ZEBRA Discussion

[Surreyman]

*Mod note - copied from Go NorthEast thread*

"Zebra" proposal for the North East (Zero Emission Buses Regional Area scheme).

If this bid is approved, it would seem to mostly involve Go North East.

Sources - Newcastle Magazine &

Transport North East

www.transportnortheast.gov.uk

Up to £120 million is being made available through the Zero Emission Buses Regional Area (ZEBRA) scheme, which allows local transport authorities to bid for funding to purchase zero-emission buses. The Department for Transport (DfT) hopes this will reduce transport emissions and improve urban air quality significantly across the UK. The funding aims to deliver up to 500 zero-emission buses nationally, supporting the government’s wider commitment to introduce 4,000 zero-emission buses.

The North East Joint Transport Committee has now been invited to prepare a business case for funding from the ZEBRA programme.

To be submitted in January 2022, if successful a new fleet of 73 electric vehicles could be operating across the region, part of a phased approach to transform the region’s bus fleet.

This investment would be targeted at,​

• Coast Road Corridor; serving Newcastle, North Tyneside and South East Northumberland,
• A167 Corridor, Newcastle, Gateshead, Chester-Le- Street and Durham City Centre.
• Consett; serving the communities of Consett, Derwent Valley and Durham;
• Durham Park and Ride: includes services from four park and ride sites, part of a package to improve public transport use and improve air quality; and
• Hexham: centred on Hexham, also serving Allendale, East Tynedale, Haltwhistle, Mid Tyne, Ponteland and Prudhoe as well as parts of Cumbria and Tyne & Wear. It would serve towns and villages and connect to the World Heritage site of Hadrian’s Wall, Northumberland National Park and areas of outstanding natural beauty

 

[cnjb8]

Hello,
Is there any way to see what the individual bids are for the ZEBRA (Zero Emission Bus Regional Area) scheme?
Thank you

 

[Volvodart]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-zero-emission-bus-funding

LTAs had the opportunity to apply through the:

• fast track process (deadline 21 May 2021)
• standard process (deadline 2 July 2021)

The LTAs selected under the fast track process to progress to Phase 2 of the competition were announced on 6 July 2021. They are:

• Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority
• Kent County Council
• Leicester City Council
• Milton Keynes Borough Council
• Warrington Borough Council and
• West Midlands Combined Authority

The 6 shortlisted authorities will now develop business cases for investment, with the government awarding the first tranche of funding from the ZEBRA scheme to LTAs that produce the strongest business cases.

On 27 July 2021, 17 further LTAs were selected under the standard process to progress to Phase 2 of the competition. They are:

• Blackpool Council
• City of York Council
• Hertfordshire County Council
• Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
• Norfolk County Council
• North Yorkshire County Council
• Nottingham City Council
• Oxfordshire County Council
• Portsmouth City Council & Hampshire County Council
• Sheffield City Region Combined Authority
• Southampton City Council
• Swindon Borough Council
• Tees Valley Combined Authority
• Transport for Greater Manchester
• Transport North East
• West Yorkshire Combined Authority
• Worcestershire County Council

These additional 17 LTAs will each create a business case for investment.

 

[cnjb8]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-zero-emission-bus-funding

Thank you, is there any way to see what the individual bid is for each bidder?

 

[Volvodart]

Probably just by looking at local newspaper sites to see what has been revealed plus looking at the relevant authority websites for press releases, meeting minutes, reports etc.

 

[GusB]

Hello,
Is there any way to see what the individual bids are for the ZEBRA (Zero Emission Bus Regional Area) scheme?
Thank you

There have been a few posts dotted around individual company threads today. I'll copy them across as I find them.

*Edit* They'll go in chronological order, so you'll have to scroll up to see anything that was posted before this thread was created.

 

[cnjb8]

44-strong Arrival fleet for First York at centre of city's ZEBRA bid - routeone

Potential for 44 Arrival electric buses for First York is disclosed in the city's Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas expression of interest.

www.route-one.net

Potential for 44 Arrival battery-electric buses to join the First York fleet has been disclosed in the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) expression of interest (EoI) submitted by City of York Council. It is one of 17 that have progressed to the scheme’s business case preparation stage via its standard mechanism.

£8.56m of funding via ZEBRA is called for under City of York Council’s proposals. If it is delivered, First will provide a further £10.29m towards the procurement process. The Arrival buses would replace diesels on a one-for-one basis and increase the operator’s battery-electric fleet to 77 from its current 33.

No other operators are involved with the City of York Council submission to ZEBRA. If it is successful, the expansion of First York’s zero-emission fleet would be simplified by previous upgrade work, which has included the installation of a new substation, the EoI says.

It also outlines that First York intends to transition from AC charging to DC. That will increase the speed of battery replenishment and allow “more effective use of the charging area within the depot.”

First is “confident” that Arrival’s development timeline for its second-generation battery-electric bus “fits comfortably within ZEBRA delivery requirements,” says the EoI.

However, it notes that if there should be any “unforeseen delays or issues” with the delivery of Arrival buses should the bid be successful, First’s “existing positive experience and relationship” with Optare means that products from Optare’s sister company Switch Mobility remain “a strong alternative proposition.”

Arrival has previously said that its battery-electric bus will be “up to 40% lighter” than other products in the same realm. First has already committed to becoming the debut operator to trial the Arrival model, with multiple vehicles set to form part of that work.

Business cases for ZEBRA bids that have progressed via the standard mechanism are expected to be submitted by February 2022. Selection of the winners will follow soon after. Six other bids via the scheme’s fast-track process earlier proceeded to the second stage.

 

[Surreyman]

Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas Scheme – 2021 to 2022 ...​

https://transport.southampton.gov.uk › media › ze...

Southampton City Council in conjunction with Go-Ahead South - Bluestar have put together a bid for Zebra funding for 32 Double Deck zero emission buses for the Unilink network.

 

[Surreyman]

West Sussex & Surrey Councils have put together a further 'ZEBRA' bid for another 54 Hydrogen Fuel Cell buses in conjunction with Metrobus, to cover the Crawley, Redhill, Epsom & Sutton areas.
This bid may be rejected by DFT of course.

https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/media/16476/zebra_application.pdf

 

[aswilliamsuk]

A bit of spare time (I know!) has resulted in some digging to confirm exactly what is being bid for, based on the awarded "first round" and the 17 "shortlisted" bids that make up the "second round". The Second Round bids may well change when the final details are submitted in the new year, of course, but this is what there is so far (The West Sussex/Surrey bid is interesting, as that doesn't appear to have been shortlisted unless they were invited to do so as well later on!). I've added in all the info I could find, as well as any info I could glean from maps/etc in the bids. All of this info is in the public domain (some info has been redacted from the documents, interestingly some have redacted more than others!).

On 27 October 2021, it was announced that funding worth almost £71 million was awarded to the first 5 LTAs selected under the fast-track process. This funding will support up to 335 zero emission buses in:

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority
Award value: £4.295 million
Expected vehicles: 30 battery-electric double-deck (opportunity charging) for Cambridge.
Routes: Park & Ride and Citi2
Operator: Stagecoach East
Timescale vehicles expected: "second half of 2022"
Link: https://www.greatercambridge.org.uk/news/cambridge-gets-green-ticket-for-zebras

Kent County Council
Award value: £9.5 million
Expected vehicles: 33 battery-electric single deck (opportunity charging) - 28 for Kent Thameside, 5 for Dover Fastrack
Routes: Fastrack A & B (Kent Thameside) and new Dover Fastrack
Operator: KCC buying vehicles, will lease to successful tenderers
Timescale vehicles expected: "2023"
Link: https://kccmediahub.net/chancellor-confirms-9-5-million-funding-to-electrify-kccs-fastrack-fleet745

Leicester City Council
Award value: £19 million
Expected vehicles: 96 (74 single-deckers, 22 double-deckers)
Routes: 21 city routes
Operator: First Leicester - 68 single-deckers; Arriva Midlands 22 double-deckers; Leicester City Council - 6 single-deckers (to be leased to successful tenderers)
Timescale vehicles expected: "between March 2023 and spring 2024"
Link: https://news.leicester.gov.uk/news-...100-within-three-years-thanks-to-new-funding/

Milton Keynes Borough Council
Award value: £16 million
Expected vehicles: 56 single-deckers
Routes: various MK city services
Operator: Arriva Midlands
Timescale vehicles expected: 2022-2023
Link: https://www.mkfm.com/news/local-new...ng-to-milton-keynes-following-successful-bid/

Warrington Borough Council
Award value: £21.4425 million
Expected vehicles: 120 battery-electric buses (94 single-deck, 26 double-deck)
Routes: All Warrington’s Own Buses services
Operator: Warrington’s Own Buses
Timescale vehicles expected: "late 2022, throughout 2023"
Link: https://www.warrington.gov.uk/news/zebra-funding-paves-way-all-electric-bus-fleet / https://www.warrington.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2021-09/ZEBRA Business Case for website.pdf

Standard track
On 27 July 2021, 17 further LTAs were selected under the standard process to progress to Phase 2 of the competition. They are:

Blackpool Council
Value sought: redacted
Expected vehicles: 115 battery electric (58 single-deck, 57 single-deck, bid implies BYD/ADL)
Routes: entire Blackpool Transport network
Operator: Blackpool Transport
Timescale vehicles expected: 2022-2024
Link: https://www.blackpool.gov.uk/Reside...ro-emission-bus-regional-areas-Accessible.pdf

City of York Council
Value sought: £8,559,225
Expected vehicles: 44 single-deck battery electric (either Arrival or Switch)
Routes: York city services
Operator: First York
Timescale vehicles expected: TBC (by March 2024 regardless)
Link: https://www.itravelyork.info/downloads/file/64/zebra-bid

Hertfordshire County Council
Value sought: redacted
Expected vehicles: 30 single-deck battery electric
Routes: Stevenage town services
Operator: Arriva Southern Counties
Timescale vehicles expected: "late 2022 into 2023"
Link: https://images.intalink.org.uk/downloads/HCC ZEBRA Expression of Interest.pdf

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
Value sought: £13,200,000
Expected vehicles: 20 hydrogen double-deck (this is additional to already confirmed 20, to complete conversion of the route)
Routes: 10/10A St Helens - Liverpool
Operator: Arriva North West / Stagecoach (LCRCA will own and lease vehicles to operators)
Timescale vehicles expected: 2022/2023
Link: https://www.liverpoolcityregion-ca....-City-Region-Expression-of-Interest-Final.pdf

Norfolk County Council
Value sought: £3,239,325
Expected vehicles: 15 single-deck battery electric
Routes: Green Line 15 / 15A / 15B; Yellow Line 29; Purple Line 39; and Charcoal Line 40 / 40A
Operator: First Norfolk & Suffolk
Timescale vehicles expected: redacted (by March 2024 regardless)
Link: https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/roads-an...mprovements/improvement-projects/zebra-scheme

North Yorkshire County Council
Value sought: ~£20 million
Expected vehicles: 39 (20 single-deck battery electric, 19 double-deck battery electric)
Routes: 1 group, 7 group, 36 (would complete conversion of Harrogate network to zero-emission)
Operator: Transdev Harrogate Bus Company
Timescale vehicles expected: 2022-2024
Link: https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/news/article/ambitious-bid-aims-create-electric-bus-fleet-harrogate

Nottingham City Council
Value sought: £23,898,883
Expected vehicles: 86 single-deck battery electric
Routes: all NCT single-deck routes, 8 for Link routes (to replace 16 first-gen electric buses)
Operator: Nottingham City Transport (78), CT4N (8)
Timescale vehicles expected: "third of quarter of 22/23 through to the third quarter of
23/24"
Link: https://www.transportnottingham.com...ssion-bus-regional-areas_application-form.pdf

Oxfordshire County Council
Value sought: £32,111,294
Expected vehicles: 166
Routes: Routes entirely within Oxford Smartzone
Operator: Oxford Bus Company, Stagecoach West (Oxford)
Timescale vehicles expected: two batches for each operator, 2022-2024
Link: https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/sites/default/files/file/about-council/ZEBRAExpressionofInterest.pdf

Portsmouth City Council & Hampshire County Council
Value sought: £6,428,919
Expected vehicles: 34 single-deck battery electric (Arrival is intended manufacturer according to bid)
Routes: 1, 3, 9/9A
Operator: First Hampshire & Dorset
Timescale vehicles expected: "by March 2024"
Link: https://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/wp-co...n-bus-regional-areas_application-form_PCC.pdf

Sheffield City Region Combined Authority
Value sought: £6.8 million
Expected vehicles: 27 single-deck battery electric
Routes: 221 Rotherham to Doncaster, 22X Rotherham to Barnsley, Sheffield Free Bus
Operator: Stagecoach Yorkshire (221, 22X), to be tendered (Sheffield Free Bus)
Timescale vehicles expected: by 2024
Link: https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/tran...sheffield-and-south-yorkshire-by-2024-3417703

Southampton City Council
Value sought: £6.247m
Expected vehicles: 32 double-deck battery electric (BYD/ADL is noted in the bid)
Routes: Southampton UniLink network
Operator: Go South Coast
Timescale vehicles expected: "for the start of 2022/2023 academic year"
Link: https://transport.southampton.gov.uk/media/2004/zebra-application-form-southampton-final.pdf

Swindon Borough Council
Value sought: unclear
Expected vehicles: 57 battery-electric buses
Routes: Swindon town routes
Operator: Go South Coast, Stagecoach West
Timescale vehicles expected:
Link: https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk...indon-offers-glimpse-future-public-transport/

Tees Valley Combined Authority
Value sought: redacted
Expected vehicles: 20 hydrogen fuel-cell buses
Routes: Stockton/Middlesbrough and potentially Hartlepool
Operator: names are redacted, but presumably Arriva North East or Stagecoach North East (it is made clear that while they have discussed with both, they want to keep the twenty-vehicle trial simple so will only eventually work with one operator).
Timescale vehicles expected: by March 2024
Link: https://teesvalley-ca.gov.uk/wp-con...-regional-areas_application-form-redacted.pdf

Transport for Greater Manchester
Only reference to this one that I can find in the labyrinthine GMCA archives is in the minutes of the GM Green City Region Partnership (Q2 performance update), and appears to be a bid to convert all of Stockport depot's work to battery-electric (which of course would include the 192).
Value sought: TBC
Expected vehicles: entire Stockport allocation
Routes: Stockport services
Operator: TBC - presumably this depends on whether TfGM go ahead with franchising!
Timescale vehicles expected: "by 2025"
Link: https://democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/documents/s17107/05 Progress Report Q2 21.22.pdf

Transport North East
Value sought: £18,662,643
Expected vehicles: 73 (GNE: 39 double-deck, 10 single-deck - judging on the partially redacted info, the 'deckers at least appear to be BYD/ADL; Northumberland: 8x 9m single-deck, 2x 10.8m single-deck); Durham: 14x 10.8m single deck)
Routes: Go North East (21, 309/10/11, X5/15 (39 double-deck), Venture Network (10 single-deck)); NCC tendered work around Hexham; DCC expanded Durham Park & Ride
Operator: Go North East (49), Durham County Council (14), Northumberland County Council (10)
Timescale vehicles expected: July 2023-March 2024
Link: https://www.transportnortheast.gov....tion-form-Transport-North-East-Final-1-RV.pdf

West Yorkshire Combined Authority
Value sought: £23,063,925
Expected vehicles: 121 battery-electric (Arriva Yorkshire 47 double-deck, First West Yorkshire 32 single-deck, Transdev 32 single-deck, WYCA 10 single-deck)
Routes: Arriva (appears to be 110, 126/127, 147/148/149, 268), Transdev (A1/A2/A3 Flyer Network, 662 Shuttle), First (appears to be 9, 14, 46, 47, 48, 55, 61, 65, 75, 86/87, 91 - i.e. most of the suburban single-deck network in Leeds out of Bramley), WYCA (Todmorden locals - T1/T2/T3/T4/T6/T8, Hebden Bridge locals - 594/595/596/597/598, Holmfirth locals - 335, H1/H2/H3/H5/H6/H7, X10/X11 positioning journeys (as they link into H-network))
Operator:
Timescale vehicles expected: 2024 (Arriva), First (2024), Transdev (2022 (15), 2023 (17)), WYCA (2023)
Link: https://www.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/med...f-interest-final-redacted-for-publication.pdf

Worcestershire County Council
Value sought: £10 Million
Expected vehicles: single-deck battery electric (going on other similar-sized schemes this should result in approx 30 vehicles
Routes: services in Bromsgrove and Redditch
Operator: Rotala - Diamond Bus West Midlands
Timescale vehicles expected: Apr-23 to Apr-25
Link: https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/i.../additional_local_bus_services_september_2020

 

[Surreyman]

Interesting and much appreciated aswilliamsuk.

I recall that originally (Pre Zebra) Oxford & Coventry were announced as the first 100% all electric/zero emission cities, that then seemed to fall by the wayside but Oxford has since been announced with 166 vehicles.
Coventry/West Midlands - (presumably National Express WM) has disappeared off the radar although there are various press reports of '200 Hydrogen Double Decks, 24 Articulated Hydrogen, 5 electric single deck' I cannot now find the original source, just local newspaper reports presumably from a press release. I can only assume that 'ZEBRA' super-ceded the initial proposal (I thought that West Midlands was originally listed on the first tranche? but obviously didn't make it onto the final list).
In my local area, Surrey County council have their own Zero Emission Bus project - £38.6m for @ 80 Ultra-low/Zero Emission buses by 2025.
https://news.surreycc.gov.uk/2020/11/24/county-council-boost-to-bring-in-cleaner-greener-buses/

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Interesting and much appreciated aswilliamsuk.

I'd second that thanks to @aswilliamsuk - good bit of researching

 

[aswilliamsuk]

@Surreyman

While Oxford and Coventry were both announced as potential all-electric cities, it appears that only Coventry went forward and got the funding (the original announcement was "subject to business case"). That was always expected to take a while as infrastructure and vehicle order plans were finalised, indeed I seem to recall that it was expected to take until 2024/2025 to complete (presumably with staged orders over a period of time). For National Express WM, at least, the basic infrastructure is already in place, with 10x BYD/ADL E400 City already in use, so it's likely more a case of scaling up. I suspect we'll hear more about that in 2022.

This Oxford ZEBRA bid appears to be another attempt at something similar.

The huge West Midlands plan for over 200 Zero-Emission vehicles (including mostly hydrogen vehicles) was the one bid from the "fast-track" ZEBRA funding finalists that didn't get funding (the other five are all listed above). Whether that was then wrapped into the big City Region funding that WMCA got just before the ZEBRA announcements, I have no idea - but I maybe doubt it, as we'd surely have heard about it at the time.

It should also be noted that the total funding was increased by £150 million, to around £270 million, for this bidding round, in the October Spending Review (link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-zero-emission-bus-funding). Assuming that the £71 million awarded is part of this, that leaves £199 million for these 17 bids, and that's got to suggest that many of these will be successful in some form.

 

[Volvodart]

£355 million for funding zero emission buses was announced in the recent budget, of which £55 million was the remnants of the first ZEBRA round funding.

 

[station_road]

While I think it was part of a separate DfT scheme, money was announced for 8 battery-powered buses for Derby as part of a £48m investment in early 2019 - Trentbarton and Derby City Council also did press releases about it at the time, and then it all went very quiet and has never been mentioned again. I wonder where that money eventually went?

https://www.route-one.net/news/midlands_cities_to_get_18_new_electric_buses/

 

[aswilliamsuk]

While I think it was part of a separate DfT scheme, money was announced for 8 battery-powered buses for Derby as part of a £48m investment in early 2019 - Trentbarton and Derby City Council also did press releases about it at the time, and then it all went very quiet and has never been mentioned again. I wonder where that money eventually went?

https://www.route-one.net/news/midlands_cities_to_get_18_new_electric_buses/

This was one of a couple of previous schemes that were awarded and never actually progressed from the last Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme in 2018 (https://assets.publishing.service.g...ission-bus-scheme-winning-bidders.csv/preview) - as far as I can tell the Greater Manchester schemes never happened either, and the Caerphilly scheme (Stagecoach South Wales) was cancelled during the earlier phases of COVID last year.

Newport gained out of this, as they were awarded additional funding that allowed them to purchase more Yutongs (I'm sure another scheme was announced at a later point that was a beneficiary of returned funding, but I'm stuffed if I can remember what it was!). Of those listed in that link, the last to be ordered was Brighton & Hove's (Metrobus) 20x Wright GB Kite Hydrogen single-deckers, which were announced (at last) recently.

 

[Volvodart]

The 17 successful local authorities for phase 2 are currently submitting their business cases for investment. The amount of funding for them appears to be £199 million, below, which brings the funding available for both phases to £270 million in the financial years 2021 and 2022.

With the values shown in the table showing all 17 bids above, plus the Stockport bid below, that comes to just over £210 million with 3 bid values still unstated (Blackpool, Hertfordshire and Swindon), so there may not be that many unsuccessful bids, unless the values have changed from the first round values.

Note - the timetable says the outcome of the bids should be known in February 2022 (as some of the funding comes from this financial year), unless there has been some slippage. The second article below says March (if the announcement is to be made in parliamentary sitting time).

https://www.newtonnews.co.uk/bid-for-electric-bus-funding/

BID FOR ELECTRIC BUS FUNDING
Jan 26, 2022 | County News |

Bid for Electric Bus Funding
Liberal Democrat councillors on Durham County Council are praising a bid by Transport North East which would see dozens of buses on routes throughout County Durham transformed with electric bus services.



The bid to government is for £18.1 million with matched funding from Durham County Council of £3.4 million, £516,000 from Northumberland County Council and significant private sector funding of £16.3 million from Go North-East. The Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (Zebra) fund is a Department for Transport scheme to reduce carbon emissions from buses.



Routes which are included in the bid include nine routes operating out of Consett depot including the V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V9, 40 40A 40B, 700/1/2 and X5/X15 services, the 21 Angel service which runs out of Gateshead depot from Newcastle through to Durham and Brandon and Durham County Council’s own Park and ride services.



In total 73 electric buses would be introduced with charging infrastructure costs included in the bid.



Durham’s Cabinet portfolio holder for regeneration and economic development, Councillor Elizabeth Scott, a member of the North East Joint Transport Committee commented, “This is an amazing bid and if the funding is received it will be a transformational boost for bus services in County Durham. A successful bid will ensure that services running into Durham City, as well as through the county and in the Consett area are more sustainable into the future.”



Fellow Councillor Mark Wilkes, Cabinet member for Neighbourhoods and Climate Change said he was delighted by the bid, saying, “Being able to convert the entire park-and-ride fleet to electric vehicles would make a massive difference.



“We’ve had an Air Quality issue in Durham City for over a decade. Changing dozens of diesel buses to electric ones will not only help cut carbon emissions and pollution, it will protect services by keeping down the cost of running these services.”



“We hope this is just the start and more routes across County Durham will see a rapid move to electric buses.”



Eighteen double decker Angel 21 buses would be replaced, along with 14 single deck buses operating out of Consett and 14 park and ride buses in Durham City.



A further 17 buses on the Cobalt and Coast routes and 10 buses operating on routes out of Hexham would also see electric services installed.



The bid to the Department of transport was submitted last week. Timescales for confirmation of the winning bids have not been confirmed but it is expected to be later in the Spring. A total of £199m is available and 17 local transport authorities are expected to make bids.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Jan 2022 ==
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With the bids being submitted now, more information is becoming available:-

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c.../stockport-buses-could-go-completely-22908583

Stockport buses could go completely green in two years' time
Nearly £40m is needed to replace the borough's buses

Stockport’s buses could go completely green in two years’ time after local leaders signed off on a bid for nearly £40m to decarbonise its fleet.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority is asking for £36.9m in government cash towards replacing the borough’s 170 diesel buses.

It has partnered with bus-operator Stagecoach to apply for cash from the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) fund.

Stagecoach would contribute £37.2m towards replacing the fleet, while GMCA would contribute £12.5 funded through prudential borrowing, taking the total cost of the project to £86.5m.

A new home is being sought for the current bus depot, which is earmarked for redevelopment under the Town Centre West regeneration plan - also known as the Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC).

Stockport council leader Elise Wilson told Friday’s meeting of the combined authority it would be a ‘significant step forward’ for the borough.

She said: “A new bus station depot and electrifying the fleet clearly has a significant impact on our ability to improve air quality and transportation around Stockport.

“And equally, it would really allow the Mayoral Development Corporation to continue to motor ahead on its pipeline of delivery, which is moving, I’m pleased to report, at pace in Stockport.”

Coun Wilson hailed the bid as a ‘hugely positive piece of work’, adding that the partnership with Stagecoach demonstrated an ability to ‘deliver what’s right for the people of Stockport’.

The ZEBRA bid seeks to capitalise on the depot relocation by securing sufficient funds to purchase a zero emission fleet of 170 Battery Electric Buses (BEBs).

This would also ensure the new depot was equipped to operate the fleet by covering the cost of upgrading the grid connection and the associated infrastructure.


Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said electrifying the fleet would bring ‘a lot of benefits to Stockport - including better air quality and a reduction in noise'.

“I think the quality of life benefits of a bus fleet of this standard is more than pollution,” he said.

“I think it’s a really great thing for Stockport.”

Should it be successful, bosses anticipate that the depot could be operational by spring 2024.

The proposal would support the GM Bus Service Improvement plan by converting around 10pc of the conurbation’s fleet to zero emission technology.

It is expected to cut emissions from the region’s buses by approximately 10,000 tonnes of CO2 by 2038.

The bid will be submitted to the Department for Transport for consideration on Monday (January 31), with a funding announcement expected by Easter this year.

 

[Volvodart]

The successful applicants have been announced:-


https://www.gov.uk/government/news/...ro-emission-bus-pledge-with-200-million-boost

The areas whose business cases were approved and will be receiving funding are:

• Norfolk
• North Yorkshire
• Portsmouth
• Blackpool
• Nottingham
• Greater Manchester
• Hertfordshire
• South Yorkshire
• Oxfordshire
• West Midlands
• York
• West Yorkshire

 

[aswilliamsuk]

The successful applicants have been announced:-


https://www.gov.uk/government/news/...ro-emission-bus-pledge-with-200-million-boost

Also interesting are the bids that didn't get funding - there were 17 "shortlisted" bids but clearly West Midlands Combined Authority (who were the only "fast-track" bidder not to get funding) were able to have another go in the second round (and from the updated bid, it is for no less than 100 hydrogen double-deckers and 24 articulated hydrogen buses).

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (was for more hydrogen 'deckers to top up the 20 already due)
Southampton City Council (to upgrade the entire UniLink network)
Swindon Borough Council (was a bid involving Go-Ahead and Stagecoach)
Tees Valley Combined Authority (was a bid for 20 hydrogen buses)
Transport North East (a bid involving Go-Ahead and local councils for 71 electric buses)
Worcestershire County Council (was for 41 electric buses, with Rotala, for Bromsgrove and Redditch).

 

[Volvodart]

Is Worcestershire not the West Midlands one?

 

[aswilliamsuk]

Is Worcestershire not the West Midlands one?

No - the West Midlands one is a reworked hydrogen bid from the original rejected one for 200.

 

[Surreyman]

Crunching the numbers (943) & googling, I come up with following bids/vehicle numbers, North to South they are: -

North Yorkshire - Transdev Harrogate - 20 single deck & 19 double deck.
York - First - 44 single deck
Blackpool - Blackpool Transport - 58 single deck & 57 double deck.
West Yorkshire - Arriva - 47 double deck, First - 32 single deck, Transdev 32 single deck.
Greater Manchester - Stagecoach (New) Stockport depot - 170 type unknown.
South Yorkshire - Stagecoach - 27 single deck.
Nottingham - NCT - 78 single deck.
West Midlands NEWM - 100 hydrogen double deck, 24 hydrogen Articulated.
Norfolk (Norwich) First - 15 single deck.
Oxford - OBC & Stagecoach, numbers breakdown not known, 159 total buses, types not known.
Hertfordshire (Stevenage) Arriva - 27 single deck.
Portsmouth - First 34 single deck.
Total 943 as per press release - unless you make it different!!

Split of Electric/Hydrogen not clear, makes/models not known although Firstbus believed to be buying 'Arrival' single decks.

Coventry (NEWM)has already been awarded 130 double deck.
Warrington/Leicester/Cambridge/Milton Keynes/Kent previously awarded/announced in earlier phase.

 

[aswilliamsuk]

Crunching the numbers (943) & googling, I come up with following bids/vehicle numbers, North to South they are: -

North Yorkshire - Transdev Harrogate - 20 single deck & 19 double deck.
York - First - 44 single deck
Blackpool - Blackpool Transport - 58 single deck & 57 double deck.
West Yorkshire - Arriva - 47 double deck, First - 32 single deck, Transdev 32 single deck.
Greater Manchester - Stagecoach (New) Stockport depot - 170 type unknown.
South Yorkshire - Stagecoach - 27 single deck.
Nottingham - NCT - 78 single deck.
West Midlands NEWM - 100 hydrogen double deck, 24 hydrogen Articulated.
Norfolk (Norwich) First - 15 single deck.
Oxford - OBC & Stagecoach, numbers breakdown not known, 159 total buses, types not known.
Hertfordshire (Stevenage) Arriva - 27 single deck.
Portsmouth - First 34 single deck.
Total 943 as per press release - unless you make it different!!

Split of Electric/Hydrogen not clear, makes/models not known although Firstbus believed to be buying 'Arrival' single decks.

Coventry (NEWM)has already been awarded 130 double deck.
Warrington/Leicester/Cambridge/Milton Keynes/Kent previously awarded/announced in earlier phase.

Completely agree with the numbers. To my knowledge, the West Midlands order is the only Hydrogen bid awarded - everything else electric.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Mar 2022 ==

Another electric bus order has come from Camarthenshire - 8x Yutongs for the TrawsCymru T1

Pelican awarded 8 Yutong electric buses in Carmarthenshire (Wales) - Sustainable Bus

Yutong dealer in the UK Pelican has been awarded a zero emission vehicle contract by Carmarthenshire County Council.

www.sustainable-bus.com

Yutong dealer in the UK Pelican has been awarded a zero emission vehicle contract by Carmarthenshire County Council. They are set to be used for the TrawsCymru route. The vehicles are planned to be delivered in Q3/4 2022. Yutong electric buses for Carmarthenshire The vehicles will have a number of state of the art specification […]

Yutong dealer in the UK Pelican has been awarded a zero emission vehicle contract by Carmarthenshire County Council. They are set to be used for the TrawsCymru route. The vehicles are planned to be delivered in Q3/4 2022.

Yutong electric buses for Carmarthenshire
The vehicles will have a number of state of the art specification items to ensure customer safety and comfort. The vehicles will be fitted with enhanced seating, as well as full air conditioning. Full WIFI, USB charging, and the very latest level passenger information systems will ensure that passengers arrive at their destinations in a level of comfort not normally seen in bus operations. The vehicles will also be fitted with industry leading safety systems, including ABS and Yutong Electric Safety Systems.

Charging infrastructure is already in progress, and the vehicles will be the first electric buses in the UK capable of charging at 240kWs per hour, allowing rapid recharging.

 

[Snow1964]

Crunching the numbers (943) & googling, I come up with following bids/vehicle numbers, North to South they are: -

North Yorkshire - Transdev Harrogate - 20 single deck & 19 double deck.
York - First - 44 single deck
Blackpool - Blackpool Transport - 58 single deck & 57 double deck.
West Yorkshire - Arriva - 47 double deck, First - 32 single deck, Transdev 32 single deck.
Greater Manchester - Stagecoach (New) Stockport depot - 170 type unknown.
South Yorkshire - Stagecoach - 27 single deck.
Nottingham - NCT - 78 single deck.
West Midlands NEWM - 100 hydrogen double deck, 24 hydrogen Articulated.
Norfolk (Norwich) First - 15 single deck.
Oxford - OBC & Stagecoach, numbers breakdown not known, 159 total buses, types not known.
Hertfordshire (Stevenage) Arriva - 27 single deck.
Portsmouth - First 34 single deck.
Total 943 as per press release - unless you make it different!!

Split of Electric/Hydrogen not clear, makes/models not known although Firstbus believed to be buying 'Arrival' single decks.

Coventry (NEWM)has already been awarded 130 double deck.
Warrington/Leicester/Cambridge/Milton Keynes/Kent previously awarded/announced in earlier phase.

That is quite a lot of buses, the existing Coventry order is BYD-ADL enviro400EV, Stagecoach historically have ordered ADL (and their London division has some electric E400s and E200s)

But which Manufacturers will get the orders, Yutong seems to be a popular choice for single decks. For double decks there is also Wrightbus Electroliner, Switch (Optare) Metrodecker, Volvo BZL, Equipmake Jewel-E, and proposed electric Scania Fencer.

The mayor of London must be seething, his political spat with Government which is delaying long term funding for TfL could mean when funding is finally resolved, many of the factory build slots will have been taken by these orders, so potentially London will struggle to get any new buses in 2023

 

[Volvodart]

Here is a concise summary of the awards:-

https://www.route-one.net/news/zebra-standard-track-198m-for-943-zero-emission-buses/

ZEBRA standard track: £198m for 943 zero-emission buses
By Tim Deakin -March 26, 2022
Greater Manchester is among ZEBRA standard track winners
12 of the 18 business case submissions to the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme in England via its standard track mechanism will receive a collective £198m of funding towards 943 battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell-electric vehicles and associated infrastructure.

The money complements over £70m awarded in 2021 to five local authorities in England through ZEBRA’s fast track process, supporting the delivery of 335 zero-emission buses. The Department for Transport (DfT) says “the first orders have already been placed” for vehicles procured via ZEBRA, adding that the latest awards leave the government “on track to deliver its commitment to fund a total of 4,000 zero-emission buses” across England.

Largest of the successful bids in the second tranche is from Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA). It will see DfT provide £36.9m towards to procurement of 170 battery-electric buses by Q1 2024. They will replace the current fleet operated by Stagecoach Manchester from its Stockport depot. The operator will construct a new base in the town to house those buses and contribute approximately £37.2m to the project. GMCA will provide £12.5m.

Smallest of the funded bids is from Norfolk County Council. It has been awarded £3.3m of ZEBRA money towards 15 battery-electric single-deckers that will be operated by First Eastern Counties in Norwich. They are slated to enter service in Q1 2024. The operator will contribute £3.6m.

Ordered by vehicle number, the other 10 successful bids are:

Oxfordshire County Council: £32.8m towards 159 battery-electric buses. They will be a mix of double- and single-deckers and be operated within Oxford City Centre and its hinterlands by Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach Oxford. Those operators will contribute £43.7m
West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA): £30m towards 124 hydrogen fuel cell-electric buses. 100 of those will be double-deckers and 24 will be articulated examples for the Sprint bus rapid transit route between Walsall and Solihull
Blackpool Council: £19.6m towards 115 battery-electric buses (57 double-deck, 58 single-deck) for operation by Blackpool Transport on its Palladium-branded services. Other funding will come via a Blackpool Council loan and the sale of existing Euro VI stock
West Yorkshire Combined Authority: £23.1m towards 111 battery-electric buses. Of those, 47 will be double-deckers for Arriva Yorkshire, while First West Yorkshire and Transdev Blazefield will each receive 32 single-deckers. Those operators and WYCA will collectively provide £34.5m of funding towards the project
Nottingham City Council: £15.2m towards 78 battery-electric single-deckers for Nottingham City Transport (NCT). They will replace the operator’s existing single-deck fleet in its entirety. NCT will make an undisclosed financial contribution. 12 of the buses will be 12m and 66 will be approximately 10.8m
York City Council: £8.5m towards 44 battery-electric single-deckers to be operated by First York. The operator will contribute £10.5m. The buses are planned to be manufactured by Arrival, although a second OEM is in hand as a back-up
North Yorkshire County Council: £7.8m towards 39 battery-electric buses to be operated by Transdev Blazefield. 20 will be single-deckers and 19 will be double-deckers. 10 of the single-deckers and all the double-deckers will have opportunity charging. The latter vehicles will convert route 36 between Leeds, Harrogate and Ripon to zero-emission operation and will be required to cover up to 350 miles per day. Transdev Blazefield will provide £13.3m
Portsmouth City Council as lead bidder: £6.4m towards 34 Arrival battery-electric single-deckers that will be operated by First Hampshire and Dorset. First will provide around £7.9m of funding. The buses are expected to be in service by the end of March 2024
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority: £8.4m towards 27 battery-electric single-deckers. 23 will be 12m examples for Stagecoach Yorkshire at its Rawmarsh depot in Rotherham. The operator will contribute an undisclosed amount. Four will be 9.5-10m vehicles for use on a new city centre shuttle service in Sheffield. Pantograph opportunity charging equipment in Rotherham bus station forms part of the project
Hertfordshire County Council: Approximately £6m toward 27 battery-electric single-deckers for operation by Arriva Herts and Essex in Stevenage. Arriva will contribute an undisclosed amount to the scheme.
Each successful bid includes funding towards infrastructure associated with the vehicles. The funding awarded to WMCA is significantly less than contained in its first business case, which was submitted via the earlier fast track mechanism. That called for £54.9m towards 231 buses, of which 224 were to be hydrogen fuel cell-electric and the remainder battery-electric.

Six expressions of interest that proceeded to the business case submission stage have not been funded. Those involve Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Southampton City Council, Swindon Borough Council, Tees Valley Combined Authority, Transport North East and Worcestershire County Council.

 

[Snow1964]

Some of those successful Zebra bids are going to result in some newish euroVI buses being released.

Blackpool intends to sell its euroVI Palladium fleet, much of the Oxford fleet is relatively young due to the low emission zones.

I am guessing the displaced Stagecoach buses in Stockport and Oxford will be moved to other locations to replace much older buses, and this might replace any potential diesel bus orders

I am sure Nottingham has some 2-3 year old E200MMC single decks, that sound like they are being replaced.

 

[Megafuss]

Does anybody know the criteria used to judge which areas get awards and which ones don't?

 

[Surreyman]

Some of those successful Zebra bids are going to result in some newish euroVI buses being released.

Blackpool intends to sell its euroVI Palladium fleet, much of the Oxford fleet is relatively young due to the low emission zones.

I am guessing the displaced Stagecoach buses in Stockport and Oxford will be moved to other locations to replace much older buses, and this might replace any potential diesel bus orders

I am sure Nottingham has some 2-3 year old E200MMC single decks, that sound like they are being replaced.

I wonder if any 'canny' operators might do a deal in advance with Blackpool to acquire their entire fleet of Euro 6 Diesels? - Maybe they are leased? does anyone know?

 

[Leedsbusman]

I wonder if any 'canny' operators might do a deal in advance with Blackpool to acquire their entire fleet of Euro 6 Diesels? - Maybe they are leased? does anyone know?

They are owned financed by loans from the council who hold charges against the vehicles.

 

[skyhigh]

New electric buses for the 36 in Harrogate. I was wondering when the current 2013-vintage fleet would be replaced.