Inverness Goes Green with First Fully Electric Buses in Scotland

• Fleet of 5 state-of-the-art electric buses for Inverness City
• £600, 000 investment by Stagecoach backed by £495,000 from Scottish Government Green Bus Fund and £15,000 from HITRANS and £15,000 from Highland Council.

Stagecoach is driving a green revolution on the roads after Councillor David Alston today (Friday 5th June) launched a £1.1 million fleet of zero emissions electric buses in Inverness.

The new Optare Enviro EV buses, manufactured in Leeds, are the first fully electric buses of their kind to be used in Scotland.
The eco-friendly buses will look identical to a conventional bus but have an electric power pack in place of the diesel engine. The buses take just 2 hours to reach full charge in addition to the braking system generating electrical energy when the brakes are applied.
Stagecoach has invested £600,000 in the new buses, with a further £495,000 being provided through the Scottish Government’s Green Bus Fund.

HITRANS and Highland Council – through the Carbon CLEVER initiaitive – have funded the installation of a rapid charging post at Inverness Bus Station to support the buses in service.

Steve Walker, Managing Director, Stagecoach North Scotland said: “We are committed to reducing the impact of our operations on the environment, whilst continuing to offer high quality, affordable travel.

“We have seen the success of similar electric vehicles in other parts of the country so we’re delighted to be launching these new buses in Inverness, particularly as they are the first fully electric buses to operate in Scotland. We will look forward to welcoming more people onto our greener, smarter bus network.”

The new vehicles will be used on city centre routes in Inverness from Monday 8th June, predominantly on services 7 and 9. Service 9 connects South Kessock to the city centre and service 7 connects Culduthel to the city centre and Raigmore. These routes carry over 24,000 passengers every month.

One of the new vehicles was unveiled on Falcon Square in Inverness today by Councillor David Alston, with other local councillors, local businesses and stakeholders also in attendance. The launch of the eco-friendly vehicles marks Stagecoach Group’s seventh annual Green Week (1st – 5th June) which continues to drive forward the green agenda through the Group’s new five-year Sustainability Strategy.
More information about the electric vehicles and Green Week is available at stagecoachbus.com.

ENDS

For further media information contact Kim Masson, Marketing Manager on 01224 597561 / 07825 937205