The boss of Nottingham City Transport has heralded the arrival of new and greener buses as an "exciting new era". On Monday, April 8, Nottingham's first electric buses started to run the Red 50 route to Sneinton, Colwick and Victoria Retail Park, followed by Pink 30 to Ilkeston Road, Wollaton and Bramcote on Thursday, April 11.
"The delivery of our first 24 electric buses marks just the start of a programme that will see our remaining diesel powered buses replaced by electrics as they become due for withdrawal.” The buses are being funded through a successful joint bid by Nottingham City Transport and Nottingham City Council to the Department for Transport’s Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas Fund.
Angela Kandola, Nottingham City Council’s portfolio holder for transport, said: “It’s great to see the new electric buses now on Nottingham’s streets helping to reduce carbon emissions, improve air quality and make our city a healthier place to be. I know local residents will enjoy using these brand new modern state of the art buses.”
Ian Downie, head of Yutong UK, said: “This is a significant step for Nottingham City Transport on their journey to zero emissions. The Nottingham team have challenged us to produce a customer centric vehicle, and we are extremely proud of what has been achieved.