A £25m Government grant has supported the production of 117 new British-made zero emission electric buses.
They will be on the roads in Yorkshire, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Hampshire, bringing investment to almost £300m for 1,400 new ‘green’ buses.
The Government says this will drive forward its plans to clean up the air in towns and cities and decarbonise public transport.
The new buses will be manufactured in Northern Ireland by Wrightbus and operated by FirstBus.
The funding is an additional investment from the Zero Emission Buses Regional Area scheme launched in 2021 to allow local transport authorities to bid for funding for zero emission buses and supporting infrastructure.
Roads minister Richard Holden said: ‘Buses are the most popular form of public transport, and these new British-built zero emission buses will support hundreds of high-quality manufacturing jobs in Northern Ireland, grow our economy and help clean up the air in towns and cities across the country.
‘We’re providing an additional £25.3m to roll out 117 new buses to provide residents in Yorkshire, Norfolk, and Portsmouth with better, cleaner and quieter journeys, as we step up a gear to reach net zero faster and level up transport across the country.’
