London’s transport commissioner today vowed that problems with soaring temperatures on the new “Boris bus” had been solved — after taking one for a test-ride.
Sir Peter Hendy and designer Thomas Heatherwick were spotted last night with thermometers testing the heat levels on an empty bus as it circled King’s Cross. Mayor Boris Johnson apologised for the “Bikram yoga-type experiences” but insisted the problem with his flagship new fleet of double deckers, which run on routes 24 and 38, had been “fixed”.
Last week tests by the Standard found temperatures on the top deck exceeded 30C — breaching the maximum permitted for transporting cattle.
Today Sir Peter confirmed that he and Olympic cauldron designer Mr Heatherwick had carried out their own urgent checks alongside Transport for London bus chiefs.
Sir Peter said that the decision to build the £354,000 vehicles without opening windows on the top deck was made by TfL, not Mr Heatherwick.
He added: “We found that the new bus, when the cooling is working properly, is cooler than the equivalent latest ordinary bus. It’s not a political issue, nor is it a fundamental design failure, and it’s nothing to do with a lack of opening windows; it’s a manufacturing and operating failure which has been fixed by Wrights [the Northern Ireland bus manufacturer].”
Workers on the Boris bike scheme have voted to go on strike later this month if contractor Serco does not meet their demands on improved pay and conditions. The RMT union today said all of its 44 members — out of a total 70 staff working on the cycle hire scheme — had voted for the action.
