Green Bus Fund gets Go-Ahead Group driving energy further

Go-Ahead Group will be driving energy further with the arrival of another 45 hybrid buses during the next 12 months bringing the total number of green buses in use by the Group to over 100.

Oxford Bus Company will receive 19 of the new hybrid electric buses, taking the proportion of green buses in their fleet to 31 per cent – one of the highest in the country. Go North East will receive 15 hybrid buses and Brighton and Hove Buses 11.

The new buses have been ordered following confirmation by the Department for Transport (DfT) that new low carbon vehicles will be funded through the Green Bus Fund. Go-Ahead will be investing around £10m in the buses, which is being matched by a grant of £3.4m from the DfT. The buses are Volvo Wrightbus hybrids.

Go-Ahead Group Chief Executive David Brown said: “We are committed to providing quality bus services for our passengers and at the same time reducing our carbon emissions per passenger journey by 20 per cent by 2015. We have already achieved a reduction of 12 per cent and these new hybrid buses will help us cut our emissions even further.”