Thursday, November 21, 2024
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Go Ahead invests £500 million in decarbonisation

Go Ahead has announced a £500 million investment to decarbonise its fleet with Wrightbus at the same time the government has announced a new UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel.

The partnership will include a new manufacturing line and partnership with Northern Ireland-based Wrightbus, in a move which could create as many as 500 UK manufacturing jobs, and the production of up to 1,200 new zero emission buses in the next three years. For every vehicle manufactured, 10 trees will also be planted by the firms in towns and cities where buses are deployed.

It comes as the Transport Secretary Louise Haigh will meet with key industry leaders today (8 October) including Wrightbus owner Jo Bamford and CEO Jean-Marc Gales to reaffirm its commitment to decarbonising local transport.

Haigh will also announce plans to create a new UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel, bringing together industry experts and local leaders to help local authorities deliver on their transport ambitions, and opportunities to embrace zero emission transport technologies. The government said more details about the panel would be announced “in due course”.

The Go Ahead cash will accelerate the transition to greener buses across the country including in Plymouth, Gloucestershire, East Yorkshire, London and the Isle of Wight, it said.

The announcement also comes ahead of the International Investment Summit. Haigh will hold several bilateral meetings at the summit to attract further investment to support the delivery of our transport priorities across the country.

The Prime Minister will also convene the first Council of Nations and Regions later this week, bringing together First Ministers, Northern Ireland’s First Minister and Deputy First Minister and regional mayors from across England.

Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh said:

“This announcement will see communities across the country benefit from brand new, state of the art green buses – which will deliver cleaner air and better journeys.”

“We’re creating the right conditions for businesses to flourish, so we can support jobs and accelerate towards decarbonising the transport sector.”

Go-Ahead Bus CEO, Matt Carney said:

“This multi-million pound investment and partnership with WrightBus will accelerate the transition to zero-emission fleet across the UK.”

Wrightbus CEO, Jean-Marc Gales said:

“The deal with Go-Ahead is hugely significant and represents a huge boost to the UK’s economy. It will support homegrown manufacturing, jobs and skills for the next three years and beyond.

“We’ve always been proud to support the UK’s supply chain and our Go-Ahead partnership will ensure even more money can be spent securing good green jobs.

“We must also not forget that this deal represents a massive step forward in our ambition to help decarbonise the transport sector with our world-leading products. It was heartening today to hear the Government reaffirm its commitment to a green transport sector.”

Image from Shutterstock

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