West Midlands Mayor praises National Express for electric bus efforts
The West Midlands Mayor has praised a bus firm in the the region for taking a step closer to having an all-electric fleet.
Andy Street said the move by National Express was "important" in hitting a target for the West Midlands to be carbon neutral by 2041.
The company currently has 19 electric buses in service in Birmingham and Solihull and a further 10 running in Coventry.
And they are working to make Coventry – or potentially West Bromwich – an all-electric bus city or town in the region.
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said: "As mayor of the West Midlands I’m working to ensure our energy is focused on bringing about a green energy future for the region.
“From support for new-high tech industries – such as our work to bring a battery Gigafactory to the region - to our recently relaunched regional ‘Starley’ cycle network, and our expansion of the West Midlands metro, our plan for the region is an environmentally friendly one.
"That’s not just because clean energy helps secure the future of our planet, it’s also because our plan will help secure high-skilled ‘green’ jobs of the future. That’s why we set our ambitious #WM2041 target – and it’s why these electric buses are an important step on our journey to reach it."
National Express' 80-year-old Yardley Wood garage has been fitted with a shed-sized battery, a charging station for each bus and a system engineers can use to monitor performance.
Tom Stables, managing director of National Express UK, said: "At National Express, zero-emission is not the future - it’s the here-and-now.
"Cleaner transport is a key move towards fighting emissions and we are glad to play our part on Zero Emissions Day."
