Bristol’s first electric bus depot opens

The city, which is located in southwest England, has just opened a major electrified bus depot for the first time. The site will support the deployment of 74 new electric buses which will serve key routes across Bristol and surrounding areas.

It’s important to mention that the Hengrove bus depot is not actually new, but has been overhauled and refurbished in order to support electric buses. Five ‘huge’ gantries with charging infrastructure have been installed which FirstBus states will be used to power the new electric bus fleet. FirstBus has not publicly confirmed whether these gantries provide overhead, pantograph-style charging (the kind used by Transport for London) – though judging by photographs released by the bus provider, this looks to be the case.

FirstBus states that it cost about £44m to refurbish the Hengrove depot, which was funded by a £37.4m investment of its own as well as £6.6m in funding from the government’s Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) initiative. The company anticipates its 74 new electric buses will transport roughly 230,000 per week on seven key routes.

Rob Pymm, acting MD for First Bus in the West of England, said: “The opening of our first electrified depot in Bristol is not only a key moment on our journey to a fully electric fleet by 2035, but also demonstrates our commitment to providing customers with a smoother, quieter and cleaner bus network in the West of England.” He added: “In April, it was announced a further £90m was being invested in 160 extra zero-emission buses and the electrification of the UK’s only island bus depot in Bath, and Lawrence Hill in Bristol. The additional buses mean the Hengrove depot will be operating a fully electric fleet by next summer.”

While the Hengrove site is billed as the first depot of its kind in the city, in actuality, it joins a network of key electric FirstBus infrastructure in the nearby Somerset and the southwest region. Indeed, in March, FirstBus opened an electric bus depot in the seaside town of Weston-Super-Mare, supporting a fleet of 24 electric buses that serve routes across North Somerset – including to and from Bristol. Like the Bristol depot, the Weston site was supported by an investment from the ZEBRA initiative. Additionally, FirstBus announced last year that it plans to electrify its depots in Taunton and Minehead.

firstbus.co.uk