Bus trials greener gas fuel (From The Oxford Times)

Bus trials greener gas fuel

4:00pm Friday 27th January 2012 in News By Andrew Ffrench

Thames Travel general manager Max McCarthy with the X39 bus

Natural gas which powers cookers and central heating systems is being used to fuel a new type of bus on trial on Oxfordshire’s roads.

Wallingford-based Thames Travel is running the trial with the Gas Bus Alliance, which has provided a fuelling station at the bus depot, to supply natural gas.

The 41-seater, which started running on Monday will be used on most of the firm’s Oxfordshire routes, including the X39 and X40 routes between Reading, Wallingford and Oxford.

The gas-powered bus produces fewer emissions than a conventional diesel bus and the cost of running the vehicle will be assessed as part of the trial.

It is the first time a small bus firm has run a vehicle powered by natural gas taken directly from the mains and the bus alliance, bus company MAN, which is providing the vehicle, and Thames Travel, are funding the project.

Thames Travel general manager Max McCarthy said: “We may be a relatively small company but we are big on protecting the environment.

“The gas bus looks like a conventional single-decker except for the roof which is fitted with a tank for the compressed gas.

“We are trialling the bus until the end of February and think it’s very important to try the idea out at a small-scale operation like our own.

“We will be collecting information and feedback from passengers and drivers.

“Then we will be in an excellent position to make an informed decision when we place our next order for new buses.”

Tony Griffiths, general manager of bus operations at MAN Truck & Bus UK, said: “The MAN EcoCity has already attracted attention from a number of national fleet operations around Europe, so we are delighted to see a UK operator investigating what it can offer them in terms of the environment and passenger comfort.

“I have no doubt that the future of passenger transport lies with these clean, quiet gas-powered vehicles.”

In 2010, a £7.5m fleet of 26 double-decker buses was launched by Stagecoach in Oxford as the first in the UK to use green hybrid technology on a large scale outside London.