First Bus has announced that over £59m will be invested in new fully-electric and zero-emission vehicles for the city of Glasgow.
The new buses are scheduled to be introduced to the Glasgow city bus network by December 2022, following to a successful bid in Transport Scotland’s latest round of Scottish Ultra Low Emission Bus (SULEB) funding.
The successful bid awards First Glasgow, the city’s largest bus operator, £24.3m, and First Bus has committed to spend a further £35.6m.
The investment will bring a further 126 electric single and double-decker vehicles to the city, adding to the 22 new electric buses that are scheduled to take to the streets of Glasgow before the city hosts the UN’s annual climate change conference, COP26, this November.
The addition of 126 new electric vehicles will take the total number of EVs operating in Glasgow to 150, nearly 20% of the total First Glasgow fleet, to help meet Glasgow City Council’s Low Emission Zone standard by the end of 2022.
Andrew Jarvis, managing director for First Glasgow, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded this funding, which will allow us to rapidly ramp up our plans to deliver more zero-emission vehicles to the city of Glasgow.
“Cleaner air and lower carbon emissions are vitally important for all of us, and we are committed to continuing to improve air quality in the communities that we serve.
“This is a significant step forward on our journey to operating a zero-emission fleet by 2035.”
Last year First Bus announced its commitment to operating a zero-emission bus fleet by 2035, as well as pledging not to purchase any new diesel buses after December 2022.
The SULEB scheme funding aims to help bus operators bridge the gap between the cost of diesel and zero emission fleets.
According to First Bus, the collaboration with Transport Scotland will also help First Glasgow to transform its Caledonia bus depot on the south side of the city centre.
Investment in what is said to be the UK’s largest depot will see it converted into one of the UK’s largest electric fleet charging stations, with the potential for over 150 vehicles to be recharged at a time.
The 126 new electric buses announced follows news in February that First Glasgow’s 22 new electric buses had entered production as part of a £9m investment from the first round of the SULEB scheme.
All 126 new vehicles for Glasgow will be built by Scottish bus builder Alexander Dennis Limited with its partner BYD in Falkirk.
