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Bus 2.0

Walking around the compact city centre in downtown Wellington you gradually become aware of the grid of wires above your head.

Having stretched the use of trams here into the late 40's the re-emergence of electrified public transport in the form of trolley buses is good to see.

The first thing that strikes you is how quiet they are compared to their diesel counterparts. The next observation is that many of them seem to be conversions from old diesel buses, extending the life.

There has also been investment in a new, purpose built, fleet that runs around the city and out to the suburbs. There are many cities in the UK that would certainly benefit from such a fleet of electric buses. Cambridge with it's narrow streets would be an easy city to retrofit and the benefits to the stone architecture of the colleges with less diesel fumes would be noticeable.

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