#AYearOfBuses 37: Peckham – Putney Heath

We’re heading back to London for day 37 on #AYearOfBuses, and it’s for the capital’s first (proposed) Opportunity Charged route.

The 37 connects Putney Heath with Clapham and Peckham in South London, and it’s home to London’s only rapid ‘OppCharge’-capable buses.

Two experimental Volvo B5LHCs with Wright SRM bodywork arrived in August 2018 for the 37, for what was supposed to be a feasibility study and trial of OppCharge technology along the route. OppCharge has already been successfully deployed in the UK, in the North Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate, but this would’ve been the first time it had been used in the capital, and with double deckers.

Sadly, TfL have canned the project for now, citing their reasons as a lack of space needed for the charging masts along the route. The two B5LHCs are hybrid electrics, currently running around under normal diesel-electric power, but it’s a little sad to think that they may never realise their full potential.

Thanks to Mark Lyons for the cracking photo.