A brand-new grant of 5 million GBP is set to be made available to operators within the Leicester Buses One Network Partnership.
The grant is intended to be used to help purchase additional electric buses, and has been allocated to Leicester City Council to promote its recently approved One Network bus plan, which looks to transform local bus services into a fully electric, more frequent, and more reliable option.
Offering up to 75% of the cost difference between a new electric and diesel bus, the grant will also provide up to 75% of associated charging infrastructure costs.
All new buses will come equipped with advanced accessibility features including additional space for wheelchairs/buggies, hearing loops and audio-visual next bus stop announcements.
Currently, 190 electric buses are in active operation in and around Leicester – 75% of the network – with a further 60 set to come into service by March 2027.
This latest grant funding round will fund the purchase of up to 30 more electric buses, as well as enable the Leicester network to become fully electric in 2027. This represents a major step in the One Network Partnership’s formal agreement to only operate electric bus services from April 2028, two years ahead of the government’s target.
Councillor Geoff Whittle, assistant city mayor for environment and transport, said:This is great news for public transport users, the new Leicester Buses One Network Partnership plans to deliver a further £75m investment into local bus services.
This will accelerate our delivery of a fully electric network, which we expect to achieve in 2027.
We are now working with operators in the partnership, seeking bids for up to £5m of new grant funding to help expand their electric bus fleets.
