North Yorkshire bus fleet to go 100% electric next year
Transdev is preparing to convert the bus fleet in the Harrogate area to electric vehicles. Its regional transport operator, The Harrogate Bus Company, has placed orders worth 21 million pounds and secured government funding.
The Harrogate Bus Company confirmed funding of £7.8 million through the Government’s Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme, following a bid supported by Transdev partner, the North Yorkshire Council. It was among twelve local authorities to submit a successful bid. The ZEBRA initiative is to introduce 4,000 zero-emission buses across England by 2025.
Roads Minister Richard Holden said it was “fantastic to see Transdev turn its Harrogate fleet to fully electric”. Holden added that at this point, the government had awarded £330 m in funding for zero-emission buses in England, excluding London.
The Harrogate budget of 21m, equivalent to nearly 28 million dollars, enabled the operator to place orders with Daimler Truck and Alexander Dennis for 39 new electric buses.
The new vehicle orders follow trials of several types of all-electric buses on three routes in and around Harrogate and the high-frequency shuttle route linking Bradford and Keighley.
Upon delivery next spring, 20 Mercedes-Benz eCitaro single-deck buses and 19 Alexander Dennis Enviro400EV double-deckers will join another eight Volvo 7900E buses already in service. The Harrogate fleet will then comprise 47 electric buses.
The new 20 eCitaro will operate on Route 1 (Harrogate – Knaresborough), Route 7 (Harrogate – Leeds) and rural Route 24 (Harrogate – Pateley Bridge). The 19 Enviro400EVs (the ADL model, not BYD-ADL) will serve the “flagship” Route 36 between Ripon, Harrogate and Leeds.
“All our bus fleet will be renewed in the process, giving our Harrogate Bus Company the most modern and passenger-oriented network,” Transdev Managing Director Henri Rohard said.
For recharging, The Harrogate Bus Company is also equipping its depot. “Higher power output delivered by today’s new generation batteries means each bus can go further between charge-ups – and to make sure we provide a reliable service, our buses will also have top-up charges at Harrogate Bus Station, as they will travel further in a day than the maximum range achievable by fully electric buses,” Rohard said.
North Yorkshire Council’s Executive Member for Highways and Transport, Cllr Keane Duncan, expressed delight to see the bid for government funding was helping to transform bus travel in and around Harrogate.
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