Warrington is paving the way to become one of the greenest towns in the UK after Warrington Borough Council's Cabinet gave the green light for Warrington's Own Buses to move forward with replacing its entire diesel bus fleet with zero tailpipe emissions electric buses.
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| Warrington's Own Buses |
By 2024, Warrington will have a total of 105 electric buses taking the place of their current diesel fleet. This ground-breaking initiative will be one of the largest such programs ever established in the UK, revolutionising the public transport in the town. People of Warrington can look forward to a more eco-friendly, reliable and cost-efficient transportation service in the near future.
The success in securing the largest funding award made from the Government's ZEBRA (Zero Emission Bus Regional Area) scheme in 2021 will go towards the replacement of Warrington's diesel buses. In addition, the Council is contributing significantly towards the scheme with its funding commitments supporting the vision of transforming bus travel in Warrington.
In light of the economic challenges due to the current pandemic, the scheme has been re-modelled to better serve the needs of Warrington's bus users. This commitment by the Council and the Government has created an example for other towns and cities to follow, with the aim of transitioning to a zero emission world.
Ben Wakerley, Managing Director at Warrington’s Own Buses, added:
“This is great news for Warrington. As well as the clear environmental benefits it will bring, the introduction of our electric fleet will dramatically improve the quality of our services, building on the slashed fares we have already introduced and improving reliability and punctuality.
“Around five million bus journeys take place in Warrington each year. The introduction of new, modern, environmentally-friendly buses which are fit for the future, will provide a better experience for customers, bringing more passengers, taking cars off the road and helping to alleviate congestion.
“Warrington’s Own Buses is financially sound and on course to deliver a profit this year. I’m delighted that we are moving forward with the ZEBRA project, which gives us even more confidence in improved sustainability for our company in the coming years.”
Finishing touches are currently being made to Warrington’s Own Buses new bus depot which is due to be handed over for occupation in the coming weeks.
The new depot will be equipped with electric vehicle charging infrastructure, ready to house the new fleet of zero emission buses when they launch in 2024.
ZEBRA is the Government’s initiative to introduce 4,000 zero-emission buses across England by 2025.
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