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The UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) and investors have formed a £100m fund to electrify hundreds of London’s buses.
The partnership with Rock Rail and Aviva will also see the construction of “associated infrastructure” such as charging stations. It has been designed as “a scalable funding model” that could help to accelerate decarbonisation of public bus fleets across the UK without relying too heavily on public money.
It has already signed its first deal to fund 60 battery-electric buses, which will be leased to the Go-Ahead Group and deployed on routes throughout London.
UKIB is a state-owned development bank specifically designed to help the government meet its 2050 net zero goals. It is providing £50m for the project.
John Flint, UKIB CEO, said: “The vast majority of the UK’s 36,500 buses are still diesel-powered, and so replacing these with a cleaner, greener alternative will be key in decarbonising the transport sector and achieving UK net zero targets. This will require a massive scale-up of investment.
“The bank’s financing has been crucial in helping to bring the innovative Rock Road leasing platform to the market, which will reduce cost for operators and help improve the uptake of zero-emission buses across the UK.”
Last month, the government announced a £143m investment to roll out almost a thousand new zero-emission buses in England.
London has been slowly decarbonising its fleet since 2006, when the first hybrid double-deck bus was introduced into service. As of March 2023, the capital has 3,835 hybrid buses, 950 electric buses, and 20 hydrogen fuel cell buses all operating across its network, representing around 56% of the bus fleet in total.
Anthony Browne, decarbonisation minister, said: “It’s fantastic to see Rock Rail, UKIB and Aviva join forces to make it easier and quicker for operators to decarbonise their bus fleets, with a commitment to provide £100m in funding for 250 new electric buses.
“This comes only days after we invested £143m to roll out almost a thousand zero-emission buses all over England, as we continue to work closely with industry to provide passengers with modern and cleaner buses while growing the economy.”
Transport is one of the more difficult areas to decarbonise due to the high cost of electric vehicles and the new infrastructure they require. Government decisions over the past 12 months on key industry measures have also hampered business decisions, such as its move to delay the ban on the sale of new diesel and petrol cars and vans from 2030 to 2035.
