64 new electric buses for Coventry

Public transport operator Stagecoach has received 64 all-electric buses that will go into service in the UK city of Coventry. The buses were manufactured by Alexander Dennis and Yutong.

stagecoach coventry electric buses yutong adl uk 2024 — Image: Coventry City Council

Specifically, Alexander Dennis delivered 31 double-decker buses and Yutong 33 single-deckers. The exact models are not mentioned in the press release, but there are already 130 Enviro400EV from ADL (at the time ADL-BYD) in service in Coventry since last year. All buses will go into service in the spring once the depots have been fitted with the corresponding charging infrastructure.

Coventry wants to have “the UK’s first all-electric bus fleet by 2025.” Eighty per cent of all buses travelling into the city – about 200 units – already have an electric drive. It thus helped fund the buses through its ‘Coventry’s Electric’ programme, “a trailblazing £140m project that reinforces Stagecoach’s commitment to run zero-emission buses on all its services which link Coventry to surrounding areas in Warwickshire.” The operator also footed part of the bill.

“We’re thrilled to be announcing this investment of more than £33 million on these 64 electric buses and the supporting infrastructure at our depots,” said Mark Whitelocks, Stagecoach Midlands Managing Director. “This investment demonstrates Stagecoach’s confidence in the region and is evidence of us delivering our ambitions to transform bus services for the communities we serve.”

Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands and West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA9 chair, added: “This combined investment by Stagecoach and the public sector is going to make a huge difference to people’s journeys in and around Coventry. It not only means that people, including cyclists and pedestrians, are breathing cleaner air but bus passengers are travelling in comfort in brand new vehicles making it a more attractive, affordable and greener way to get around the city.”

According to an official statement from the Coventry City Council, funding for the electric bus fleet comes from Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), which received £50 million of funding from the Department of Transport. Together with the Warwickshire County Council, TfWM contributed another £20 million. Moreover, bus operators invested another 70 million pounds to fund the switch to zero emission.

coventry.gov.uk