The opening Yutong U11DD battery-electric double-deckers to enter service with First Bus have done so at the First West of England depot in Weston-super-Mare.
24 of the type will be used there on routes X1 between the town and Bristol and X4 between Portishead and Bristol. Each bus seats 78 passengers and carries the new WESTbus green livery for services in the West of England.
£2.1 million has been forthcoming from a bid by North Somerset Council to the second round of the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA2) scheme and £12. 8 million from First Bus to deliver the Weston vehicles and associated infrastructure.
Weston is the initial First West of England depot to deploy battery-electric buses. Managing Director Doug Claringbold notes how teams at the operator and within First Bus “have worked so hard with contractors and our local authority partners to secure this project and bring it to the West of England.”
He continues: “This is our biggest investment in the local area for decades, and what we have created here in Weston will help to secure a cleaner solution for transport for future generations and help to inspire the nation to love and use the bus.”
More U11DDs will follow at Hengrove depot in Bristol, where £6.6 million from a ZEBRA2 bid by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority and £37.4 million from First Bus will see 74 such examples deployed. They are due over “the next few months,” says Mr Claringbold.
Like the Weston buses, those for Bristol form part of a larger order placed by First Bus for 169 Yutong U11DD, E10 and E12 battery-electric vehicles during 2024. Service entry for the Hengrove vehicles is scheduled for the summer. Basildon and Taunton will also see deliveries from that procurement exercise.
The WESTbus green identity has been applied to some diesel buses in the First West of England fleet. The Mayoral Combined Authority says that it is part of a plan “to create a coherent, trusted and visible transport brand.”
Electrification of Hengrove and Weston depots will also provide facilities for local businesses to charge electric vehicles there.
