Hull Bus Alliance Celebrates Electric Bus Milestone
The Hull Bus Alliance has welcomed an important milestone in the revolution of public transport in the city.
To reach the UK’s net-zero goal by 2050, the Department for Transport has run two rounds of the Zero-Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme.
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East Riding of Yorkshire Council
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Stagecoach East Midlands
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East Yorkshire Buses
bid for ZEBRA 2 funding in December 2023. This bid was successful with an award of £6 million, which was announced in March 2024.
This was achieved with our additional support of £2million of funding towards the installation of charging infrastructure for the use of local bus operators and our own fleet of passenger vehicles.
The Go-Ahead Group, the parent company of East Yorkshire Buses, has placed it's vehicle order with UK bus manufacturer Wrightbus. In April, Stagecoach ordered its electric buses from Alexander Denis.
40 of the vehicles will be used on the roads of Hull and East Yorkshire. These buses will replace parts of the decade-old diesel fleets of Stagecoach East Midlands and East Yorkshire Buses.
The ambition is that these will be in service by early 2026.
Although buses make up a small proportion of emissions, transport is now the UK’s largest emitter of carbon, with over 200 diesel buses operating in Hull.
The new zero-emission buses are electric and run on rechargeable batteries, which can have a range of up to several hundred miles.
They are charged externally, usually at the depot on a plug, after the end of service.
Unlike diesel buses they produce no carbon emissions or nitrogen oxides. Due to this, they can also contribute to improved air quality as well as combating climate change.
Councillor Mark Ieronimo, cabinet portfolio holder for transportation, roads and highways at Hull City Council, said -
“News that The Go-Ahead Group and Stagecoach have both now placed their orders, nationally, for electric buses, a number of which will serve the people and communities of Hull, is an exciting milestone and we are one stop nearer to revolutionising public transport in our city.
Securing 40 of these new vehicles in Hull would not have been possible without the council’s financial commitment to investing in the required charging infrastructure, which ensured our joint bid with partners was successful.
Electric buses are greener and cleaner and will have a transformative impact on public transport throughout the city, improving things like air quality and providing a smoother and more comfortable ride.
There are currently no electric or hybrid buses operating on public bus services in Hull so, in addition to the environmental benefits, the new vehicles will have a wider impact by changing how our residents, and visitors to the city, see buses and help encourage, and increase, passenger demand.”
Ben Gilligan, managing director of East Yorkshire Buses, said -
“We are really excited about the news that we will be bringing 21 brand-new, zero-emission Wrightbus vehicles into our fleet. They will deliver a significant step change in local air quality and allow our customers to travel on modern, silent vehicles on some of our busiest routes. We look forward to their arrival in our fleet next year.”
Matt Cranwell, managing director at Stagecoach East Midlands, added -
“We are excited to place our first order for electric vehicles in Hull. This reflects Stagecoach’s continued commitment to transition to a zero-emission bus fleet to help tackle climate change. We are investing £8.7m in 19 of the latest state of the art vehicles and required charging infrastructure, that will hopefully encourage more local residents to travel sustainably around the City of Hull, as well as help reduce congestion and improve air quality across the region.”