As expected, Warrington’s Own Buses has confirmed an order for 105 new electric buses from Volvo
The future of zero-emission bus travel in Warrington is a step closer following the award of a contract for the town’s all-electric fleet. Warrington Borough Council is moving ahead with its Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA)-funded scheme and has now signed an agreement with Volvo, placing an order for 105 Volvo BZL electric buses, one of the biggest single orders for electric buses in the UK to date.
The council has also awarded a contract for the supply of chargers to EO Charging, which will be installed at Warrington’s new bus depot. The fleet is expected to enter service in 2024. Warrington Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for transport, Councillor Hans Mundry, said: “It’s fantastic news that our ZEBRA project is moving forward, with the orders placed for our new, zero emissions buses and chargers. The introduction of our all-electric fleet will bring massive benefits, helping to decarbonise our transport system as we work towards a net-zero future.
“We will be delivering a fleet of buses fit for the future with zero tailpipe emissions which will improve air quality across Warrington, supporting our work to tackle the climate emergency. It will also support a key aim of our Local Transport Plan, to reduce emissions and congestion and build sustainable transport into everyday life in Warrington.
“Our environmentally friendly, modern and attractive buses will help boost Warrington’s reputation as a place to live, work, and do business. We believe that – supported by the huge improvements we are making to services across the board through our BSIP – our new buses will play a major role in our work to achieve a mode shift from the car and increase the share of journeys made by bus in our borough.”
Chief Executive of EO Charging Charlie Jardine added: “EO Charging is excited to be working with Warrington Borough Council and Warrington’s Own Buses on this project to install electric bus charging across the whole depot for its new Volvo electric bus fleet. We are looking forward to starting works on site later this year, with the project fully delivered in Q2 2024.
“The project will see the deployment of 53 high capacity 120kW chargers from ABB, with each unit supporting overnight charging of two vehicles. The new connection of 6MVA will be load managed through our EO Hub load management device and the chargers will be connected to our EO Cloud software platform to ensure the limits of the new timed connection are not exceeded.”
Ben Wakerley, Managing Director of Warrington’s Own Buses, added: “The electric buses, powered by solar energy, will make our bus services as carbon neutral as they can possibly be. This is great for the environment and air quality, and will provide a huge improvement for customers and employees.”
