It was only back in March when I tapped out a similar headline to an article. We were all rejoicing about a new manufacturer to the electric bus market, First Group had placed an order for 34 all-electric buses from Arrival who were also heavily involved in developing autonomous (full length) electric buses which would be tested and trialled in the real world at Milton Park over at Didcot.
You can read the original post to that announcement here and in fact as I understood it (and as a bit of a coup) the trial would be working with a small outstation of First in Berkshire. Needless to say things have changed and Arrival, last month reported that it was laying off staff and suspending it’s UK development of Arrival Bus.
So while Arrival Bus is not a thing, First Bus probably had a quandary. Here is funding for 34 all-electric buses for Hoeford bus depot, and the order they put in was probably not going to happen.
First Bus goes Wright
So First Bus have announced that they have placed an order with Wrightbus for £81 Million and 193 brand new electric buses. The buses will be built by Wrightbus in Ballymena, Ireland and over the next two years will be delivered to five First Bus subsidiaries around the UK.
The order is for a combination of GB Kite Electroliners and StreetDeck Electoliner Battery-Electric vehicles.
The fact that the original funding application stated that the buses were for services using Portchester Rail Station’s low bridge….
The artists impression found on the Wrightbus is fairly similar to existing First / Wright vehicles already on the road, so I doubt that we will be seeing any sort of revolutionary new design like we were seeing from Arrival. The fact that Wrightbus already have said delivery is over the next two years means that they don’t really have time for innovation either.
Hoeford *might* go Electric
Of course, this is hopefully only a tick-box exercise and nothing untoward will come from it. Hoeford Depot’s plan for electrification and charging supply for the 34 new buses is up for determination at Fareham Borough Council on 10th October.
Interestingly, certainly in my mind, is that the application is planned for up to 93 electric buses according to the Portsmouth News. Now this is not entirely surprising as the world moves to electric vehicles on a wholesale basis – we are electrifying part of the depot, might as well do it all. What is also says though is that First Solent are committing to the Hoeford bus depot remaining at it’s Gosport Road location for the foreseeable future.
There has always been speculation and rumour as to whether there is a better location for the depot serving Gosport and Fareham. I remember such rumours as a large new Hoeford / Hilsea depot north of Fareham near to M27’s junction 10, or as part of the Lee-on-Solent airfield developments. I think that certainly for Hoeford, this answers the question.
It would also be interesting to see what eventually happens with the patch of land between Fareham Bus Depot and the Hoeford BRT bus stop. Is that all part of future plans?
GB Kite Electroliners are coming….
The original application was for the electric buses being allocated to:
- Routes 9 & 9A between Fareham – Bridgemary – Rowner – Gosport
- Route 3 between Fareham – Pauslgrove – City – Southsea
- Route 1 between Southsea – Fratton – City – Gunwharf
Personally, I can not see that changing. The lower frequency of services at the moment might change things though; especially if there are no plans to increase the 9 and 9A back to pre-pandemic levels. Maybe we will see some sort of service revision to non-Eclipse services in Gosport in line with the launch of these BEV’s?