On 28th August 2014, East London held the New Bus for London event. The speaker David Hampson-Ghani shared with us his biggest challenges whilst working on this project as well has predicting the next progression for buses.
Can you tell us a little bit about your background?
I’m a civil engineer by qualification; I have a degree from The Imperial College. I have a background in heavy civil engineering, from nuclear power stations to the Channel Tunnel. I have moved into transport and have worked on High Speed 1, London Underground and now London buses.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced with the New Bus for London Project?
The biggest challenge [during the New Bus for London project] was getting the designer Thomas Heatherwick and his team who have never worked on a bus project before or any automotive project to work with Wrightbus who have never worked with an external designer. Explosive at times but always interesting; the designer came up with some fantastic ideas many of which were not feasible. At the end of it, out of the thirty ideas that came out, one or two were great and you see them in the bus today.
What do you think will be the next progression in the bus project?
I think the next progression is going to be about power systems and energy storage. It’s all about energy storage. On this bus we have a very high technology battery pack which is ahead of its game. In a few years’ time there will be a better one so we need to keep moving with that. Another area is going to be weight reduction; everything about buses and getting fuel economy to reduce weight. There are some innovative materials in this bus; if we use more of those in more buses we can reduce the weight further. The more we reduce the weight the better the environmental performance will be. So I am looking forward to that for the next generation.
Have you used the new Routemaster bus? Tell us your thoughts in the comments box below.
Upcoming Events
Bus Innovation- How Green can Buses be?
Date: 17 September 2014
Venue: The Royal Institution, London, W1S 4BS