Transdev operator The Harrogate Bus Company has placed orders worth £21 million for 39 new buses as it converts its entire fleet in the town to fully electric power.

The order includes 20 new Mercedes-Benz E-Citaro all-electric single deck buses, to be used on the operator’s busy urban route 1 between Harrogate and Knaresborough, route 7 linking Harrogate, Wetherby and Leeds, and rural route 24 between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge

There are also 19 new British-built Alexander Dennis Enviro 400EV fully electric double deck buses, to relaunch the 36 route linking Ripon, Harrogate and Leeds.

The orders are supported by £7.8 million of funding from the Government’s Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) funding, following a successful bid by partner, North Yorkshire Council.

It follows successful trials of several types of all-electric buses on three varied routes in and around Harrogate, and on The Harrogate Bus Company’s high-frequency Shuttle route linking Bradford and Keighley.

Henri Rohard, Transdev Managing Director, said: “In combination with our existing eight Harrogate Electrics-branded Volvo 7900E electric buses, the first of their kind in Britain, 47 fully-electric vehicles are now expected to be in service in Spring 2024.

“Higher power output delivered by today’s new generation batteries means each bus can go further between charge-ups – and to make sure we provide a reliable service, our buses will also have top-up charges at Harrogate Bus Station, as they will travel further in a day than the maximum range achievable by fully electric buses.”