Hybrid double-decker bus comes to Manchester

28 Apr 2010

Look out for it on the 147 route on 4 May

The first new generation hybrid bus to operate in Greater Manchester will be in action on Tuesday 4 May - look out for it! Bullock’s Coaches will be operating it on the 147 ‘Oxford Road Link’ between Piccadilly Station and the Higher Education Precinct.

Hybrid Bus

The hybrid double decker bus, built in Britain by Alexander Dennis Ltd is powered by a BAE systems hybrid drive. The bus is driven by an electric motor making it smoother and quieter than a conventional diesel powered bus. The power for the electric motor is supplied from a bank of hi-spec batteries. A small diesel engine powers a generator that keeps the batteries charged. The batteries are also charged when the bus brakes making Hybrid buses ideal for urban operations. Trials of Hybrid buses in London have demonstrated that fuel consumption can be reduced by 40%, with a corresponding reduction in CO2 emissions.

Green Bus Fund

Hybrid buses are more expensive than conventionally powered buse. In order to encourage operators to purchase more hybrid buses, during 2009 the Government provided a £30m ‘Green Bus Fund’, to which operators submitted bids for funding for new hybrid buses.

Greater Manchester was the biggest winner with bids accepted for over 100 hybrid buses. Once these buses enter service, Manchester will have more hybrid buses than London.

Bullocks was the only small operator in Manchester to win funding. A grant of over £400k will potentially allow them to purchase four new hybrid double-decker buses for use on the Oxford Road Link service.