Wrightbus HCEVs form £16m spend by Surrey

A fleet of 34 Wrightbus Hydroliners representing a £16m spend by Surrey County Council are to go the road.

Run on ‘green’ hydrogen, the mix of single-decks and ‘deckers have a range of up to 600 miles. They have been built with Wi-Fi, charging points and social seating on board. Over the coming weeks, 23 GB Kite single-deckers will be delivered for service and 11 Streetdeck hydrogen fuel cell buses are expected over winter.

• The GB Kites will operate on Fastway route 100: Redhill – East Surrey Hospital – Salfords – Horley – Gatwick Airport – Crawley; and Routes 430 & 435: Merstham – Redhill – East Surrey Hospital – Woodhatch – Reigate
• The double deckers will run on Routes 420, 460 & 480: Epsom – Preston – Tadworth – Banstead – Sutton – Lower Kingswood – Reigate – Redhill – East Surrey Hospital – Salfords – Horley A23 – Gatwick Airport – Crawley

This follows the introduction of 20 hydrogen buses in the Horley, Gatwick and Crawley areas in 2023. The buses are run by Metrobus.

Matt Furniss, SCC Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Economic Growth, said: “I am delighted that we have purchased these zero-emission buses in partnership with Metrobus, as part of our ongoing commitment to provide sustainable travel options for residents and cleaner air for everyone. This is great news for Surrey residents and for everyone else travelling in and out of our county.

“We’ve also invested £6.3m in more ultra-low and zero-emission community transport minibuses, £9m in bus priority measures to ensure Surrey buses turn up on time, and £1.4m in improving information for passengers at bus stops.

“Our Surrey LINK card gives young people half-price bus travel and we’ve recently expanded our on-demand Surrey Connect bus services to cover areas where there are limited fixed bus routes, giving more options to travel by bus for all residents across Surrey.”

Ed Wills, Managing Director, Metrobus said: “I am delighted to announce the arrival of 34 brand new UK-built hydrogen buses to our Metrobus fleet. These buses mark an historic occasion for Metrobus and Surrey County Council by demonstrating our ongoing and combined commitment to reducing emissions in Surrey and the local area where the only thing that comes out of the bus tailpipe is water.

“This is an excellent example of partnership working where together we can make zero emissions a sustainable reality today for the communities we serve.”