Warrington’s Own Buses is set to choose the Volvo BZL platform for the electrification of its fleet while depot infrastructure is expected to be provided by EO Charging, the operator’s Managing Director Ben Wakerley told the Association of Local Bus Managers conference in Edinburgh on 26 April.
Although signing of contracts with the two suppliers will not occur until the end of a standstill period that is currently underway, Mr Wakerley says that both are the municipal operator’s intended choices.
Under the plans, Volvo Bus UK and Ireland will supply 105 single- and double-deck examples of the BZL with MCV bodywork to deliver a wholesale conversion of the Warrington’s Own Buses fleet under work that is being part-funded by the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas scheme. The operator moved into a new depot in Warrington on 23 March that has been custom-designed to suit the transition to a battery-electric bus fleet.
Delivery of the intended BZLs is likely to see the last diesel bus leave the Cheshire operator during spring 2024, Mr Wakerley continues.
The new depot has a 6MVA electricity substation already installed along with around five kilometres of underfloor cable ducting. Vehicle specification is awaiting final refinement and staff training will begin when the first battery-electric bus arrives.
In an indication that vehicle procurement is now not the matter upon which zero-emission hinges, Mr Wakerley told conference delegates that arranging the high voltage connection into a depot for the right time “is the most important part of the process.”
Energy for charging will be purchased from the solar farm estate owned by shareholder Warrington Borough Council. “The new buses will be as green as they can possibly be,” Mr Wakerley continues, noting that it is expected that the BZLs will be cheaper to run than the diesels they replace.
The intended Warrington order will represent further success for Volvo in the UK battery-electric bus market. It has supplied the first of well over 200 BZL double- and single-deckers to Stagecoach fleets and has multiple orders in hand for the London market. EO Charging’s offering to the bus sector is led by former Alexander Dennis man Keith Watson.
