New Battery-Electric Buses on the Silver Line!

by | Dec 29, 2018 | Miles on the MBTA | 8 comments

Hot off the heels of new Green Line trains, the Silver Line has begun phasing in a new addition to its fleet. Last night was the inaugural run of battery-electric buses on the SL3 – unlike the current dual-mode buses, which have to change from electric wire to diesel power at Silver Line Way, these new vehicles can change to electric mode on the fly, meaning no more wait times at Silver Line Way! The bus also ran in electric mode on the Chelsea busway, which is better for emissions, although unfortunately it’s locked to 20 miles an hour in that mode for the time being. I look forward to seeing these roll out in the future!

No wires on this bus! I love the big bold headsign.
The inside is identical to the MBTA’s other articulated buses, which is certainly not a bad thing. It’s great to hear the Silver Line announcements on the crisp speakers.
And here we are at Chelsea! Going through Silver Line way without stopping was so incredibly satisfying – it was like getting revenge on fourteen years of the trolley poles not transitioning properly.

8 Comments

  1. Rick Ye
    Rick Ye on December 29, 2018 at 8:34 pm

    HOW DO YOU ALWAYS CATCH THE NEW VEHICLES?

    Reply
    • Lorraine
      Lorraine on December 29, 2018 at 9:01 pm

      Insider info. 😜

      Reply
      • Miles Taylor
        Miles Taylor on December 29, 2018 at 11:02 pm

        Indeed!

        Reply
    • Phil levine
      Phil levine on February 20, 2019 at 4:44 pm

      I bet he waits around for hours.

      Reply
  2. Jules
    Jules on December 30, 2018 at 10:00 am

    So they only are able to charge at the Newmarket depot, huh?

    Reply
    • Miles Taylor
      Miles Taylor on December 30, 2018 at 11:31 am

      It actually recharges while it’s in diesel mode!

      Reply
  3. Helen
    Helen on December 30, 2018 at 4:05 pm

    Hey as a sl3 driver I am looking forward to the new silver line bus ! Yes 😎

    Reply
  4. Anonymous
    Anonymous on June 6, 2022 at 10:13 am

    They should ditch the diesel engines and get fully electric busses, they could even put trolleypolls on them so they can charge from the trolleypolls in the transitway rather than have to go out of service to the depot to charge.

    Reply

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