Battery-electric buses will enter service on the TrawsCymru network in North Wales during February after Transport for Wales (TfW) and Gwynedd Council (GC) confirmed that Llew Jones Coaches will deploy Yutong E12 examples on new route T22 between Caernarfon and Blaenau Ffestiniog.
They will be the first zero-emission buses in Gwynedd. The T22 service will run every hour between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Porthmadog, and every other hour to Caernarfon. TfW says that the contract award will make Llew Jones Coaches the first independent SME operator in Wales to deliver a zero-emission regular stopping service.
It had been expected that commercial route T19 between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Llandudno would also utilise battery-electric buses, but it has since been withdrawn. In October 2020, the Welsh Government said that it was to provide £3.6 million for six buses for the T19 and T22, and their associated infrastructure.
The six E12s arrived during 2021 in a green-fronted livery. Most have been stored since then, although two are now used by Newport Transport on TrawsCymru route T7 between Bristol and Chepstow. They have gained the red-fronted livery applied to eight other Yutong E12s with First Cymru that are used on route T1 between Aberystwyth and Carmarthen.
Start of the TrawsCymru T22 service has been heavily delayed by infrastructure difficulties. A tender notice was issued by GC as far back as March 2021. It stated that a purpose-built depot for the battery-electric buses was to be provided, for which a tenancy agreement would form part of the tender package.
The notice was subsequently reissued in May 2023, noting then that the contract was to be of seven years’ duration. That later publication adds that while the buses are owned by GC, the winning operator is responsible for maintaining them.
The Welsh Government has provided support for the buses and their related infrastructure. First Minister Mark Drakeford told the Senedd on 12 December that the TrawsCymru T22 will run seven days per week.
Despite the delay, GC Environmental Member Cllr Dafydd Meurig says that the start will represent “the culmination of a lot of close collaboration between Gwynedd Council and TfW.” Cllr Meurig adds that the new route “is an example of what can be achieved with working together despite the difficult financial climate.”
Llew Jones Coaches Managing Director Steve Jones has described the Llanrwst business’s success in winning the T22 contract as “a significant achievement for our company,” noting that it “also underscores our dedication to providing eco-friendly and efficient transport solutions for the communities we serve.”
