New funding aims to accelerate the rollout of electric buses across the UK.
The UK Infrastructure Bank and HSBC, alongside rolling stock company Rock Rail and the investment arm of Aviva, have formed a partnership to finance up to 250 zero emission buses and associated infrastructure.
The partners have committed to an initial £100m in funding, and said they aimed to “crowd in” further private capital to reduce the reliance on public money to support the transition.
A deal has already been signed to fund 60 battery-electric buses that will be leased to the Go-Ahead Group for operation on routes throughout London.
The Rock Road platform, owned by Rock Rail and Aviva, offers a finance solution for UK bus operators and public transport authorities to decarbonise their fleets, while minimising capital outlay and outsourcing key ownership risks around residual value and battery replacement.
“The vast majority of the UK’s 36,500 buses are still diesel powered and so replacing these with a cleaner, greener alternative will be key in decarbonising the transport sector and achieving UK net zero targets,” said John Flint, CEO of the state-owned UK Infrastructure Bank. “This will require a massive scale up of investment.
“The Bank’s financing has been crucial in helping to bring the innovative Rock Road leasing platform to the market, which will reduce cost for operators and help improve the uptake of zero emission buses across the UK.”
“Since entering the UK rolling stock market in 2016, Rock has delivered over £3.5bn of investment in new trains and we see a similar scale of opportunity in the zero emission bus market,” added Mark Swindell, CEO of Rock Rail.
