Hundreds of buses in Greater Manchester upgraded in a bid to bring down pollution might still not be meeting emissions standards. The government is now reviewing whether retrofitting buses at a cost of up to £16,000 each has worked, causing further delays in the region's Clean Air Zone saga.
As of March, 1,153 of the 2,063 buses in Greater Manchester were retrofitted to meet emissions standards, costing £15m. But in April, the government paused funding for the clean-up scheme, revealing that some retrofitted buses were not cutting nitrogen dioxide emissions as much as expected.
This puts Greater Manchester's plans to bring air pollution down below legal limits in doubt. Last year, the region put forward a proposal to scrap the charges that some vehicle owners were set to face under the Clean Air Zone.
