Transport company unveils its electric bus fleet
GREEN VEHICLES ARE ‘START OF AN EXCITING NEW ERA’
THE boss of Nottingham City Transport (NCT) has heralded the arrival of greener buses as an “exciting new era”.
On Monday, Nottingham’s first electric buses started to run the Red 50 route to Sneinton, Colwick and Victoria Retail Park, followed by Pink 30 to Ilkeston Road, Wollaton and Bramcote on Thursday.
The 24 single-decker electric buses are the first in use of 48 bought by the bus company.
David Astill, NCT managing director, said: “This is the very start of an exciting new era in the long history of NCT.
“We are keen to play our part as Nottingham aspires to become a carbon-neutral city.
“The delivery of our first 24 electric buses marks just the start of a programme that will see our remaining diesel powered buses replaced by electrics as they become due for withdrawal.”
The buses are being funded through a successful joint bid by Nottingham City Transport and Nottingham City Council to the Department for Transport’s Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) Fund.
The total cost of the new buses and NCT’S new charging infrastructure at its Trent Bridge Garage in the Meadows is £32.2 million, with £13.4 million of this coming from the ZEBRA fund and £18.8 million from NCT over the lifetime of the vehicles.
Electric buses will start running next week on the Blue 39 to Thorneywood and Carlton Valley route.
A further 12 will follow by the end of May, with Green 11/A/C to Meadows, Lady Bay and Gamston; Blue 40/X to St Ann’s, City Hospital and Edwards Lane Estate and Blue 41, 42 to St Ann’s set to receive them. The remaining 24 electric will enter service in the first half of 2025. Councillor Angela Kandola, Nottingham City Council’s portfolio holder for transport, said: “It’s great to see the new electric buses now on Nottingham’s streets helping to reduce carbon emissions, improve air quality and make our city a healthier place to be.
“I know residents will enjoy using these brand-new, state-ofthe-art buses.”
The buses will have several new features, which include extra leg room between seats, a bigger buggy bay, hearing loop system and USB-C charging points.
NCT ordered its buses from Chinese manufacturer Yutong Bus and Coach, the world’s largest bus manufacturer, after what the network called a rigorous public procurement process.
Ian Downie, head of Yutong UK, said: “This is a significant step for Nottingham City Transport on their journey to zero emissions.
The Nottingham team have challenged us to produce a customer centric vehicle, and we are extremely proud of what has been achieved.
“The vehicle is fitted with full colour front destinations, luxury trimmed high backed seating, new swept hand poles, illuminated bell pushes, and our electric air conditioning system for maximum customer comfort”.
The buses can do a full day in service on a single charge. When NCT’S electric bus project is fully delivered, 3,800 tonnes of CO2E will be saved each and every year, the bus company said.
We are keen to play our part as Nottingham aspires to become a carbon-neutral city.
David Astill, of NCT