Nine new electric buses join York's fleet

Last year City of York Council received a £8.4m government grant to buy 44 electric buses from Wrightbus

A fleet of nine new electric buses will be unveiled in York later.

The zero emission vehicles, operated by First Bus, will be "switched on" at an event at Clifford's Tower.

The nine new buses are part of a scheme to make York the first depot outside of London to operate an all-electric fleet.

The buses have been funded via a £1.9m investment from the Department for Transport's Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (ZEBRA) project.

The funding came on top of an £8.4m government grant to buy 44 electric buses from Wrightbus, announced in 2022.

First Bus said the vehicles would begin operating from Sunday.

Tom Bridge from First Bus said: "We are delighted to be able to accelerate investment in the electrification of our bus fleet and infrastructure, supported by co-funding from DfT.

"As leaders in sustainable mobility, we are fully aligned with the government and City of York Council's ambitions for a net-zero carbon transport system."