People in Yorkshire, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Hampshire will enjoy greener, cleaner journeys as after government announced today that an extra 117 zero emission buses will be rolled via £25.3 million funding.

The investment, separate to government’s Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (ZEBRA) scheme, will see Norfolk County Council receive an extra £11.5m to deliver 55 buses, Portsmouth City Council and Hampshire County Council receive £6.2m for 28 buses, West Yorkshire Combined Authority to get £5.7m for 25 buses, and the City of York Council receiving £1.9m for nine buses.

The new ZEBs will be manufactured in Northern Ireland by Wrightbus and operated by FirstBus, supporting hundreds of new high-skilled jobs to encourage growth and help level up the economy.

The investment brings total government funding to almost £300 million for up to 1,395 zero emission buses in England.

UK government Roads Minister Richard Holden said: “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.

“Zero-emission buses are also often cheaper to run, improving the economics for bus operators.”

Janette Bell, Managing Director at First Bus, added: “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.

“As leaders in sustainable mobility, we are fully aligned with the government’s ambitions for a net-zero carbon transport system. 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.”