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New Fleet Of Electric Buses Announced For Isle Of Wight Following £12.7m Funding Boost

Southern Vectis and the Isle of Wight Council have been successful in their bid for funding that will see a new fleet of 22 zero emission buses arrive on the island. 

The Government has announced financial awards from its latest phase of the Department for Transport’s ZEBRA (Zero Emission Bus Regional Area) scheme.

This - combined with additional investment from Southern Vectis and Isle of Wight Council -  means a total of £12.7m will be used to revolutionise the bus operator’s routes 1, 5 and 9.

“This is very exciting news, and it will put the Isle of Wight right at the forefront of sustainable transport,” said Southern Vectis managing director, Andrew Wickham. 

“We are bringing 22 new, all electric, double decker buses into our fleet - and these are set to arrive in early 2026.

Each bus will be equipped with tap on, tap off, technology for contactless payments, USB charging points for all seats, and next stop audio and visual announcements.

The buses will also have a fully accessible wheelchair ramp, audio loops, dementia-friendly internal colour schemes and CCTV for added security. 

Andrew continued:

“Our Newport depot will be upgraded with charging infrastructure, and we will be working on the design of this over the coming months.

"All of this will have a significant impact in the Isle of Wight’s overall carbon emissions. It will also improve air quality here. 

“This gives us a wonderful opportunity to make the island’s transport the envy of other areas of the United Kingdom and, indeed, the World."

The announcement ties in with parent company the Go-Ahead Group's  Climate Change Strategy - which has an overarching target to become a net zero carbon business by 2045.

The new fleet of electric buses is expected to arrive in February 2026.

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