The coach sector needs to feel confident about infrastructure and supply for the decarbonisation process to proceed, writes CPT President Kathryn Pulham
For many operators, fleet investment has become less a question of ambition than of confidence.
The coach sector is not short of commitment. Operators have modernised fleets, invested through difficult trading conditions, and adapted to changing expectations from customers, local authorities and government.
But a coach is a long-term asset. It cannot be bought on a hunch, nor financed on policy fog.
On accessibility, the direction is now clearer. After years of discussion around PSVAR, operators have a firmer understanding of what is expected from vehicles used on local and scheduled services.
However, compliance is not easy. Retrofitting is expensive, lead times are real and the diversity of the coach sector is often poorly understood. But clarity matters. Once the rules are known, businesses can plan.
The question now is whether government can provide the same clarity on decarbonisation for the coach sector.
Coach operators support the net-zero transition. A full coach can replace dozens of cars, reduce congestion, support tourism and connect communities. Decarbonising coach should therefore be seen not as a niche transport problem, but as a major opportunity.
Yet the policy framework has not caught up with that opportunity. Government has consulted on a future CO2 emissions framework for heavy vehicles and has considered whether coaches should be part of that approach.
Regulation without infrastructure is simply a target with a penalty attached
In principle, a well-designed framework could help provide the long-term certainty operators and manufacturers need. But regulation without infrastructure is simply a target with a penalty attached.
Coaches are not buses, and they are not HGVs. They do not live only at depots but travel between cities, serve airports and ports, visit rural attractions, support rail replacement, take children to school and carry supporters, visitors and holidaymakers across the country. A depot-only view of charging will not work for a sector whose value lies in flexibility.
The Depot Charging Scheme is a welcome step and the Confederation of Passenger Transport’s webinar, available to members, is a useful resource for understanding it. For some operators, routes and vehicles, battery-electric coaches may offer solutions.
But depot charging is only one piece of the puzzle. We still need a serious national plan for coach charging and refuelling infrastructure on the strategic road network and at the places where coaches actually operate.
Hydrogen should also remain part of the conversation, especially for longer-distance, high-mileage operations.
Manufacturers are continuing to develop hydrogen coach technology, but operators cannot invest in vehicles that depend on a fuel network which exists mainly in strategy documents.
Hydrogen will only become credible for coach if government, energy providers, infrastructure operators and manufacturers move together.
Recent fuel price volatility has underlined why this matters. Diesel will remain essential for some time, and sudden cost spikes place severe pressure on operators, particularly SMEs working on tight margins and fixed contracts.
In theory, that strengthens the case for zero-emission transition. In practice, the economics must stack up. A zero-emission coach comes with higher upfront costs, uncertain residual values, infrastructure constraints and questions about operational range. Asking operators to absorb all of that risk would be neither fair nor realistic.
There is also a wider political reality. Net-zero policy is under sharper scrutiny because of energy prices, the cost of living, and global instability. Any future government, including an incoming Burnham administration, will need to show that decarbonisation is not something done to businesses and passengers, but with them.
If the next phase is more interventionist, devolved or delivery-focused, coach must be at the table early, not added as an afterthought.
The way forward is not complicated, but it does require discipline. Set a clear, proportionate regulatory pathway. Fund the vehicle transition properly. Deliver infrastructure where coaches actually run. Keep technology options open. Above all, recognise that this is a sector made up largely of practical businesses making practical decisions.
Coach operators are ready to invest in the future. What they need now is confidence that government is investing in the conditions that make that future possible.
