York, Bradford, Leeds and Sheffield are to get zero emission buses thanks to an investment of more than £7m from the government.
The fleet will involve a total of 117 buses worth £25.3m to be built in Northern Ireland by Wrightbus and operated by First Bus.
The funding is an additional investment from the Zero Emission Buses Regional Areas scheme (ZEBRA), which was launched in 2021 to allow local transport authorities to bid for funding for zero emission buses and supporting infrastructure.
- West Yorkshire Combined Authority will receive an extra £5.7 million to deliver 25 additional ZEBs
- City of York Council will receive an extra £1.9 million to deliver 9 additional ZEBs
- Norfolk County Council will receive an extra £11.5 million to deliver 55 additional ZEBs
- Portsmouth City Council and Hampshire County Council will receive an extra £6.2 million to deliver 28 additional ZEBs
Roads Minister Richard Holden said: “Buses are the most popular form of public transport, and these new British-built zero emission buses will support hundreds of high-quality manufacturing jobs in Northern Ireland, grow our economy and help clean up the air in towns and cities across the country.
“We’re providing an additional £25.3 million to roll out 117 new buses to provide residents in Yorkshire, Norfolk and Portsmouth with better, cleaner and quieter journeys, as we step up a gear to reach net zero faster and level up transport across the country.”
Janette Bell, MD at First Bus said: “We are accelerating investment in the electrification of our bus fleet and infrastructure, supported by co-funding from the Department for Transport.
“As leaders in sustainable mobility, we are fully aligned with the government’s ambitions for a net-zero carbon transport system. We are rapidly transforming our business with zero emission bus fleets and will continue to work closely with central and local government across the UK to deliver our decarbonisation plans.”
