London’s bus route 358 debuts electric buses with tram-inspired design

London’s longest bus route to be converted to electric buses has started carrying passengers after a longer-than-planned trial run.

The issue with Route 358 — which runs between Crystal Palace and Orpington — is that its length limits how often electric buses can run back and forth along it without needing to recharge their batteries.

To solve that, Transport for London (TfL) is testing an idea that uses drop-down pantographs at either end of the route to quickly top up the batteries so that the buses don’t need to return to the garage halfway through the day.

The standard overnight charger can top the batteries to run for around 300km — which gets you about 10 trips along the bus route, which is almost, but not quite, enough for a single day of use, and without a margin for error.

So, two rechargers have been installed at either end of the route, and when the bus pulls into the bus stop, the pantograph is lowered down to the bus and tops up the battery. At full power, the fast charger can give the bus another 55-75km of range in about 6 minutes, so about enough for a return trip along the route.

The process is very simple for the bus driver — they pull in under the pantograph aligned with a couple of positioning bumps in the ground. Then, while still in the cab, the driver press a button to lower the pantograph to recharge the bus. The bus can’t drive off while the pantograph is connected, so there’s no risk of accidents.

Officially, this is still a trial to ensure the buses can reliably provide a full day of service and that the batteries last as expected. However, if it works as expected, then this could be one way of converting more of the outer London bus routes to electric buses. There’s also a related trial taking place on bus route 132.

Getting this bus route converted hasn’t been simple. There have been some issues over land ownership for the pantographs and fast chargers and connecting a high-capacity electricity supply to the chargers.

There’s also been a longer than expected process of driver familiarisation, so the service that was due to start in March 2023, then June 2024 has now started in November 2024.

The new buses, built by the Spanish bus and coach maker, Irizar are called ie trams, thanks to what they say is the new bus’s tram-like appearance.

The buses themselves are more curved and rounded than your average London bus, and the covered rear wheels give them a distinctive appearance. Inside, the buses have all the usual bells and whistles you expect in a modern bus.

Something very different though is the use of glass below the usual window level where the seats are.

The whole fleet of 20 new buses should be in operation within the next few weeks, so at the moment, depending on your preference, you can either ride a new bus or have the last chance to ride the old buses.