First Bus has announced that its Norwich and York depots are set to become fully electric, the UK’s first bus depots outside of London to reach this milestone, since successfully securing Department for Transport (DfT) approval to boost their existing Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (ZEBRA) projects in four locations.

The company will co-fund an additional 117 electric buses across York and Bramley depots in West Yorkshire, one of its Norwich depots in Norfolk, and the Hoeford depot in Hampshire. 58% of the funding will be provided by First Bus and the remaining 42% from the UK Government’s ZEBRA scheme.

“Buses are the most popular form of public transport, and these new British-built zero emission buses will support hundreds of high-quality manufacturing jobs in Northern Ireland, grow our economy and help clean up the air in towns and cities across the country,” said Roads Minister, Richard Holden.

“We’re providing an additional £25.3 million to roll out 117 new buses to provide residents in Yorkshire, Norfolk, and Portsmouth with better, cleaner and quieter journeys, as we step up a gear to reach net zero faster and level up transport across the country.”

The company will co-fund an additional 117 electric buses across York and Bramley depots in West Yorkshire

On completion of the ZEBRA projects, First Bus will have over 600 zero emission buses in their fleet. Additional investment from First Bus will total £35 million and will accelerate the zero emission transformation of these sites.

“This is a significant milestone on our decarbonisation journey. We are delighted to be accelerating investment in the electrification of our bus fleet and infrastructure, supported by co-funding from the Department for Transport,”  said Janette Bell, Managing Director, First Bus.

“We are rapidly transforming our business with zero emission bus fleets and will continue to work closely with central and local Government across the UK to deliver our decarbonisation plans.”

“We are excited to take our people on this journey with us and look forward to these projects coming to fruition and the first vehicles going into service for our customers.”

All ZEBRA projects are run in close partnership with the Local Authorities in these regions, bringing transformational results to the local bus fleet and enhancing journeys for our communities and the environment.

Each regional project in England will now be completed by March 2024, which is another huge step towards achieving its pledge of an entirely zero emission fleet by 2035.