£17 million fleet of electric buses launched on three of the region’s busiest bus routes

Millions of passengers are set to benefit from a brand new fleet of zero emissions electric buses launched on key routes in the North East. The 29 vehicles, costing a total of £17 million, will run on the Angel 21, the X66 and service 58, writes Local Democracy Reporter, James Robinson.

The routes are three of the busiest in the North East, and carry more than five million passengers annually between them. The buses were introduced to the public at a glamorous launch event at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena, featuring a light show and pyrotechnics.

There were also speeches from Transport Minister Simon Lightwood, Go North East boss Nigel Featham and the North East Mayor Kim McGuinness. Among the VIPs were pupils from Gibside School and Kells Lane Primary School, whose communities will be among the first to be served by the new fleet.

The UK-built electric buses are said to be more reliable than their diesel counterparts, while also able to travel 275 miles on a single charge. In addition, they are able to power up fully in under four hours.

South Shields-born Mr Lightwood, the Minister for Roads and Buses, said: “It’s great to be back in the North East as a lad from South Shields. I wouldn’t have been able to go to college if it hadn’t been for buses – we didn’t have a car.

“They allow people to get to education, they allow people to get to those well-paid jobs, see their loved ones and get to GP appointments.

“They will bring a huge improvement in air quality. There’s health benefits here in making the air cleaner – this will help drive down the emissions.

“Buses are run by private companies for profit. We’re giving people like Kim McGuinness the powers to take back control and we’ve also lifted the ban on local authority-run bus networks.”

Speaking at the event, Ms McGuinness said: “This is a massive moment for the North East. Buses are right at the heart of the world-class public transport system we want to create in the North East.

“These buses will be on the roads straight away, carrying up to 100,000 passengers every week. They are lovely, quiet, smooth and comfortable.

“It is the latest step to getting the whole region converted to electric buses with the next 10 years. We’re seeing more people go more places by bus – we’ve had an 8% increase in passenger numbers which the largest in the country.

“We want our buses under public control so we can have more say on them.”

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the mayor added: “I’ve just been on one of the buses with a bunch of school children from Gateshead and the first thing they said was how comfortable they were, how they can chat to their friends. They’re quiet and they can charge their phones.

“These are modern buses that are making travel around our region just that much better. It’s a much nicer experience to travel on one of these than on the diesel ones they’re replacing.

“These are zero emission buses so as well as being quieter and more reliable, they’re contributing to cleaner air for our region and that is so important. Speaking to these children, this really matters for them – they’re really excited about these buses.

“We’re on our way with our plans of bringing the buses back under public control. This is a £17 million investment between us, the Department for Transport and Go North East to make the buses better in the region.

“We’re on our way so they go where people need them to, not just for profit – but we’re still in the process of improving things along the way.”