Nottingham City Transport (NCT) has unveiled its first electric double-decker buses, with six new vehicles due to enter passenger service on the Lilac Line 27 route to Carlton.
The buses were officially launched at a public event in Sneinton Market Square on Wednesday 14 October, where passengers were able to explore the vehicles before they begin operating on the route.
The introduction of the new buses has been supported by £4.5 million in funding from the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA), led by East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward, who attended the launch.
The six Wrightbus StreetDeck Electroliner Gen 2.0 vehicles are the first fully electric double-deckers in NCT’s fleet and form part of a wider programme to replace conventional diesel buses.
Passengers will have access to full air conditioning, USB charging points and new seating, while accessibility features include two wheelchair spaces.
The interior has also been designed with neurodivergent passengers in mind, incorporating lighter wood-effect flooring and contrasting colours on handrails and seating to help make the environment easier to navigate.
The buses have a stated maximum range of up to 275 miles between charges and are equipped with batteries offering 442kWh of capacity.
Charging infrastructure has already been installed at NCT’s Parliament Street garage by energy company VEV, allowing the new vehicles to be charged overnight.
Mayor Claire Ward said the investment was intended to improve the experience of travelling by public transport while reducing vehicle emissions.
She said: “The new electric double-decker buses will give passengers a quieter, smoother, and more comfortable journey, with air conditioning, charging ports, and improved accessibility.
“These are the kind of everyday improvements that add up when you use public transport, so they are important to get right.”
The buses have been manufactured by Northern Ireland-based Wrightbus, which has supplied more than 2,000 zero-emission vehicles to operators across the UK.
NCT has also worked with suppliers Altro and Camira Fabrics on the materials used inside the vehicles.
The flooring was supplied in pre-cut, self-adhesive sections rather than conventional rolls, reducing waste during production. Altro estimates that this approach saved approximately 226kg of embodied carbon dioxide across the six buses.
The seat fabric incorporates recycled marine plastic waste, with each metre containing material equivalent to up to 35 plastic bottles.
Christian Reynolds, managing director at Wrightbus, said the introduction of the vehicles represented another stage in Nottingham’s transition towards zero-emission public transport.
He said: “They will help NCT deliver cleaner and more comfortable journeys for passengers while supporting the city’s wider ambitions for a more sustainable transport network.”
NCT managing director David Astill said the new double-deckers represented an improvement in the specification of the operator’s fleet.
He said: “They represent a further step change in the specification of our modern fleet of buses, including full air-conditioning which is a first for our double-deck vehicles.”
Further electric double-deckers are expected to arrive before Christmas, taking NCT’s zero-emission fleet to 93 vehicles.
At that point, approximately one-third of the operator’s fleet will be fully electric.
The Carlton Road service also has a historical connection with electric public transport. Electric trolleybuses operated along the route for 33 years until 1965, more than 60 years before the introduction of the new battery-powered vehicles.
NCT has not yet confirmed an exact date for the new double-deckers to begin carrying passengers on Lilac Line 27.
