Posted on Friday 22nd March 2024
One of the electric buses which will be operated by Diamond Bus
New electric buses will be running in Tamworth and Burton thanks to £3.1million government funding and investment from the transport providers.
Staffordshire County Council has worked with Arriva in Tamworth and Diamond Bus in Burton to develop a bid totalling over £9million with the government funding of £3.1million, which has been announced today. Both companies will be match-funding the government’s allocation from the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas fund.
They will be running on the Diamond Bus 8/9 services in Burton and the Arriva 110 in Tamworth.
Dave Atkinson, Staffordshire County Council’s assistant director for connectivity and sustainability said:
The provision of new electric buses across the county will provide sustainable transport options in our main towns with backing from government funds.
We have put together strong bids with the bus companies to secure this funding and look forward to seeing the buses roll out next year.”
Simon Dunn, CEO of Rotala Ltd, the parent company of Diamond Bus, said:
Diamond Bus are very proud and excited to be working with Staffordshire County Council to deliver some great benefits to Burton bus passengers. The award of this funding will enable us to invest in brand new electric buses for the region, along with the necessary infrastructure to support these vehicles. This means we can forge ahead with our key goals of bringing cleaner and greener bus services to the Staffordshire community.”
Andrew Godley, regional commercial director at Arriva UK Bus said:
We’re delighted to have been successful in our joint bids to bring brand new zero emission buses to our customers in the Midlands. Public transport has a crucial role to play in helping the country to decarbonise, and these new vehicles will help us make a real difference in delivering the clean, sustainable and high-performing bus services that communities across Tamworth deserve.”
The previously announced Levelling Up Fund 2 will also support zero emission buses in Staffordshire towns. New buses will be operated on the Diamond 8/9 services in Burton, Chaserider 74 Cannock to Stafford as well as the 875 Cannock-Penkridge-Stafford, operated by Select Bus.