London Central route 360: Royal Albert Hall - Elephant & Castle, Newington Causeway
Pimlico Station (H)

After an elusive phase on route 360 early last year, the BYD K8UR re-entered service on 12 December 2017 as 'EB3'. Similar to the first eBuses, this one has an updated lower front styling and a refined driveline from the high-pitched whine of the original EB-coded buses. Read a full review in a new article called 'Go-Electric' on London Connected.

©London Bus Breh 2017.

Tags:   Go-Ahead Go-Ahead Group Go-Ahead London London Central Build Your Dreams BYD BYD K8UR K8UR BYD eBus BYD Electric Bus Electric Electric Bus Electric Technology Electric Vehicle EB3 LJ16 EZS 16-reg London Buses route 360 Route 360 Pimlico Pimlico Station TfL Transport for London

© All Rights Reserved

London General route 153: Moorgate, Finsbury Square - Finsbury Park Station
Approaching Barbican Station (BA)

London General started their new contract to route 153 from Northumberland Park (NP) on 3 February 2018. The route has been acquired from CT Plus with electric buses SEe65-76 to complete its new allocation.

I was surprised by this move. Introduced to route 360, EB3 moved to the 153 on 7 February. I did not manage to get a trip on the bus - I particularly want one to understand how the drivers approach the tight turns along the route with its poorer turning ratio.

Nevertheless, I did manage to get a photo of the bus inside the Beech Street tunnel. About five years ago, I checked out the 153 for the first and only time under CT Plus and found this section exciting so it's good to have a photo here, even though the reflections of the overhead lighting made it a very difficult task that could only be satisfyingly accomplished at the end of the tunnel. More to come from Electric Buses on London Connected later this year.

©London Bus Breh 2018.

Tags:   Go-Ahead Go-Ahead Group Go-Ahead London London General Build Your Dreams BYD BYD K8UR BYD eBus BYD Electric Bus Electric Electric Bus Electric Technology Electric Vehicle EB EB3 LJ16 EZS 16-reg London Buses London Buses Bus London Buses route 153 Route 153 Barbican Beech Street TfL Transport for London

© All Rights Reserved

London General route 521: Waterloo Station, Tenison Way - London Bridge Station
Departed New Change / Cannon Street for St. Paul's Cathedral (SM), towards Mansion House Station (ME)

As was initially planned, routes 507 and 521 now run a service of two BYD eBus ... buses ... shared between them, these being London's first fully electric vehicles (hybrid buses are diesel and electric combinations). However, it took until late February for an electric bus to work on the 521 service due to battery life issues, route 507 being half the journey time of the 521.

Already photographed during its first week of service on the 521 is EB1 (LC63 CYA), but here's EB2 (LC63 CXY) on its first day working on the 521.

©London Bus Breh 2014.

Tags:   Go-Ahead Go-Ahead Group Go-Ahead London London General Build Your Dreams BYD BYD Electric Bus BYD eBus eBus Electric Electric Bus Electric Technology EB EB2 LC63 CXY 63-reg London Buses London Buses Bus London Buses route 521 Route 521 New Change St. Paul's St. Paul's Cathedral TfL Transport for London

© All Rights Reserved

London General route 507: Victoria, Bus Station - Waterloo Station
Departed Waterloo Station / York Road (V), towards Waterloo (RA)

I believe Go-Ahead London are the first operator to have purchased the Build Your Dreams Electric Bus. Two prototypes, EB1 (LC63 CYA) and EB2 (LC63 CXY), allocate themselves to former Red Arrow routes 507 and 521 respectively. Worldwide, these buses are the first of their kind, meeting an approximate of 80% city transport requirements.

I am yet to jump onboard London's first electric bus, however the bodywork design, especially the rear (unfortunately I could not get a photo) is a beautiful piece of art and BYD have stated that "communities around the world would love BYD's electric bus as it quietly cruises past its noisy polluting competitors". The only thing that is letting the innovative bus down is its name, which extremely lacks originality! I was very lucky to get this photo as the bus was returning to its garage for a second and last time on its first day of official service.

©London Bus Breh 2013.

Tags:   Go-Ahead Go-Ahead Group Go-Ahead London London General BYD BYD eBus BYD Electric Bus Electric Bus EB1 LC63 CYA 63-reg New bus London Buses London Buses Bus London Buses route 507 Route 507 Waterloo York Road TfL Transport for London

© All Rights Reserved

London General route 521: Waterloo Station - London Bridge Station
Waterloo Station / Tenison Way (H)

It's the second consecutive day EB1 (LC63 CYA) has ran on the 521, and even though I praised the electric buses' performances on route 507 I prefer them on the 521 as it is a much faster and longer route to analyse how the buses operate. Excluding the tangy scent of the new bodywork and the faulty iBus System which kept on saying places other than the approaching bus stops or the destination, the BYD eBus has great acceleration - sometimes the driver could not control it and had to brake hard at times - and provides quite a smooth journey although the bodywork does rattle on less smoother road surfaces (I could say that the Citaros are smoother at certain sections of the route). I also found the tunnel section linking Waterloo to Holborn whilst onboard EB1 quite exciting!

©London Bus Breh 2014.

Tags:   Go-Ahead Go-Ahead Group Go-Ahead London London General Build Your Dreams BYD BYD eBus eBus Electric Bus Electric Technology EB EB1 LC63 CYA 63-reg London Buses London Buses Bus London Buses route 521 Route 521 Waterloo Waterloo Station Tenison Way TfL Transport for London

© All Rights Reserved