First Bus to invest £35m in green transport for Glasgow and Aberdeen with ScotZEB funding from Transport Scotland
- First Glasgow and First Aberdeen have been awarded a combined £18.6m in ScotZEB funding and will deliver 74 new electric vehicles across both cities.
- First Bus will invest a further £16.4m to further increase its zero-emission fleet.
- Over 40% of vehicles operating out of First Glasgow’s Caledonia and Scotstoun depots will be fully electric and zero-emission by Spring 2024.
- First Bus will future-proof its Scotstoun and Aberdeen depots with installation of the required electrification infrastructure.
First Bus is delighted to announce that £35million will be invested in new fully electric and zero emission vehicles for the cities of Glasgow and Aberdeen. These new buses are scheduled to be introduced to the country’s bus network by Spring 2024, thanks to a successful bid in Transport Scotland’s Scottish Zero Emission Bus (ScotZEB) Challenge funding.
The successful bid awards First Glasgow and First Aberdeen a combined £18.6m, and First Bus has committed to spend a further £16.4m. The investment will bring 50 new electric buses to First Bus’ Scotstoun depot, with the First Aberdeen zero-emission fleet being bolstered with an additional 24 electric vehicles.
This new committed investment will see First Glasgow adding to the 126 new electric buses that are currently being delivered to its Caledonia depot, taking the total number of First Bus electric vehicles operating in Glasgow city to 200, accounting for over 40% of the total buses operating out of the two First Glasgow city depots.
First Aberdeen, meanwhile, will welcome 24 brand new electric vehicles, meaning its fleet is now made up of 30% zero emission vehicles.
The approval of ScotZEB funding will also see major infrastructure developments across First Bus’ Scotstoun and Aberdeen depots with both set to receive significant investment in accelerating their electrification, helping to future-proof both depots as First Bus continues towards its commitment to operating a zero-emission bus fleet by 2035.
In 2020, First Bus also pledged not to purchase any new diesel buses after December 2022. This commitment goes above and beyond current regulations, solidifying First Bus’s position as a leader in the transition to a low-carbon future.
Duncan Cameron, Managing Director for First Bus Scotland, said, “Today marks another major milestone in our sustainable travel roadmap with the approval of funding from the Scottish Government allowing us to expand our electric bus infrastructure across the country.
“We are delighted to have been awarded this funding and we are proud to be continuing our journey towards achieving a 100% zero emission fleet by 2035. Scotstoun will become the second of our depots in Glasgow to start its journey towards a zero-emission fleet, while Aberdeen will further enhance its growing number of zero-emission buses. Both depots will be future proofed for further investment in zero emissions vehicles as a result of the infrastructure work undertaken.
“This announcement will also see huge benefits for our customers as it allows First Bus to offer even greener and quieter bus travel to thousands of new customers across Greater Glasgow and Aberdeen.”
For more information on First Bus: https://news-scot.firstbus.co.uk/
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Notes to editors
About First Bus
First Bus is one of the UK’s largest bus operators. Making journeys easier for our customers, we were the first national bus operator to accept contactless card payments across all of our services and our First Bus App is voted ‘best in class’ amongst UK bus operators. Our most recent investments are in new, state-of-the-art buses across our key networks.
We work proactively with our local authority partners, making a positive impact on air quality, tackling congestion and improving customer experience. We are focused on First Bus becoming a leader in the transition to a low-carbon future and are committed to operating a zero-emission bus fleet by 2035; we have pledged not to purchase any new diesel buses after December 2022. We also operate the Aircoach network in Ireland.
First Bus is a division of FirstGroup.