FirstGroup invests in new ‘low carbon’ buses

UK and US transport operator FirstGroup has placed an order worth US$102 million (£70 million) for 305 new vehicles, 87 per cent of which will be Department for Transport approved ‘low carbon certified’. First Bus estimates this will save 4 million kg of CO2 per year. The 2016/17 investment will bring the company’s fleet of low carbon certified vehicles to around 1,000, believed to be one of the largest in the UK, saving in total an estimated 14.5 million kg of CO2 annually.
May 4, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

UK and US transport operator FirstGroup has placed an order worth US$102 million (£70 million) for 305 new vehicles, 87 per cent of which will be Department for Transport approved ‘low carbon certified’. First Bus estimates this will save 4 million kg of CO2 per year. The 2016/17 investment will bring the company’s fleet of low carbon certified vehicles to around 1,000, believed to be one of the largest in the UK, saving in total an estimated 14.5 million kg of CO2 annually.

All 305 new buses will be fitted with the latest Euro VI engines, which are claimed to produce 95 per cent fewer oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions compared to buses with Euro V engines and as a result will help improve air quality in the towns and cities in which First Bus operates.  

With 98 per cent of the order to be manufactured in the UK, the fleet investment by First Bus provides a big boost to British manufacturing helping to support hundreds of UK jobs.  Scottish firm ADL will manufacture 204 vehicles, while Northern Ireland’s Wrightbus has secured an order for 91 buses, and Volvo has won a contract to build 10 coach chassis in Sweden, with the bodies manufactured by ADL.

Related Content

  • Alternative fuel buses gaining significant traction
    April 25, 2012
    According to a recent report from Pike Research, the trend toward cleaner transit buses will continue over the next several years, and by 2015 the cleantech market intelligence firm forecasts that alternative fuel vehicles will represent more than 50 per cent of the 64,000 total transit buses that will be delivered worldwide during that year, up from 28 per cent of total bus deliveries in 2010.
    Read More
  • Aimsun solutions support new planning tool for low-carbon mobility
    March 8, 2023
    The EU-funded HARMONY research project is behind a new planning tool to support sustainable transport policymaking. Aimsun scientific researcher Lampros Yfantis explains the key role of traffic simulation with Aimsun Ride in planning for on-demand mobility and logistics services
    Read More
  • Scottish company produces motor fuel from whisky
    March 2, 2015
    A Scottish company has become the first in the world to produce biofuel capable of powering cars from residues of the whisky industry. Edinburgh-based Celtic Renewables now plans to build a production facility in central Scotland after manufacturing the first samples of bio-butanol from the by-products of whisky fermentation. Celtic Renewables, in partnership with the Ghent-based BioBase Europe Pilot Plant (BBEPP), has produced the first samples of bio-butanol from waste using a process called the acetone-b
    Read More
  • National funding cuts cause fragmentation of US ITS market
    February 1, 2012
    Paul Everett, Research Director with IMS Research, looks at how ITS deployment varies across the US and what this means in terms of market potential for systems manufacturers and suppliers At the end of 2010, the US will have a total resident population of close to 310 million, rising to an estimated 439 million by 2050.
    Read More

Highlighted Content