The world’s first electric double-decker bus will be rolled out in London this year.

The capital city will start the trial from October, with the zero-emissions bus running between Cricklewood and Victoria Station on route 16.

The decision is part of Mayor Boris Johnson’s plans to reduce half of NOx emissions from the bus fleet by the end of 2016.

He aims to have around 800 New Routemasters on London’s streets, which are expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than 27,000 tonnes per year.

The Mayor made the announcement at the first global Clean Bus Summit where 24 cities, including Amsterdam, Lima, Barcelona and Rome, committed to using more than 40,000 ultra-low emission buses by 2020.

He said: “The iconic red double-decker bus is about to become greener than ever. I could not be more pleased that London will play host to these exciting pure electric double-deck buses and I’m sure the lucky users of route 16 will embrace it with gusto.”

Since 2008, more than 1,300 hybrid electric buses have been rolled out and more than 1,400 buses have been retrofitted to reduce their emissions by up to 88%.

Truong Duy