Buses in Britain could be turned off by Chinese ‘kill switch’

An in-built ‘kill switch’ could cause hundreds of electric buses in Britain to be remotely turned off by China, British security services have warned.

Buses on the roads could stop working or be switched off completely over the internet, officials at the Department for Transport (DfT) and the National Cyber Security center (NCSC) believe.

Officials have warned that electric buses connected to the internet via onboard SIM cards could be at risk of meddling by Beijing.

The vehicles in question are Chinese-made Yutong electric buses, which were bought as part of the labor Party’s bid to lower carbon emissions.

The NCSC has said it is ‘technically possible’ for buses to be switched off remotely from China’.

Concerns were raised following an inquiry in November into Yutong buses operating in Norway, which suggested the vehicles could be remotely ‘stopped or rendered inoperable by the manufacturer’.

However, investigators have said evidence of a ‘kill switch’ has yet to be used, while government security experts insist there is no serious risk that the buses would be disconnected remotely.

In Britain, there are around 700 Yutong buses in operation.

Stagecoach and First Bus are among the more well-known groups to use such buses, and they are thought to each own more than 200 of the vehicles.

Last month, Nottingham City Council said it had replaced its entire single-decker bus stock with Yutong electric models, and intends to replace its whole double-decker fleet by the end of 2026.

In Norway, firewalls and other security warnings have been implemented on buses as a result of the inquiry, but there are no plans to do the same in Britain.

Despite fears over security, ministers are unlikely to cease the sale of Yutong buses because there is not sufficient evidence of Chinese subterfuge, Whitehall sources told the Telegraph.

They added that banning the buses could cause diplomatic tension between the UK and China, which Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is keen to keep intact ahead of his state visit to Beijing at the end of this month.

‘They haven’t found any evidence that it has actually happened’, sources told the paper.

The findings will likely fuel fears about the potential threat of Chinese control over British infrastructure, which is not helped by high-profile espionage cases between the UK and China.

The Government is also expected to agree to build a new 20,000 square meter Chinese embassy opposite the Tower of London, which has been met with opposition from local campaigners.

Residents fear the new building could become a target for terrorists, while others have raised concerns of data hacking via underground cables.

The majority of Yutong buses in the UK are updated manually with a physical cable connection rather than wirelessly, sources told The Telegraph.

Yutong Bus, one of the world’s largest exporters of electric buses, said that it cannot remotely control its buses, reassuring that the software unit is not connected to driving controls such as braking and steering.

A DfT spokesman said: ‘We take security extremely seriously and are working closely across Government and with the transport sector to understand this issue and mitigate potential risks.’

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