Metroline has ordered 39 electric buses from Wrightbus to operate across London and Hertfordshire.
This contract is for 39 double-decker StreetDeck Electroliner vehicles, which was recently declared the world’s most efficient double deck electric bus following assessments at the UTAC test facility.
Ben Werth, Chief Commercial Officer at Wrightbus, said:We are delighted to announce this order from Metroline, further demonstrating their commitment to offering zero-emission public transport.
All of the buses will be manufactured and assembled at our Ballymena factory, which means support for jobs in Northern Ireland, and wider across the UK through our domestic supply chain.
The new buses will operate on Metroline’s routes 297 and 142, serving the boroughs of Brent and Ealing, as well as Hertfordshire (Watford), Harrow and Barnet.
This order will expand Metroline’s fleet of zero-exhaust-emission vehicles, which also includes hydrogen buses manufactured by Wrightbus.
Ian Foster, Group Engineering Director at Metroline, said:Metroline is extremely pleased to continue our relationship with Wrightbus following the latest additions to our electric vehicle fleet, having previously worked closely with them on our hydrogen bus specification and roll out.
Our testing of the new electric vehicle has shown an excellent level of power usage per mile, and we are confident that, working closely with the development team at Wrightbus, these figures will continue to improve.
As with the hydrogen bus order, it is essential that wherever possible we purchase vehicles with a high local build content, supporting the UK supply chain backing our own technical expertise in the zero-emissions arena.
This contract adds to Wrightbus’s growing list of 2022 orders, including with First Bus and Translink in the UK. In addition, the company has also received orders to provide zero-exhaust-emission vehicles in Australia and Germany.
