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Arriva turn fleet green

Bus company Arriva have revealed plans to introduce more than £26.7m of new low carbon emission buses to its UK fleet.

This investment represents the UK’s largest orders both for Volvo hybrid buses and for MAN EcoCity gas buses.

£22.2m will be invested with the remainder secured through successful bids to the government’s Green Bus Fund, which helps bus companies and local authorities to increase the number of eco-friendly buses on the roads.

Arriva will receive 77 hybrid electric double decker buses and 21 carbon-neutral biogas-fuelled single deck buses, to service the North East, North West, Yorkshire and Kent.

Mike Cooper, managing director, Arriva UK Bus, said: “We welcome the minister’s announcement.

“The Green Bus Fund is helping accelerate the introduction of low carbon emission buses across England and supports investment by the bus industry aimed at further improving bus travel’s environmental credential as one of the greenest modes of transport .

“This investment is excellent news for our customers as it will offer them state-of-the-art new buses and a more comfortable journey.

“The cleaner fuelled vehicles will also play an important role in delivering more sustainable transport in the communities we serve and positively contribute towards the air quality action plans that our local authority partners are working hard to achieve.”

He added that during the bidding stages, Arriva worked closely with local authority stakeholders who helped to ensure our proposals aligned with their environmental objectives.

The MAN ecocity gas buses will be fuelled by carbon-neutral biomethane, and the Volvo diesel-electric hybrids produce 40-50% lower exhaust emissions and use up to 37% less fuel than standard diesel buses.

As the new vehicles are brought in over the next year, some of Arriva’s existing buses will be withdrawn from the fleet.

They also complement the firm’s wider eco-driving initiative, which is reducing fuel consumption and emissions through fuel indicator technology and driver training techniques.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .