Leicester on track to offer electric buses across whole city network.

Leicester City Council says it plans to operate 240 electric buses across the city’s public transport network by March 2027.

This comes after the government invested more than £8 million, and Arriva and Centrebus contributed an additional £18 million.

In addition to the 180 electric buses now in its fleet, the city has ordered an additional 60 buses, which will be operational beginning in September 2026.

The £8 million in government support, along with the £18 million in private money, takes the total investment in Leicester’s electric bus fleet to £100 million over the past four years.

The city has yet to disclose which bus types were purchased as part of the new contract.

However, it is evident that Arriva and Centrebus have not only partially sponsored the new vehicles, but will also operate them, with Arriva running 56 and Centrebus running four.

This is reflected in the proportion of investment made by each company: Arriva contributed £17 million to the buses, while Centrebus contributed £1 million.

This expansion of Leicester’s electric bus fleet is part of the city’s Leicester Buses Enhanced Partnership Scheme, which intends to electrify a section of the bus fleet while also implementing automated digital ticketing, increased service reliability and frequency, and dedicated bus lanes.

The council has also overseen a £13.5 million makeover of the city’s St Margaret’s bus terminal, which it says is the first in the UK to be carbon-neutral. Simon Lightwood, the UK’s road and bus minister, said:

“Electric buses offer smoother, quieter and greener journeys for people across the country, so I’m delighted to see that Leicester City Council, backed by £8 million in Government funding, is continuing their tremendous work and rolling them out across the whole of their network.”Toby France, Head of Commercial at Arriva Midlands, continued:

“This circa £17m investment by Arriva in a further 56 UK-built, electric buses will more than double our zero-emission fleet in Leicester, and helps shape a future where people choose to leave their cars at home with less congestion on our roads, and cleaner air for the next generation.”

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