The first of Northern Ireland’s new zero emissions buses are to hit the streets on Monday.
Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon unveiled the groundbreaking hydrogen and battery-electric double deckers at Stormont on Wednesday.
Designed and built by Wrightbus in Ballymena, they will mark a new era for public transport on the island of Ireland when they enter service for Translink.
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Minister Mallon said it’s great to see her push for more climate friendly public transport realised before the end of her Executive term.
She said: “I’ve invested £74 million pounds so that we can purchase 100 zero emissions buses and the associated infrastructure.
“That’s all about modernising our public transport [and] making sure many more people have the opportunity to choose cleaner and greener transport.
“Once all these buses are in service Translink will have the fourth largest zero emission bus fleet right across these islands.”
While upgrading the fleet will help the environment, Minister Mallon said it will also go some way to cleaning up our air quality.
“I am really conscious in our inner city neighbourhoods we have young children many of them with respiratory illnesses - that’s got to do with exhaust fumes,” she added.
“This is helping tackle public health as well.”
The new zero emission fleet, made up of 80 Battery-Electric and 20 Hydrogen buses, will be gradually introduced in the coming months.
A third of all Metro services will be net zero when they are all on the road.
Without a combustion engine, the vehicles were practically silent so a ‘noise maker’ has been fitted to alert pedestrians to their presence.
Translink chief Chris Conway said: “This is a very exciting time as we start to realise our ambitious plans to transform public transport and decarbonise our fleet.
“The new buses, which will run on sustainably sourced electricity, will offer the latest standards in comfort, quality and accessibility with in-seat USB chargers, WiFi and new accessibility features.
“They will also come with double doors for getting off, facilitating faster journey times, and improving fresh air flow on board for passengers.
“With new contactless ticketing also being introduced, these developments will bring a step change in the overall customer experience.
“This new zero emission fleet including our 23 new Hydrogen powered buses, is just the start of a customer-led enhancement programme aimed to deliver bus service improvements right across Belfast over the coming years, including dedicated zero emission corridors, enhanced shelter facilities with ‘living’ roofs, more bus priority and bus stop rationalisation."
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