World’s first double-decker hydrogen bus unveiled in London

As part of his push to clean up the British capital, the London mayor said the zero-emmissions bus will be trialled on the city's streets next year.

The Son of a London bus driver, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, unviels the world’s first hydrogen double-decker bus to be trialled in the capital next year. Hayoung Jeon / EPA

The London Mayor Sadiq Khan has unveiled the world’s first double-deck hydrogen-fuelled bus, manufactured by Wrightbus, and said it will be trialled on London’s roads next year.

Mr Khan also pledged to stop buying double-decker buses that run purely on diesel from 2018, as part of his drive to clean up the capital’s toxic air.

The zero-emission double-decker debuts a new hydrogen fuel cell driveline from the Northern Irish company Wrightbus which will become available to power both single-deck and double-deck buses when it goes into full production next year.

The mayor is working with officials from other cities around the world to phase out polluting buses and spur the development of zero and low-emission buses by driving down their costs. Eleven other cities, including New York, Amsterdam and Cape Town, have vowed to phase out the procurement of diesel buses by 2020, with Paris, Madrid and Mexico City pledging to end their use by 2025, his office said.

“It’s great that more cities are getting on board to phase out the procurement of pure diesel buses, which sends a clear signal that only the cleanest technologies are wanted in our cities,” Mr Khan said.

He has made cleaning up the capital’s air pollution, blamed for 9,400 early deaths a year, a priority of his tenure. Since becoming mayor in May, he has ended the use of the dirtiest buses on some of London’s most polluted roads, proposed an emissions surcharge for the most polluting vehicles on top of the capital’s existing congestion charge and announced plans to extend London’s “Ultra-Low Emission Zone”.

* Agencies

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