London's public transportation system has temporarily halted the operation of several electric buses following an unexpected fire incident involving a double-decker bus.
This incident has prompted urgent calls for a comprehensive review of all electric buses in the city's fleet.
On a recent Thursday, a fire broke out on an electric bus on Wimbledon Hill Road in London. Although no injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is still under investigation, the office of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, a prominent advocate of the green agenda in Britain, announced the suspension of the same model of electric buses from the route.
Furthermore, the Mayor's office stated that all active electric buses in London manufactured by Switch "will be checked thoroughly as a matter of urgency," as reported by the Evening Standard.
However, some are advocating for more stringent measures. Keith Prince, the transport spokesman for the City Hall Conservatives, is calling for the immediate withdrawal of all Switch electric buses until the cause of the fire is determined.
"We're also calling for urgent checks on the remaining electric buses in the fleet to ensure they are safe," Prince said. "Londoners need to have confidence that their bus is safe and won't burst into flames. Sadiq Khan must not compromise the safety of Londoners."
"We need action, not words. Failure to act will tell Londoners that Sadiq Khan doesnt care about safety."
In the wake of the electric bus fire in Wimbledon, a hybrid bus caught fire on Friday morning in North Woolwich. Thankfully, the bus was unoccupied at the time, but it took firefighters over an hour to control the fire, according to the Daily Mail. Transport for London (TfL) has stated that there is likely no connection between the two fires this week.
Tom Cunnington, TfLs head of buses business development, said: "Londons bus network remains safe to use and we have no reason to suspect that this fire on a hybrid bus was linked to an earlier incident on an electric bus in Wimbledon."
"The bus was out of service when the fire happened and there are no reported injuries. TfL and the bus operators will not hesitate to take action if required to ensure the bus network remains safe."
Transport for London claims to currently operate "more than 1,000 zero-emission buses in our fleet both single and double-deck vehicles, built by various manufacturers in the UK and globally."
Mayor Sadiq Khan, known for his far-left political stance, has proposed plans to convert the citys entire fleet of buses to "zero emissions" by 2034. This implies that approximately 8,000 buses will need to be replaced over the next decade.
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