Is Revelation.
This is a paragraph.
Mr Bamford, the son of JCB chairman Lord Bamford, told BBC News NI he has a keen interest in the use of hydrogen to power buses and that was the main reason he got involved with Wrightbus.
Consider.
- Wrightbus designed and built the chassis for the diesel-electric hybrid New Routemaster.
- Wrightbus pioneered the low-floor bus.
- In March 2015 JCB made a strategic investment of £4.9M in hydrogen company; ITM Power.
- ITM Power built the hydrogen filling station for the ExquiCity tram-buses in Pau.
It looks to me, that Jo Bamford, with some help from his father, has assembled the components for a serious assault on the hydrogen bus market.
Could New Routemaster Buses Be Converted To Hydrogen Power?
London has a thousand New Routemaster buses.
They are generally liked by passengers and drivers, although some Labour politicians think they should be replaced, because of their association with Boris.
They were introduced in 2011, so with a refurbishment, I suspect that they could be in service for perhaps another ten years.
The big feature in the design is that they are genuine hybrid buses with a small Cummins engine halfway up the back stairs, a battery under the front stairs and electric drive with regenerative braking.
I do wonder though, that because of the electric transmission, that these buses could be converted to hydrogen-powered buses.
It could be a more affordable route to create a thousand new zero-carbon buses for the streets of London or any other city for that matter.
Given that Wrightbus, who built the New Routemasters, is now owned by a member of the Bamford family of JCB fame and the company is reported to be going down the hydrogen bus route, I would suspect that conversion to hydrogen is on somebody’s mind.
A Radical Government Would Consider Making Bus Travel Free
The title of this post is taken from the sub-title of the first leading article in today’s Times.
This is the last paragraph.
This is an opportunity for the government to be bold and help those deprived northern areas that voted Conservative for the first time. It should raise spending on buses and force the mainly private companies to provide many more services and routes. It should also encourage them to use electric or hydrogen-powered vehicles. But if it really wants to encourage a better quality of life and improved economic prospects for the north and other regions, it should consider making bus journeys free. At present millions of elderly people and children benefit from free bus passes . Why not extend this to all? That would send a message that this really is a people’s government.
The Times has a point. In fact it has several.
Toyota Fuel Cell Buses Expected To Be Big Seller Of Hydrogen At 2020 Tokyo Olympics
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Fuel News.
This is the first paragraph.
Toyota fuel cell buses are likely to be the clean transportation to take center stage at the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. The Japanese automaker intends to roll out 100 of these buses at the event to shuttle visitors between venues.
It would appear to be an exercise to publicise their technology.
If you read the Wikipedia entry for hydrogen fuel cell buses, no-one has yet built and deployed a fleet as large as Toyota’s for the Olympics.
The UK has two major deployments of hydrogen fuel cell double deck buses, under development, that I wrote about in the following posts.
- London To Have World-First Hydrogen-Powered Double-Decker Buses
- New Facility To Power Liverpool’s Buses With Hydrogen
In 2012, I went to a lecture about the New Routemaster Bus at the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, which I wrote about in The Development of the New Bus for London.
Wrightbus had obviously done their research and I got the impression, that designers can put heavy and bulky components all over the place in a modern double-decker bus.
On the New Routemaster components are placedas follows.
- The single traction motor is under the floor.
- The battery is under the front stairs.
- The Cummins diesel engine is half-way up the back stairs.
As the New Routemaster is based on a specially-designed chassis and not a standard one from Volvo or Mercedes, I wonder if to be successful, a hydrogen-powered bus needs a custom-designed chassis, to properly accommodate the various components.
- Traction motor
- Hydrogen tank
- Hydrogen fuel cell
- Battery
It certainly looks like Toyota have gone down this route. But then they can afford to for the Tokyo Olympics.
The Anonymous Widower 