McGill’s electric dreams
Electric buses are to take to the streets of Renfrewshire as McGill’s invest in a new fleet.
The bus firm is buying 35 all-electric vehicles.
A dozen double deckers and one coach will be built at Falkirk-based Alexander Dennis.
Another 22 single deckers will be supplied by a Yorkshire firm.
The single deckers will run on the Johnstone to Glasgow route.
As part of the £17.5m deal, a new charging centre will be built at the Johnstone depot.
The electric buses and infrastructure will be delivered in the second half of this year, in advance of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow.
McGill’s investment is aided by the Scottish Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme.
The firm also revealed it is in advanced talks with a variety of partners to bring 12 hydrogen buses into the business in the next 12 months.
The new fleet purchase takes McGill’s capital investment since 2014 to more than £50million – around £40m of which has been spent on new vehicles.
Chief executive Ralph Roberts said:“McGill’s is recognised for the exceptionally high standard of its fleet and we’re delighted to be making this new investment into electric vehicles.
“Customer and driver comfort is at the forefront of our specification and we are confident that bus users will enjoy the silence and comfort, safe in the knowledge that their already low-emission journeys are now zero emission at the point of use, with the benefits that brings for air quality and the environment.”
By the end of the year, McGill’s says it will run more electric buses than any other operator in Scotland.
The company is owned by Greenock brothers Sandy and James Easdale.
Sandy said:“The transport sector continues to be affected by the pandemic, but this hasn’t dented our confidence in the business – far from it.
“When we purchased Xplore Dundee in December, we promised we would continue to invest and this brings our expenditure to more than £50m over the past seven years.
“McGill’s has been built into such a successful brand by our willingness to spend and provide a quality service to passengers and this will continue.”