First Bus has ordered 53 zero emission buses, in partnership with City of York Council, in a transformation that will see its depot become one of the first outside London to be fully electric.

The StreetDeck Electroliner double-deckers and GB Kite Electroliner single-deckers, manufactured by Wrightbus, based in Northern Ireland, include audio visual next stop technology, USB charging points and Wi-Fi connectivity.

York Electric vehicles will initially operate on the Service 4 route from the city centre to Acomb with services 1 and 5 expected to follow shortly.

These buses, which have a range of up to 200 miles on full charge, can carry about 90 passengers.

As part of the overall investment, the First Bus depot in the city is currently being transformed with the installation of power charging and EV infrastructure.

First Bus has invested £13m in the project supported with £10.2m funding secured by City of York Council from the Government’s Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme.

Each bus will save up to 60 tonnes of carbon emissions a year, meaning an anticipated annual reduction of more than 3,000 tonnes of CO2 when the full fleet is in operation.

Andrew Cullen, Managing Director of First Bus in North & West Yorkshire, said: “We’re proud to unveil these latest zero emission buses and are confident they will appeal to our customers and attract more people to consider bus travel by realising the real impact this has in reducing congestion, creating cleaner air and supporting the York economy.”