Following the approval of a £30 million Department for Transport grant, a fleet of 124 new environmentally friendly hydrogen fuelled buses will be used in the West Midlands.

This follows a successful bid to the Zero-emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) fund to promote cleaner and greener bus transport and will cover the cost of a  refuelling facility.

24 of these new vehicles will be articulated tram-style buses set to run on the new Sprint rapid transit routes along the A34 and A45 between Walsall, Birmingham and Solihull.

Hydrogen fuelled buses emit only water vapour and therefore will improve air quality and contribute to a reduction in the bus network’s carbon footprint, part of the region’s green transport revolution and supporting the #WM2041 climate change targets. Green Hydrogen will be used, which is generated from renewable energy, to ensure the scheme is fully zero emission.

The funding tops up private bus company investment in bus fleets over the next three years to accelerate the switch from diesel buses to clean and green vehicles. Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), which is part of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), will now work with bus company partners and the hydrogen production industry to get the fleet up and running.

Pete Bond, Director of Integrated Transport Services, Transport for West Midlands, said:

“These hydrogen buses, the All Electric Bus City scheme in Coventry and the roll out of electric vehicle charging facilities we are planning shows how the West Midlands is leading the way on decarbonising our transport and making good progress on achieving our net-zero targets.