First electric bus heralds new era of travel in Cornwall

CORNWALL'S first electric bus has taken to the streets of Falmouth, boosting the town's shuttle service fleet and helping to cut carbon emissions.

- by ANDY GREENWOOD

Run by local operator OTS as part of the Transport for Cornwall partnership, the 18-seater zero-emission bus offers passengers a quieter and smoother drive.

It's the first of a number of new electric buses which will be taking to Cornwall's roads over the coming months.

Six new buses will cover Go Cornwall Bus' Route 70 on the Rame peninsula from late June and the entire Truro park-and-ride fleet will be replaced with electric buses from this October.

Cornwall Council obtained £1.3 million from the Government's Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (ZEBRA) 2 Fund towards the cost of infrastructure and buses, with the council committing a further £2.18m.

Bus operator OTS committed £105,000 towards bringing an electric bus to Falmouth, with the town council providing a £5,000 grant.

Funding for the Rame peninsula service formed part of a wider £31.87m ZEBRA 2 funding bid from Plymouth City Council and Plymouth Citybus, part of the Go-Ahead group.