Bradford awarded £14.2m to fast-track electric bus rollout

£8m of that cash has come from the Government in response to a failed national scheme to retrofit bus engines to make them more environmentally friendly.

There had already been plans to transition Bradford’s bus fleet to electric, but the new funding means the roll out will now take place 18 months earlier.

It will see electric infrastructure created in the bus depot in Bowling Back Lane.

The £8m investment from the Joint Air Quality Unit of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and the Department for Transport will be matched by a further £6.2 million from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, bringing total investment in Bradford’s electric bus transformation to £14.2 million.

The accelerated deployment of Zero Emission Buses in Bradford will begin in advance of the WYCA bus franchising launch – which will bring West Yorkshire’s bus fleed under public control.

The funding follows the Government’s publication of evidence showing that retrofitted Euro VI diesel buses were not delivering the expected reduction in emissions.

As previously reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, millions of pounds of Government money was spent on retrofitting buses in Bradford ahead of the introduction of the District’s Clean Air Zone in 2022.

The retrofitted buses would be CAZ compliant, and in theory should have been much less polluting after the work was done.

But a Government report released in late 2024 revealed that this national retrofitting scheme has “not worked” – with the buses across the country failing to reduce pollution levels in the areas they operate.

In Bradford, this had major implications for the Clean Air Zone.

The Government will only agree to lift the order requiring a Clean Air Zone if Bradford reduces pollution to legal levels across the District, and retains that lower level for two years.

As of last year, the number of areas in Bradford with illegal air pollution levels had reduced from 35 before the Clean Air Zone to just three.

Two of the three areas that still had illegal pollution levels were routes used by the retrofitted buses – Manchester Road and Queens Road.

After the failures of the retrofitting system were revealed, Bradford Council began lobbying Government for funding to help deal with the still-polluting buses.

Council Leader Susan Hinchcliffe had made an “urgent case to Government to fast‑track the introduction of zero‑emission buses to bring levels of air pollution within legal limits in the shortest time possible as directed by the Government’s Charging Scheme Order.”

The funding will mean the bus depot on Bowling Back Lane, from which franchised buses in Bradford will operate from October 2028, will receive upgrades to electrical infrastructure, construction and commissioning of a dedicated substation, deployment of high-capacity cabling, the installation of advanced chargers and smart charging technology.

Bradford Council has said: “These improvements will create a scalable platform for future fleet electrification, ensuring compliance with nitrogen dioxide reduction targets and supporting regional decarbonisation goals.”

This investment will bring the first electric buses on key routes in the district from Spring 2027.

Keighley is already running 15 electric buses operating on routes between Keighley and Bradford, representing around 12 per cent of its 125 strong fleet. The Bradford district bus fleet will then transition in-line with the start of the bus franchising scheme to a total of 116 Weaver branded electric buses under the control of the WYCA.

Cllr Hinchcliffe said: “The hard work making the case to Government for investment into zero emissions buses in Bradford is now starting to make a difference.

“We are making a switch to zero-emission buses with the early adoption of the infrastructure needed to support them.

“Cleaner, better buses are vital for the future of Bradford, and this project demonstrates our commitment to delivering sustainable solutions that benefit everyone.”