FIRST Bus Scotland have been awarded more than £3 million by Transport Scotland to upgrade its mid-life fleet to greener emissions standards.
The funding is part of Transport Scotland’s Scottish Bus Emission Abatement Retrofit scheme.
The Scottish Government grant towards the overall cost means that 165 further buses will have their exhaust systems changed to meet the current Euro VI standard – the cleanest diesel engines currently available – which will significantly improve emissions of Nitrogen Oxide and fine particulate matter across our Glasgow network.
The grant allows operators to upgrade the exhaust systems on mid-life vehicles to achieve a significantly lower emissions output.
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Currently, 40% of First Glasgow vehicles are Euro VI standard.
First Bus has recently announced its commitment to operating a zero-emissions bus fleet by 2035 as well as pledging not to purchase any new diesel buses after December 2022.
Andrew Jarvis, managing director for First Bus in Scotland, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded this funding. Cleaner air is vitally important to all of us in society and we are determined to play our part in the communities that we serve.
“This is another step on our journey to operating a fully zero-emission fleet by 2035 and we are already leading the way with the first commercially operated electric buses in Glasgow as well as the soon-to-launch world’s first double-decker hydrogen buses in Aberdeen.”
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