The first bus from Merseyside’s new hydrogen-powered fleet will begin passenger services today.
The City Region Combined Authority has purchased 20 of the buses with the first public journey starting at St Helens bus station this morning, Monday May 15. This comes after driver training and testing has been taking place on the region’s roads in recent weeks. .
The state of the art vehicles follow the delivery of brand new class 777 trains which are now operating on a number of lines on the Merseyrail network. The city region is also working on its own ‘franchising model’ which would bring the region’s buses under the greatest level of public control since the 1980s.
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The hydrogen-powered buses will operate on what will become the region’s first ‘green route’ which is currently served by 10A services. This route is the busiest in the city region and runs from St Helens to Liverpool city centre, passing through areas such as Knotty Ash and Stoneycroft.
The brand new zero-emissions buses include increased capacity for wheelchair users and passengers with prams or buggies. Other additional features include wireless and USB phone charging, internet access and reading lights above seats.
The vehicles are also fitted with camera wing mirrors to improve safety, as well as audio and visual announcements for next stops, with high definition onboard screens to update passengers on journey progress, next stops and onward travel connections in real time.
Speaking at the end of April when testing of the vehicles started, Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said the introduction of the buses “is just a down payment on my wider ambitions for our bus network”.
He added: “We’ve already brought the cost of a single journey down to just £2 and have frozen the MyTicket at £2.20, giving young people unlimited, all-day travel across our area. Very soon we’ll be launching a public consultation on the future of our buses as we work towards reregulating our network, meaning that buses will be run in the interests of passengers.
“It’s a big part of my plan to build a London-style transport network that’s faster, cheaper, cleaner and better connected – and I can’t wait to see people on board our new buses very soon.”
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