Dear A Kassi

 

TfL Ref: FOI-0074-1516

 

Thank you for your email received by Transport for London (TfL) on 16
April 2015 asking for information about New Routemaster buses.

 

Your request will be processed in accordance with the requirements of the
Freedom of Information Act and TfL’s information access policy. 

 

A response will be provided to you by 15 May. We publish a substantial
range of information on our website on subjects including operational
performance, contracts, expenditure, journey data, governance and our
financial performance. This includes data which is frequently asked for in
FOI requests or other public queries. Please check
[1]http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transpar... to see if this helps you.

 

In the meantime, if you would like to discuss this matter further, please
do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Lee Hill

FOI Case Officer

 

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

 

 

 

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Dear A Kassi

 

TfL Ref: FOI-0074-1516

 

Thank you for your email received by Transport for London (TfL) on 16
April 2015 asking for information about New Routemaster buses.

 

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of
the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can
confirm we do hold the information you require. You asked for:

 

1. Please can you outline how faults with buses are generally reported by
TfL staff (e.g. drivers, engineers, customer service attendants).  Please
supply details of the procedure to be followed.

Potential defects with any type of bus in the fleet would be reported by
drivers following walk-round checks of vehicles or by engineers when
undertaking their regular maintenance inspections. As these staff are
employed directly by contracted bus operators, the reports would be made
directly to the companies concerned through their defect reporting
procedures. All buses in the fleet are maintained on a four-to-six weekly
schedule by bus operators to ensure they are maintained in a good
condition. TfL assures itself that the fleet is properly maintained
through independent engineering quality monitoring of around a quarter of
the fleet each year. Each vehicle must additionally pass its MOT each
year, otherwise it cannot remain in service. We are not aware of any brake
or steering failures in the fleet as a result of these assurance checks or
from accident investigations of serious incidents on the bus network. This
applies to all vehicles including New Routemasters.

 

2. Please can you advise the number of incidents of brake failure and/or
steering locking on the route 11 buses since the introduction of the New
Routemasters (popularly called, "Boris buses").

See answer above.

 

3. Please can you also advise where faults with these buses have resulted
in court cases/judgments and supply details.  If the cost is prohibitive,
please supply details of any court cases/judgments which have involved
only the route 11 buses since the introduction of the New Routemasters.

There has been one recent magistrates’ court case involving a driver who
asserted a vehicle defect contributed to an accident on a route 11 bus on
Chelsea Bridge Road, SW1, on September 22, 2013. However, the independent
accident investigation showed there were no engineering faults with the
vehicle. So, there have been no cases where New Routemasters faults have
contributed to accidents that have come to court. These vehicles continue
to be safe to operate across the bus fleet.

 

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable
to access it for some reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to
appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would
like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Lee Hill

FOI Case Officer

 

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

 

 

 

 

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