The First York fleet made further progress towards completing a transition to battery-electric power by the end of 2023 after its Wrightbus StreetDeck Electroliner double-deckers began service entry over the late summer bank holiday weekend.
The buses are part of a 53-strong order for York from Wrightbus that is split between the StreetDeck Electroliner and the GB Kite Electroliner single-decker. They will join existing battery-electrics from Optare to deliver a wholesale move away from diesel and make the James Street depot one of the first bus operating centres outside London to become fully battery-electric.
Debuting on the StreetDeck and GB Kite fleets is a new York Electric brand in purple and silver. The StreetDeck Electroliners entered service on route 4 between the city centre and Acomb on Sunday 27 August as the first of the type to be delivered to First Bus.
The Wrightbus vehicles are the fruits of a £13 million investment by First Bus and £10.2 million secured by City of York Council via the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme. ZEBRA is also part-funding 57 battery-electrics for the First West Yorkshire fleet in Leeds.
The StreetDeck Electroliners each carry around 90 passengers and have a range of around 200 miles. Work is ongoing at James Street to install chargers and associated infrastructure for the battery-electric fleet.
Speaking about the wholesale move to zero-emission, First Bus in North and West Yorkshire Managing Director Andrew Cullen says: “An ever greener transport revolution beckons in York and we are leading this change.
“It is evidence of our continuing successful partnership with City of York Council in bringing major improvements to bus services and supporting a shared ambition for a net-zero transport system and reducing carbon emissions in the city.”
City of York Council Leader Cllr Claire Douglas adds that the further battery-electric buses for First sit alongside work via the city’s Bus Service Improvement Plan, “showing our commitment to providing more frequent and affordable bus networks.”
