There has been much anticipation among the MyLondon audience ahead of the début of 20 electric "trambuses" set to enter service on route 358 between Crystal Palace and Orpington this Spring. Our first look TikTok has garnered over 600,000 views and our previous article is one of our most read transport stories over the past three months. One recurring question keeps popping up - if the new trambuses are electrically-powered anyway, why doesn't TfL just bring back trolleybuses? We've been investigating...
Trolleybuses last ran in London on May 8, 1962, when the final passenger journey on trolley route 604 (Wimbledon-Hampton Court) was so busy, people were hanging from the windows, crowding the trolleybus on all sides and at times caused it to lean nervously to one side! Older Londoners still have fond memories of catching the trolley, which is a greener mode of transport than the classic fuel-powered Routemaster buses that ended up replacing them - in turn, there was then the bendybus and finally the 'Boris bus' which now scours London's streets, one of which (on route 390) has been converted to electric power.
In 1954, TfL's predecessor, London Transport, decided it would remove trolleybuses as they had additional fixed infrastructure costs of overhead wires and car ownership was booming. It was also hoped that smaller Routemaster buses would crack down on fare evasion as conductors could collect fares easier. Within eight years, they were all gone. Yet in the 61 years to follow, we now know far more about transport emissions and technology has developed to allow buses to operate with zero local emissions.
As a result, TfL is now experimenting with different types of zero local emission buses to identify which is the best type to roll out across London. As of 2023, we've now seen around ten per cent (around 900 vehicles) of the TfL bus fleet become the following:
- standard electric bus - single or double decker
- hydrogen double deckers - used on routes 7 (Oxford Circus-East Acton) and 245 (Alperton Sainsbury's-Golders Green), following on from a previous hydrogen single decker trial on now axed route RV1 (Covent Garden-Tower Gateway)
- pantobuses - used on route 132 (North Greenwich-Bexleyheath), electric double deckers which are charged using a 'reverse pantograph' which deploys from charing point to roof of bus
- trambuses - being introduced to route 358 soon, electric long wheelbase single deckers which are shaped in the style of a tram - they will be rapidly charged at each end of the route by pantographs
TfL hasn't opted to revert to trolleybuses, even though cities across the world such as San Francisco have. In Zürich, trolleybuses share their routes with trams through the busy city centre, before their drivers disconnect them from the power lines and they drive on battery power through the suburbs. Lyon, France has the largest number of trolleybuses in Europe, with plans for an additional route by 2026, largely supported by the city's Green administration.
At a press event to demonstrate the new charging power for London's buses, MyLondon asked TfL's head of bus business development Tom Cunnington why trolleybuses hadn't been considered despite the similarities. He told us: "Trams and trolleybuses are great in the right place, but the infrastructure required along the street - all the poles, all the wiring, and all the power supply which comes with that is a level of complexity that is too expensive and too difficult to achieve, certainly in the short term."
TfL's current financial situation means that most of its long-term capital investment projects are paused. There is still ongoing investment in new zero local emission buses with private bus companies which run buses across London on TfL's behalf participating. Mr Cunnington added: "Where you've got a legacy tram or trolleybus system, great, but where you haven't got that the cost of putting that in is really difficult. Plus, trolleybuses do reduce the flexibility to divert buses. So if there's an incident on the 132 now, the bus can go another way around it - with trolleybuses they're very much more restricted as to where they can go, so what we're doing now maintains the flexibility, with better costs for Londoners and quicker than having to wait for all that infrastructure."
The trambuses will début on route 358 as it's one of London's longest routes, linking Crystal Palace, Penge, Beckenham, Eden Park, Shortlands, Bromley, Bromley Common, Green Street Green and Orpington. It is yet to be seen whether the crowds will turn out en masse to welcome them in the same way they said goodbye to the trolleybuses 61 years ago.
Do you remember London's trolleybuses? Would you like to see them return? What do you anticipate from the new trambuses? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
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