First West of England has begun work on two multi-million pound projects to electrify its bus depots in Bristol and Weston-super-Mare.
At Weston-super-Mare, a £14.9million scheme will see the transformation of the two-football pitch sized site, close to the A370, and the arrival of 24 new electric buses there next year.
Also, £44 million is being invested in electrifying the operator’s Hengrove depot in Bristol alongside launching 74 electric buses on the city’s network.
The Hengrove transformation is planned to get underway at the end of October 2024.
Work at both depots is expected to be completed by March next year, with the electric buses arriving shortly afterwards.
As well as supplying the sites with increased power, the projects will see about 400 tonnes of steel used across multiple gantries which will distribute power to charge the new buses.
Electrifying the depots will also provide facilities for local companies to charge their electric vehicles and bring green employment and training opportunities, including upskilling the existing engineering team, and providing apprenticeship opportunities.
This electrification programme has been supported by partnerships between First West of England and the West of England Combined Authority and North Somerset Council, who together secured almost £9m of government funding through its Zero Emissions Bus Regional Areas 2 (ZEBRA2) project.
Doug Claringbold, First West of England’s Managing Director, said: “We’re proud as a company to be investing more than £50m into this project, which will be our biggest in this region for decades, and supports First Bus’ commitment to have a zero-emissions fleet by 2035.”
