Yorkshire set for electric bus upgrade

This will see the First Bus depot in York operate fully electric fleets by 2024, one of the first outside of London to reach this milestone.

It will also give 25 new buses to the Bramley depot in West Yorkshire to bring the number of electric buses in the region funded by the government scheme to 136.

People across Yorkshire will enjoy greener, cleaner journeys as an extra 34 British-made electric buses are rolled out thanks to £7.6 million in Government investment.

In an interview with The Yorkshire Post, Richard Holden, the roads minister, said that he has also seen promising results in Yorkshire for the recently-extended £2 bus fare scheme.

“What I want to drive as much as possible is getting people back onto the network, people using buses more proactively,” he said.

“That’s why we extended the £2 scheme, it’s got some good anecdotal evidence, particularly in some of those rural routes in North Yorkshire as well as around Hull and York.

“In the longer term we want a more sustainable system, I don’t want taxpayers to be funding buses that are running empty.

“It’s really important that local taxpayers aren’t left on the hook for schemes that aren’t going to work or which are sort of political hobby horses,” he added.

Mr Holden said that there is a challenge in encouraging older people back onto the bus network.

“We have seen a drop off of about a third in the number of people who have already got free bus passes using them,” he said.

“We’ve got a big push to get older and retired people back onto buses”

Janette Bell, Managing Director at First Bus said: “We are delighted to be 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.”

Councillor Andy D’Agorne, Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Transport at City of York Council, said: “This is fundamental to achieving the city’s carbon reduction goals while supporting the development strategy set out in the Local Plan. To encourage greater use of the bus network, and sustainable travel routes, our network and bus services must be safe, convenient and attractive to residents, commuters and visitors.”