159 new electric buses for Oxfordshire

[Oxfordblues]

Excellent new this week that 159 new electric buses have been ordered for Oxfordshire. They will have a range between charging of 260 miles. I understand they will be built by Alexander Dennis in Falkirk and delivered by road, starting in September. But Falkirk-Oxford is 310 miles, so will they have to be dragged the final 50 miles or is there a bus-recharging point on the M6?

 

[GusB]

Excellent new this week that 159 new electric buses have been ordered for Oxfordshire. They will have a range between charging of 260 miles. I understand they will be built by Alexander Dennis in Falkirk and delivered by road, starting in September. But Falkirk-Oxford is 310 miles, so will they have to be dragged the final 50 miles or is there a bus-recharging point on the M6?

You didn't include your source. This has been announced by Oxford Bus Company (OBC):

Deal signed to bring 159 electric buses to Oxfordshire

The first vehicles in a new fleet of electric buses for Oxford are on their way.

www.oxfordbus.co.uk

The first vehicles in a fleet of 159 new battery electric buses are set to arrive in Oxfordshire in September, after an £82.5 million deal was sealed.

Last March, Oxfordshire County Council was awarded £32.8 million from the government’s Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme.

Along with £6m from the council itself and £43.7m from bus companies Stagecoach and the Go-Ahead Group, which includes the Oxford Bus Company, Thames Travel, and City Sightseeing Oxford, the scheme will deliver the electric buses and the infrastructure to charge them.

Following the signing of contracts between the bus companies and the manufacturers, and the council’s approval of trial traffic filters in Oxford to help reduce bus journey times by at least 10 per cent in the city, confirmation of Oxfordshire’s ZEBRA scheme has now been finalised.

The article goes on to say:

All the new buses are being manufactured in the UK and are expected to arrive by March 2024. It will be one of the largest orders outside London and will mean that most services across the Oxford Smartzone will be operated by battery electric buses. Oxford Bus Company has ordered 104 Wrightbus Electroliner vehicles, consisting of eight open-top vehicles, 91 double deck and five single deck buses. They are all made by Wrightbus and built in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Stagecoach has ordered 55 next generation Alexander Dennis Enviro400EV battery electric buses, which will be built end to end in the UK.

So it would appear that Wright is building the buses for OBC, and it's Stagecoach that will be receiving the Alexander Dennis buses. There's no mention about them being built in Falkirk, but don't forget that AD has facilities in Scarborough as well.

 

[BanburyBlue]

So the headline should be '159 electric buses for Oxford' - not Oxfordshire

 

[37114]

Excellent new this week that 159 new electric buses have been ordered for Oxfordshire. They will have a range between charging of 260 miles. I understand they will be built by Alexander Dennis in Falkirk and delivered by road, starting in September. But Falkirk-Oxford is 310 miles, so will they have to be dragged the final 50 miles or is there a bus-recharging point on the M6?

In the BBC episode of inside the factory that followed a London BYD Enviro 400ev being built it mentioned they stop enroute for charging so presumably this is at either an operator of Electric buses or some sort of 3rd party charging station.

 

[158756]

The controversial traffic filters should be very good news for buses in Oxford, shame to see none of the new buses are likely to arrive before the trial period ends. Not that it's likely to make any difference to whether it becomes permanent, but people would be more supportive if public transport could make a good impression.