£500 million investment in electric buses to spark a new era of green growth

• £500 million investment announced to deliver 1,200 UK-made zero emission buses, ensuring greener and better journeys for passengers
• Bus operator Go-Ahead’s investment to benefit communities across the country, supporting hundreds of jobs and delivering growth
• Transport Secretary brings together industry to advance opportunities for investment in the UK ahead of investment summit

Up to 500 UK manufacturing jobs are set to be supported as bus operator Go-Ahead this month announced a major £500 million (AUD $1 billion) investment to decarbonise its fleet, including creating a new dedicated manufacturing line and partnership with Northern Ireland-based bus manufacturer Wrightbus.

The investment is set to fund the manufacturing of up to 1,200 new zero emission buses over the next 3 years, accelerating the transition to greener buses across the country including in Plymouth, Gloucestershire, East Yorkshire, London and the Isle of Wight.

On top of directly supporting 500 manufacturing jobs, the £500 million investment for Wrightbus will also support an additional 2,000 jobs across the wider UK supply chain by 2026, helping to get us back on track for growth.

The UK Secretary of State for Transport, RT Hon Louise Haigh MP joined Go-Ahead and Wrightbus for the announcement ahead of meeting with key industry leaders to reaffirm the government’s commitment to decarbonising local transport and fostering an environment for investment in the UK manufacturing industry. 

Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh said:

The number one mission of this government is growing the economy. The half a billion pounds Go Ahead is announcing today shows the confidence industry has in investing in the UK.

This announcement will see communities across the country benefit from brand new, state-of-the-art green buses - which will deliver cleaner air and better journeys.

We’re creating the right conditions for businesses to flourish, so we can support jobs and accelerate towards decarbonising the transport sector.

Go-Ahead Bus CEO, Matt Carney said:

This multi-million pound investment and partnership with Wrightbus will accelerate the transition to zero-emission fleet across the UK.

We are proud to be working in partnership with the UK government and local authorities to deliver transformational environmental change for communities, while supporting UK jobs and the growth of the country’s supply chain. 

Wrightbus CEO, Jean-Marc Gales said:

The deal with Go-Ahead is hugely significant and represents a huge boost to the UK’s economy. It will support homegrown manufacturing, jobs and skills for the next three years and beyond. We’ve always been proud to support the UK’s supply chain and our Go-Ahead partnership will ensure even more money can be spent securing good green jobs.

We must also not forget that this deal represents a massive step forward in our ambition to help decarbonise the transport sector with our world-leading products. It was heartening today to hear the government reaffirm its commitment to a green transport sector.

Owned by Kinetic and JV partner Globalvia, Go-Ahead is the UK’s largest operator of zero emission buses. The company introduced London’s first modern day emission-free bus over a decade ago, and now operates over 540 in the nation’s capital city.  This month Go-Ahead also completed the roll-out of 104 ZEBs in Oxford.