£18M investment to accelerate electric bus rollout in Scotland

The investment includes nearly £6m Transport Scotland Scottish Zero Emission Bus (ScotZEB) funding and will bring 37 more electric buses to Glasgow and a further 40 chargers to its Scotstoun depot.

When completed, 67% of the Scotstoun fleet will be electric, with these latest vehicles adding to the existing 72 electric buses introduced since 2022.

The new buses will be introduced to local networks from next year, and will include 15 repower vehicles - former diesel buses converted to electric. Currently, 52% of the total First Bus Scotland fleet is zero emission.

Andy Cullen, First Bus’ Regional Director for Scotland, said: “This is great news for our decarbonisation journey in Scotland. Next year well over half our total Scottish fleet (58%) will be electric thanks to this latest £18m investment, which means even more customers will benefit from cleaner, quieter, smoother and more reliable services.

“We’re pleased to continue working in partnership with Transport Scotland, which has granted us almost £6m in its latest round of funding to support our shared efforts towards net zero across the transport network, helping to clean up our streets and air quality, and protect our local environments.”  

This latest electrification project supports the First Bus commitment to operate a 100% zero emission commercial bus fleet by 2035.

First Bus has invested around £500m across the UK electrifying 20 depots, now operating more than 1,400 electric vehicles (over 25% of its fleet).