London Buses route 521
| 521 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Operator | London General |
| Garage |
Waterloo (RA) Mandela Way (MW) |
| Vehicle |
Mercedes-Benz O530 Citaro 12.0m BYD electric bus 12.0m |
| Route | |
| Start | Waterloo station |
| Via |
Holborn St Paul's station Cannon Street |
| End | London Bridge station |
London Buses route 521 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Waterloo and London Bridge stations, it is operated by London General.
History
On 2 June 2002, along with route 507, the route was the first bus route in London to be converted to articulated bus.[1]
During late 2003, early 2004, a series of onboard fires on Mercedes-Benz O530Gs led to withdrawal of the entire fleet, while Mercedes-Benz made some modifications. During this period limited services operated using a variety of different buses on route 507.[2]
In September 2009, as part of the move to replace London's articulated buses, the O530Gs were replaced by Mercedes-Benz O530 Citaros.[3]
Another criticism of articulated buses was the low number of seats, with only 49 per vehicle. A standard rigid Citaro has 44 seats, however the new ones for route 521 have just 21, with room supposedly for up to 76 standees, leading to criticism the new buses were "cattle trucks" and even more crowded than the buses they replaced.[4]
In December 2013, two trial BYD electric buses were introduced.[5][6] From late-2016, the route will be operated entirely by Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 bodied BYD electric buses.[7][8]
Current route
Route 521 operates via these primary locations:[9]
- Waterloo station
- Waterloo Bridge
- Aldwych
- Holborn station
- Chancery Lane station
- Holborn Circus
- City Thameslink station
- St Paul's station
- Mansion House station
- Cannon Street station
- Monument station
- London Bridge
- London Bridge bus station
for London Bridge station 
References
- ↑ London transport - with a twist BBC News 5 June 2002
- ↑ "Bendy-buses withdrawn after fires". BBC News. 2004-03-24. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
- ↑ "The beginning of the end for the bendy bus". Greater London Authority press release. 2008-12-05. Archived from the original on December 7, 2008. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
- ↑ "Passengers call for the return of the bendy bus". The London Paper. 2009-07-31. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
- ↑ Electric buses hit London roads The Guardian 19 December 2013
- ↑ London routes now served by BYD ebuses China Daily 23 December 2013
- ↑ More than 50 all electric buses to enter service in London Transport for London 15 July 2015
- ↑ BYD and ADL to build 51 electric buses for Go Ahead London Bus & Coach Professional 30 July 2015
- ↑ Route 521 Map Transport for London
External links
Media related to London Buses route 521 at Wikimedia Commons