Coventry to become UK’s first All Electric Bus City

Plans for Coventry to become the UK’s first All Electric Bus City have been backed by the West Midlands Combined Authority leaders.

Under the ground-breaking project, every bus in Coventry will be electric powered by 2025, leading to improved air quality, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and lower running costs. Approval from the WMCA Board means that £50 million Department for Transport funding will now be handed to the region to deliver the project.

Following approval, Transport for West Midlands will work with bus operators to replace buses and install charging infrastructure on the streets of Coventry. This includes pantograph, or overhead, charging points which will be available to all bus operators.

Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands who chairs the WMCA, said: “It took a lot of lobbying and persuading, but I am delighted we won the government’s national competition to turn Coventry’s bus fleet all electric. It was great to welcome the Prime Minister to Coventry this week to talk about our all-electric plans, and crucially today’s confirmation by the WMCA board now unlocks his government’s £50 million investment, meaning we can get on with rolling out the clean, green, electric buses onto the city’s roads.

“Not only will the clean bus fleet improve the public transport offering in Coventry, but it is also another step towards tackling the climate emergency and helping to attract people to leave their cars at home in favour of taking the bus.

“This is a great time for bus users in Coventry, with our newly refurbished Pool Meadow bus station, the trial of West Midlands On Demand buses serving the University of Warwick campus, as well our wider investment in fare-capping and better value fares, bus priority measures, real-time travel information and on board facilities like wi-fi and USB charging. It is a bus revolution here in the West Midlands, and Coventry is right at the heart of it.”

The clean air benefits will be felt beyond the city boundary, as many services which start or finish in Coventry serve Warwickshire, Solihull, Birmingham, Rugby and Leicester. This will support the #WM2041 target for the region to be net-zero carbon within two decades.