£9.4million on 58 new electric buses in Liverpool City Region
The government says it's part of their plan to improve local transport in the North West
58 new electric buses will be rolled out across the Liverpool City Region.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper has announced that £9.4million is being given to the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to decarbonise its bus fleet.
It's part of £143million worth of investment from the second round of the Zero Emissions Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) programme.
The government says Liverpool will also benefit from more than £2.2billion from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements programme (CRSTS) to improve local transport connections from now until 2032.
That includes almost £600m from the scrapped Birmingham to Manchester leg of the HS2 project.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said:
"As part of our plan to improve local transport in the North West, we’re providing £9.4 million to roll out 58 brand new zero-emission buses for the Liverpool City Region.
"This latest investment into our bus fleet comes on top of the £3.5 billion we have invested into our bus network since 2020, protecting and improving bus routes into 2025 as well as extending the £2 bus fare cap until the end of 2024, made possible by reallocated HS2 funding."
The first round of ZEBRA funding saw 365 buses rolled out across the North West, taking the total funded directly by the government to 423.
Alison Edwards, Director of Policy & External Relations at the Confederation of Passenger Transport, says:
"CPT welcomes this support from Government to help accelerate vital public and private investment in new zero emissions vehicles and charging infrastructure.
"The transition to a zero emissions bus fleet is a huge opportunity for Britain to lead the world in creating a modern zero emission bus network that offers a growing number of passengers one of the most sustainable forms of transport."
Stagecoach Chief Operating Officer, Sam Greer, said:
"We welcome this allocation of funding to local authorities for investment in new zero-emission buses. This support gives renewed confidence to the whole supply chain and will unlock significant private sector investment into new, clean vehicles.
"This is a positive step forward in helping to reduce carbon emissions and deliver cleaner air, building on the funding already made available to support bus services in England through the £2 fare cap. We look forward to working with our local authority partners to deliver our shared ambitions for thriving bus services that support local communities."