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Supporting role for Go-Ahead’s gas bus at Dorset royal visit

Posted: 26 November 2012 | Go-Ahead Group | No comments yet

One of Go-Ahead’s new gas buses played a supporting role during a visit by HRH The Prince of Wales to Poundbury in Dorset…

Go-Ahead Gas Bus

One of Go-Ahead’s new gas buses played a supporting role during a visit by HRH The Prince of Wales to Poundbury in Dorset when the Prince opened a new renewable gas plant.

Go-Ahead Gas BusThe first of Go-Ahead’s 13 new MAN EcoCity buses was used during His Royal Highness’s visit, with the vehicle taking visitors to and from the facility. The new gas plant is the UK’s first fully operational commercial scale anaerobic digester and biomethane-to-grid plant, and provides renewable energy for Poundbury, the mixed use community being developed near Dorchester by the Duchy of Cornwall.

Go-Ahead’s EcoCity buses will come into service during the next two months and will be run by Anglian Bus. Go-Ahead is investing in a gas dispensing unit at Anglian’s Beccles headquarters to fuel the buses.

Anglian Managing Director Andrew Pursey was at the event and chatted to the Prince of Wales about Go-Ahead’s use of gas buses.

Phil Margrave, Go-Ahead’s Group Engineering Director said:“It is good to see our first gas playing a supporting role in the launch of such an important development at Poundbury. The new EcoCity buses, obtained through the third round of Green Bus Funding, will reduce the daily cost of running the vehicle by around a third.”

Go-Ahead is committed to reducing its carbon emissions by 20 per cent per passenger journey by 2015 and has achieved a 14 per cent reduction to date. The Group focuses on a range of initiatives known as Driving Energy Further to reduce its emissions. They include the introduction of regenerative braking and meters on its train fleet; bus driver training and the installation of Mix Telematics to measure driver efficiency; and site energy reduction and staff engagement.

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