A second London bus has caught fire in North Woolwich, East London, where a hybrid vehicle caught fire, just one day after an electric bus burst into flames in Wimbledon.
Video footage captured the bus engulfed in flames in the early hours at the intersection of Factory Road and Store Road.
The incident comes a day after a blast partially destroyed Optare Metrodecker bus on route 200 in Wimbledon in south west London at 7.20am en route to Raynes Park.
A London Fire Brigade spokesperson told the Daily Mail: “We were called at 6.49am to reports of a bus on fire on Factory Road in North Woolwich.
“‘Firefighters attended and brought the fire under control by 7.55am. One double-decker bus was destroyed by fire.
“A 25-metre (80ft) cordon is currently in place as a precaution. The cause of the fire is under investigation.”
TfL’s head of buses business development Tom Cunnington told the Daily Mail: “We are working with the operator, GoAhead, and the manufacturer, Alexander Dennis, to investigate the cause of this fire.”
The TfL spokesperson stressed that the bus network in London was still safe to use and that the two bus fires are not being treated as being connected.
A spokesperson for Go-Ahead London said the driver was able to safely leave the vehicle and thanked the emergency services for their “prompt response”.
TfL, which has about 1,000 electric buses across its network, confirmed yesterday that it will not withdraw any Metrodeckers from service and has insisted they are safe.
Conservatives from City Hall are urging Mayor Sadiq Khan to temporarily remove all electric buses from the city’s roads until an investigation is conducted.
Electric busses were introduced in 2014 during Boris Johnson’s term as London Mayor.
