National Express Coventry orders 130 electric buses

A fleet of 130 zero-emission double decker buses will be introduced next year as part of a £140 million project to make Coventry the UK’s first all-electric bus city.

National Express Coventry has ordered the zero-emission buses to enter into service in early 2023, helping improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions in the city.

Last year, Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), which is part of the West Midlands Combined Authority, secured £50 million funding from the Department of Transport to ensure every bus in Coventry is zero-emission. Now under a deal with TfWM, National Express Coventry is making an additional multi-million pound investment into the All Electric Bus City project with the purchase of the 130 new buses. The company is set to order further buses at a later date.

Similar agreements with other bus companies and those running subsidised services are likely to follow, with the aim of putting up to 300 electric buses on the streets of Coventry, guaranteeing an all-electric fleet by 2025.

Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the WMCA,  said: “It really is incredibly exciting to think next year we will have 130 all-electric buses on the streets of Coventry thanks to the deal we have signed with National Express.

“These clean and green double decker buses will not only be fantastic for passengers with their comfort and state-of-the-art technology, but it will also help in reducing air pollution and tackling the climate emergency.

“Buses are the backbone of transport in the West Midlands, and a key part of the public transport revolution we have been undergoing in recent years. So I am delighted we have been able to make yet another landmark investment as we look to build on our pre-pandemic levels of patronage – where the West Midlands was the only region that saw a rise in bus passenger numbers.”