GLASGOW will see a £59 million fleet of new electric buses on the roads from next December.

The new buses come as the result of a successful bid in Transport Scotland’s latest round of Scottish Ultra Low Emission Bus (SULEB) funding.

First Glasgow has been awarded £24.3m with First Bus committing to spend a further £35.6m.

The investment will bring a further 126 electric single and double decker vehicles to the city, adding to the 22 new electric buses that are scheduled to hit the streets of Glasgow before the UN’s annual climate change conference COP26.

Janette Bell, First Bus’s Managing Director, said: “As leaders in sustainable mobility, we are fully aligned with the Government’s ambitions for a net-zero carbon transport system, including zero-emission bus fleets.

"We have already committed to achieving this by 2035.

"We will continue to ensure that our progress doesn’t just exceed national guidelines, but that it also puts the expectations of our customers front and centre.”

Last year First Bus announced it would operate a zero-emission bus fleet by 2035, as well as pledging not to purchase any new diesel buses after December 2022.

The collaboration with Transport Scotland will not only help First Glasgow replace 126 of the oldest buses in its fleet with new zero emission buses; it will also help transform their Caledonia bus depot on the south side of the city centre.

Already the UK’s largest depot, the investment will see it converted into one of the UK’s largest electric fleet charging stations, with the potential for more than 150 vehicles to be recharged at a time.

Andrew Jarvis, Managing Director for First Glasgow, said: "We have led the way with bus operators in Glasgow as a key partner of Glasgow City Council for the country’s first ever Low Emission Zone rollout and this latest announcement helps us to deliver shared objectives and make up lost time due to the pandemic."

The 126 new electric buses announced today follows the news in February that First Glasgow’s 22 new electric buses have entered production as part of a £9m investment from the first round of the SULEB scheme.

Each new vehicle for Glasgow will be built by Scottish bus builder Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) with their partner BYD.

Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity Michael Matheson said: “With this significant order of new electric buses, First Bus is showing a welcome commitment to helping meet Scotland’s world leading climate change targets.

“It’s a real success story that these buses will be built by ADL in Falkirk – supporting jobs in bus manufacturing and benefitting the wider economy before they enter service for communities across Glasgow."