Portsmouth bus travel: £6.2m funding announced for 28 new electric buses in Portsmouth, Gosport and Fareham

The £6.2m announced today (Thursday, March 2), means the First Bus depot in Hoeford will be able to house a fully-electric fleet, building on funding for 34 buses announced last year, to serve routes between Portsmouth, Gosport, Fareham and Southampton. The grant is part of the Zero Emission Buses Regional Area (Zebra) scheme, and comes from the latest £25.3m round of funding.

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Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, roads minister Richard Holden said the money would also help cover the cost of infrastructure, allowing a wider roll-out of zero emission buses across the region.

‘We want to move that way not just for the environmental benefits but because they are more attractive to use,’ he said. ‘Electric buses are a smoother ride, they’re quieter and people like that.

‘This will be a big boost to journeys in Portsmouth and Hampshire.’

The Zebra scheme falls under the government’s national bus strategy, aimed at improving services across the country by increasing their frequency, reducing fares and improving ticket integration. Last year Portsmouth City Council was awarded a £48.3m allocation through it. The first 34 buses are expected to arrive within the next year and will be followed later through the vehicles funded through the latest grant.

Portsmouth City Council cabinet member for transport Lynne Stagg said she was ‘delighted’ by the announcement.

‘Our officers have worked tirelessly to improve bus services and they have been incredibly successful at securing money to fund this,’ she said. ‘If we want to encourage more people to use buses, we have to make it easier and more pleasant and this money will help us do that.’

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The first electric buses will be used on First’s 1 and 3 services serving the city centre and Southsea and the 9 and 9A linking Fareham and Gosport for the ferry into the city. The second batch will be used for the X4 and X5 between Portsmouth, Gosport and Southampton and the E1 and E2 Eclipse routes.

Janette Bell, First Bus managing director, said the government support would help ‘accelerate’ the companies investment in the electrification of its fleet.

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