Electric buses set to transform travel in Torbay

Stagecoach South West is on the way to rolling out an entire new fleet of electric buses for the English Riviera in a £30million landmark project.

The UK’s leading bus operator plans to launch the new buses this winter in a move that will see the Torbay depot operating a full electric fleet.

The phased delivery of 55 vehicles will see the depot become the first fully electric depot in the South West for Stagecoach and one of the only across the UK by summer 2026.

This is a landmark achievement for the Bay but also Stagecoach in their drive to become a carbon-neutral business by 2050.

In recent weeks the depot has seen works begin on the installation of the charging infrastructure which once complete will see 27 charging points at the depot with each point capable of charging two buses at one time.

This gives the depot enough capacity to manage the entire fleet efficiently overnight. The project is expected to last up to 14 weeks, and it is estimated this will be completed by the end of summer.

The total investment from Stagecoach for the fleet and depot infrastructure stands at £29.3 million.

● £26.1 million for the buses
● £3.2 million for the depot charging infrastructure

This amounts to 75 per cent of the total investment, with the remaining 25 per cent supported by the Department for Transport.

Working with Torbay Council they secured £ 7.1million funding for the new fleet in March from the Department for Transport’s Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas 2 (ZEBRA) scheme with Torbay Council securing a further £361,000 earlier this year.

The new state-of-the-art buses will improve the passenger experience, providing users with considerably quieter, smoother, and more comfortable journeys.

They will also meet Enhanced Accessibility Standards and will come with the latest passenger experience features.

With each bus featuring dedicated wheelchair spaces, hearing loops, and passenger information screens.

There will be three vehicle types the AD Enviro 100 EV, Yutong E10 and Enviro 400 EV and each vehicle will be capable of operating for a full day on a single charge, with a typical energy efficiency of around 1 Kilowatt per Kilometre.

Stagecoach South West anticipates that for each new electric bus introduced to the fleet it has the capacity to remove approximately 20 to 40 cars from the road.

This reduction is equivalent to saving around 40 tonnes of CO2 per year per bus. When multiplied across the entire fleet being introduced to Torbay, this could result in a reduction of up to 33,000 tonnes of CO2 over the estimated 15-year life of these vehicles.

As Stagecoach gets closer to the first of the fleet arriving, staff will begin training from an engineering perspective to ensure the smooth adoption of new processes for using high voltage systems and diagnostics.

Operations staff will also be reviewing routes and schedules operated from the Torbay depot including the 12 (Newton Abbot – Brixham via Torquay and Paignton), the 22 (St Marychurch – South Devon College via Paignton), and the 11 (Torquay to Dawlish Warren) so that reliability and frequency isn’t affected as the transition from the current fleet to the new begins.

Peter Knight, Managing Director at Stagecoach South West, said “The future of operations in Torbay is exciting not only for staff but the communities that we serve. To be able to offer connections using quieter, smoother and modern vehicles is a reflection of our long-term commitment to sustainability and the customer experience.”

This article appeared in the latest edition of Torbay Tomorrow. Want a copy?

Email: tiegan.way@clearskypublishing.co.uk