170 Volvo BZL battery-electric buses first ordered for delivery to Stagecoach Manchester at Stockport are to be reallocated to other locations in Greater Manchester, and in some cases to other operators. That is because of severe delays in construction of a new all-electric depot in the town, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has confirmed.
Those vehicles are being part-funded by the first round of the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas scheme via a successful bid led by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).
Most recently it had been envisaged that the depot work in Stockport would be complete by Q3 2025. However, a report to go before the GMCA Joint Clean Air Scrutiny Committee on 26 September notes that “challenges to site availability” have pushed that back by at least a further three years.
In an indication of the scope of difficulty in finding a suitable location for large-scale battery-electric bus operation in Stockport, the report says that TfGM continues to work with Stockport Council to source one and that the new depot is expected to be operational no sooner than late 2028.
The Volvo BZL fleet intended for Stockport will instead be deployed from depots including Middleton – which Stagecoach operates under the second tranche of bus franchising in the city region – and Hyde Road and Ashton-under-Lyne. The latter two are currently outside the Bee Network but will move from Stagecoach to Metroline in early 2025 under the third tranche.
Charging infrastructure at all three of those locations is “planned,” TfGM adds. Stockport depot is part of the third tranche and will be retained by Stagecoach under that transition. In partial mitigation for resulting air quality exceedance, 77 diesel buses there will be upgraded to what TfGM describes as “OEM Euro VI.” That will come at a cost of £8.4 million.
OEM Euro VI technology is required because of TfGM’s acknowledgement of performance issues with retrofit equipment to upgrade older vehicles to Euro VI and the “variable NO2 results” that it is now accepted to have delivered.
In other electrification work by TfGM, 40 additional battery-electric buses will be purchased for Bolton depot, which operated by Go North West. They will join 50 BYD Alexander Dennis Enviro400EV double-deckers already there. A further 73 will be allocated to Queens Road depot to the north of Manchester city centre. It is operated by Stagecoach.
The latter work will capture two free services in the city centre, for which charging units will be provided on Piccadilly Approach outside Manchester Piccadilly railway station.
At Grade 2 listed Queens Road, “extensive upgrades” are required to accommodate the necessary charging infrastructure for the 73 buses. Completion of the work is thus delayed from the previous expected date of January 2025.
Were it not for timescales around air quality compliance requirements at exceedance sites, Queens Road would not be electrified at all in view of the costs of delivering that work the report adds. Major work is required there to install charging infrastructure, make necessary repairs, and maintain historical features.
Separately, information released by TfGM in response to a Freedom of Information Act request shows that in addition to the 170 Volvo BZL buses that are part-funded by ZEBRA, 12 other BZL single-deckers have been ordered by successful franchise bidders.
Four Alexander Dennis Enviro100EV battery-electric small buses are also on order along with 162 Wrightbus StreetDecks across procurement by both TfGM and franchise operators. 19 of those are StreetDeck Electroliner battery-electrics with the others as 143 Ultroliner diesels.
