Go North East trials Optare electric bus

After investing in nine Yutong electric buses from Pelican Bus and Coach, Go North East has announced a trial of even more electric buses.

The Go-Ahead-owned operator is trialling an electric Optare MetroCity on its services around Newcastle and Gateshead, including the Saltwell Park 53 and 54, CityLink 57 and Quaylink Q3.

The nine Yutongs represented an investment of £2m, which was supported by top-up funding from the Government’s Ultra Low Emission Bus Fund. They are set to arrive this year, with a view to purchasing more in the future. The operator says it is fully committed to improving air quality and has already started to extensively trial various electric bus types as the technology continues to evolve, with more expected to follow ahead of similar investment on other routes.

Martijn Gilbert, managing director at Go North East, said: “Buses play a vital role in keeping our towns and cities moving, and at Go North East we’re committed to improving the service we offer to help reduce congestion and, most importantly, improve air quality.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us how clean the air can be with fewer polluting vehicles on the road and public transport has an important role to play in taking inefficient single occupancy cars off the road by providing more green travel choices.

“We’re now underway with our next phase of extensive electric bus trials, which may see us add to the existing nine we have on order. It is great to have the Optare MetroCity EV on trial, a British built product from a North East of England manufacturer.

“170 low emission buses have also joined our fleet in recent years and there are more on the way and we are committed to ensuring that our buses provide a clean, safe and efficient way of getting around our region as the economy recovers.”