Boris bus crashes in central London

One of the new-design London double-decker buses crashed in Chelsea a day after it came into service on the central London route 11 on 22 September. Three people were seriously hurt, including the driver of the bus, in a six-vehicle pile-up on Chelsea Bridge Road.

The first of the new Boris buses (named after the mayor of London Boris Johnson) started service in London in June on route 24 from Pimlico to Hampstead Heath after a well-publicised competition for the new design of London’s famous red Routemaster buses.

The new buses immediately ran into difficulties because the air conditioning failed to work properly during the unusually hot summer, especially on the upper deck where there are no opening windows.

Transport for London (TfL) plans that 600 of these buses should be in service by 2016. The cost of each bus is £354,000. The buses have three doors – one in the front, one in the middle and one at the back – and two decks. They have an electric motor powered by batteries, as well as a diesel engine that runs when the battery system needs recharging.