Snow

I hope Mark Kehoe doesn't mind me using this photo
from last night in Whitehall

This is a tribute to the many hundreds of our people who have worked day and night this weekend to keep London moving.

From the news you might have thought there had been a major catastrophe and some significant neglect.

So, for the record, we knew the snow was coming from the excellent weather forecasts we get and we were prepared. This includes extensive stocks of grit for the roads and teams ready to spread it. We are working closely with our colleagues in TfL and at the Highways Agency, National Rail, BAA and so on.

So before the snow arrived gritting was underway and this includes bus routes and access to garages. It did come down in London quite quickly but in general we kept services moving. Towards the end of the night some suburban roads became impassable - not just due to snow but due to abandoned or accident-damaged vehicles.

On the Underground the outer ends of the Central and Jubilee lines became blocked but even at midnight 91% of the service was running. Bus and rail staff kept going to the end of service. During the night de-icing trains ran and the night bus network operated broadly as usual. Again some outer London issues meant there were some diversions and curtailments.

Gritting was repeated during the night. But the issue here is that grit needs to be moved about to be effective and on Sunday mornings traffic is very light. As a result it took a while for its melting properties to take effect. Nevertheless at 0630 all of London's major roads were open as were most of the other roads in Central London and the suburbs.

As London Underground opened up its service there were again some troubles in the more exposed areas but all services came on stream well, as did the Docklands Light Railway after technical hitch at the start.

As I said on BBC Radio and LBC today London was 'open for business' and whether you were travelling on buses, trains, or in your car provided you gave yourself a little more time you could carry on as normal today.

During the day most of the snow turned to slush and so in case temperatures fell below freezing and turned to black ice the gritters were back out late afternoon and during Sunday night.

The media did its best to portray this as poorly planned. In fact the effects were minimised by the great work by hundreds of people. The bus drivers, train operators, station staff, gritting gangs and back office people who worked throughout to keep things going, keep them open and get the message out to London.

The media might have looked everywhere for someone to blame but without any luck. All our people did an outstanding job and that includes those who work for our extended family of contractors of course.

Thank you all for everything you did and as a result we are looking forward to as near normal Monday morning peak hour as we could have hoped for.


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A last look at LT1 before it enters service.

In this photo LT1 shows the other destination panel on the 'launch' set
which featured on Wrightbus' Christmas Card in 2011

Exclusively here for my readers is a unique photograph of the first prototype New Bus for London LT1 after its London launch alongside its predecessor the Engineering Test Vehicle. The latter has been at Millbrook for testing since the Spring and has now been joined by LT1 for its own testing prior to its entry into service at the end of February on route 38.

Testing continues to go extremely well and the vehicles are delivering exceptional fuel economy and lower emissions than we had expected.

Delivery of LT2 is imminent and the entire prototype fleet will be in service by Spring.

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Happy Christmas

It does seem like a time to set the record straight.

After a tremendous launch of the New Bus for London, the media and some enthusiasts got themselves really excited about the sight of LT1 on the hard shoulder of the M1 last Monday.

Yes it was there - it was on it way to Millbrook for completion of handover testing and pre-delivery preparations.

The truth is that we had already learned from the delivery journey that a non-stop motorway journey can discharge the batteries and force the need for a stop to enable them to recover. And when it is in normal use the engine switches itself off whenever it has enough battery power.

So the precautionary stop on the M1 was no real surprise and it did take a while to discover that it wasn't clever electronic wizardry that caused the engine to stop but lack of fuel. Simple human error which has its roots in the care Arriva took to keep the bus safe whilst in London.

There have been some wonderful wild stories about illegal activity, lack of proper project management, and the driver's exposure to prosecution. Rather more simply it ran out of fuel, we put some more in, and off it went.

For those who chose to capitalise on this - just to say, it took seven years from authorisation of the Routemaster (1947) to prototype (1954). We have done this in less than half that.

It took two more years to get RM1 into service and even then it had numerous problems requiring a gearbox change, attention to subframe cracks, exceptional front brake temperatures and excessive tyre wear - all within the first six months.

We will have LT1 in service in less than two months.....


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LT1

The media pursues Boris Johnson as he takes a short walk
as LT1 pauses on Westminster Bridge for a special photo

Today was the day that LT1, the first passenger-ready prototype New Bus for London, was launched in Trafalgar Square.

LT1 was delivered from Wrights' Ballymena factory on Tuesday. It ventured out for some radio testing earlier this week but at 0630 this morning it was parked, in the dark, outside City Hall. From 0700 LBC's Nick Ferrari broadcast his morning show from it, interviewing a number of key people including the Mayor.

As Nick's show ended at 1000 LBC's team swiftly removed all of the broadcast equipment and handed the bus back. It was promptly manoeuvred so a position where now, in daylight, it could be seen against Tower Bridge.

At this point the Mayor, Boris Johnson, announced he wanted to drive it again (he did so in Ballymena a few weeks ago). So within the precincts of Potters Field he moved it down to Tooley Street. He was keen to take it on the road but was persuaded otherwise.

So he handed it to me and I took it from City Hall, via Tooley Street and Stamford Street to Westminster Bridge. Three of my elite team of Metropolitan Police motorcyclists from the Safer Transport Command based with TfL escorted us.

Here we had arranged a particular photograph with the Houses of Parliament in the background. Photographs done I handed the bus in turn to Commissioner Peter Hendy who took it via Whitehall and onto Trafalgar Square where the main media were waiting.

From then on it was a constant stream of media interviews and demonstrations of the features of the bus.

I had warned people not to read too much into the registration shown at the Ballymena event recently. LT1 has its own "LT61"registration which will grace the further seven prototypes as well.

As those who have seen will know, the bus is built to an exciting modern design but with many acknowledgements to the Routemaster. The maroon interior, Indian Red wheels, Treadmaster flooring and shallow windows all offer a nod to the last bus specifically designed for London.

After that it is bristling with new features - it is basically an electric bus with a small engine to extend its range. (Several times during my journey was the engine off entirely whilst we ran on battery power).

And down to the smallest detail, its bell pushes are wireless so the miles of wiring associated with multiple hand pole buttons are eliminated.

The bus handles beautifully. It has an excellent turning circle, there are no rattles or similar noises, and accelerates and brakes very smoothly. The tight exit from City Hall onto a narrowed-by-roadworks Tooley Street was easily done.

We have already announced that from 20th February the first couple of LTs will enter service on route 38, operated by Arriva. Crew operation with full open boarding will be provided during the day. It will run on a conventional signal person operation basis at other times. The remaining vehicles will progressively join this group and all will be in use by Spring.

We already know from testing that the bus is delivering better fuel efficiency and lower emissions than expected. These new vehicles will make a positive contribution to London's bus fleet and although no fare paying passengers have yet been carried, the hundreds of visitors today at Trafalgar Square were almost completely positive in their reaction.

From inside LT1 The Mayor talks to a huge group
of media all anxious to learn more. 

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UK Bus Awards

Photo from Mark Howarth of
Western Greyhound.
I know since he posted it on Facebook
he won't mind me using it here!

Yesterday was the UK Bus Awards - its 16th year and I have been to all of them. How it has grown since it was a small event in the City of London to now a full house in the Ballroom of the Hilton Hotel in Park Lane.

For the first time in many years Stephanie Flanders (daughter of one of my personal heroes Michael) and news anchor for BBC's Newsnight was unable to be the compare since it was of course a highly charged political day. Jane Hill, also from BBC News, took her place.

Minister for Transport Norman Baker was able to announce new initiatives for air quality improvements in London with TfL and another £30m Green Bus funding to continue to promote hybrid vehicles.

Former Minister Gillian Merron, now Chairman of Bus Users UK handed out the prizes and I was privileged to announce the winners for London Bus Garage of the Year (First's Lea Interchange) and be part of the Luke Rees-Pulley Award for the Top London Bus driver, Gary Jones from London United at Fulwell.

The UK Bus Awards celebrates success and the achievements of individuals and companies. The judges had some difficult choices to make. As usual Trent Barton were up there with the winners and Roger French of Brighton and Hove was rightly given the award for services to the bus industry.

A great event and by the time we are together again next year, the Olympics will have come and gone!

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New Bus for London

Mayor Boris Johnson drives the first NBfL prototype
bus out of the factory

Today in Ballymena, Co Antrim, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson drove the first finished prototype of the New Bus for London off the production line and showed it off to the assembled media.

Work on this vehicle had been at full speed to achieve completion. The finished article was well worth the effort and everyone commented on the exceptional high quality, attention to detail, and extremely good environmental benefits of this new vehicle.

The Engineering Test vehicle has already amassed several thousand miles at Millbrook Testing Ground. We know its fuel consumption is better than predicted and its emissions rather lower. These results are hugely encouraging.

Detractors accuse the Mayor of a vanity project but in many cases they are the same people who caused TfL and its predecessors to acquire more standard vehicles which when subjected to London conditions cost significant sums of public money in engineering downtime and premature retirement.

The design will always be a matter of taste. What is certain is that the high quality of the build and great attention to detail. What will matter is that the passengers find this vehicle attractive and comfortable, and the operators find it economic to use. So far most people who have seen it are hugely impressed by its looks and ease of use.

So important was today's event that it was attended by many stakeholders including, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, MPs, MLAs, and the national press.

A video clip of the bus emerging from the factory is as http://youtu.be/gk_2jEtaf9U

What next? The bus will be in London during December. There will be a launch marking its arrival here in Central London. After that after further trials, formalities and training, it will enter service with Arriva in the New Year. The other seven prototypes, all in build at Wrights, will join it progressively during the first few months of 2012.

Yes I did get to drive it and as was the case with the Millbrook vehicle earlier this year it has a superb turning circle, is quiet, positive, and a very pleasurable driving experience. As a passenger the moquette seats are more traditional, comfortable and easy to use. The new wireless bell pushes mean we can have more of them and save miles of wiring down every hand pole. Inside the use of maroon and Treadmaster flooring are more than a nod to the Routemaster which, despite the media's insistence, it is not designed to replace!

So not long now until the first vehicle arrives in London, and Londoners see it for the first time for real. I think you will like it!

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Piccadilly two-way

The return of two way traffic to Piccadilly after over 40 years marks the end of an extraordinary effort by Westminster City Council, Crown Estates and Transport for London to return the 1960s one-way systems to proper streets for people to use.

The dramatic increase in private vehicles in what is now Greater London gave rise to the Road Traffic and Road Improvements Act 1960. Parking Meters and Traffic Wardens were the first manifestation of the new law. It also paved the way for the London Traffic Management Unit whose sole job was to speed up traffic. An interesting predecessor to TfL's current role in smoothing traffic flow.

The newly-formed Greater London Council soon endorsed a series of what were called Traffic Management Schemes. In essence they were a major one-way systems often using parallel residential roads. Aldgate, Tottenham Court Road, Earls Court, Kings Cross, London Bridge and Victoria's schemes all were introduced by the end of 1965. There were similar schemes in the suburbs - Richmond, Hackney, Holloway all followed suit.

Nominally as a week's experiment westbound traffic in Piccadilly was diverted to St James' St and Pall Mall from 15th July 1961 and was introduced permanently (until 23rd October 2011) from 26th November.

Needless to say the improved road capacity driven from the one-way systems and on-street parking restrictions did speed up traffic but that simply encouraged the growth to increase further. Average speeds fell again over time and meanwhile more and more of the multi-lane one-way roads became 'urban motorways' which were damaging to business, pedestrians and took bus services away from their ideal destinations.

Now such schemes are being removed and the flagship West End one is now complete. Earlier this year St James' St and Pall Mall were converted to two-way working and now, in a £14m scheme, Piccadilly itself reopened to all westbound traffic (buses have had their own contra-flow lane since the 1970s).

Now the streets in this part of London look normal again. Wide pavements, no railings, high quality materials and space for people to walk and cycle as well as use the road network.

There is a formal launch on this week with a collection of 1960s vehicles including one rather well-known Routemaster!! Watch this space!

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