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Clean bus technology fitted to Leicester City buses

Posted: 25 March 2015 | Katie Sadler, Digital Content Producer, Intelligent Transport

Leicester City Council has announced expansion of clean bus technology to its busiest routes in an attempt to cut pollution in the city. The Council has successfully bid for £100,000 from the Department for Transport’s Clean Vehicle Technology Fund (CVTF) to extend work to fit nitrogen dioxide filtering equipment to buses. The equipment comprises a […]

Clean bus technology fitted to Leicester City buses

Leicester City Council has announced expansion of clean bus technology to its busiest routes in an attempt to cut pollution in the city.

Clean bus technology fitted to Leicester City buses

The Council has successfully bid for £100,000 from the Department for Transport’s Clean Vehicle Technology Fund (CVTF) to extend work to fit nitrogen dioxide filtering equipment to buses. The equipment comprises a selective catalytic reduction and particle trap to filter fumes, along with a micro-hybrid electrical fan system to improve engine efficiency.

The successful bid for funding has allowed the city council to work with the operator Centrebus to fit emission filtering equipment to five of its Euro III Optare Solo buses which operate on the route between Loughborough Road and Belgrave Road.

Leicester City Council will provide £60,000 towards the project, with Centrebus contributing around £42,500 for the refurbishment of the five vehicles.

A previous successful bid for the Department for Transport Clean Bus Technology fund in 2013, allowed 32 Arriva buses to be fitted with filters. When both projects are complete, around 70 per cent of all buses using this busy route will be fitted with clean emissions technology.

Deputy City Mayor Rory Palmer said: “Traffic fumes are a major cause of air pollution, and buses are among some of the most polluting vehicles on our roads.

“I am really pleased that we are now working with two of the city’s bus operators to pilot the retrofitting of clean vehicle technology to their fleets.

“This could help make a noticeable improvement to air quality in one of the worst-affected routes in Leicester.

Keith Hayward, Engineering Director for Centrebus said: “Cutting emissions and reducing the impact that vehicles have on air quality is in everyone’s interests, and Centrebus is proud to be working with the city council on this ambitious project.”

Extending the bus retrofitting programme to other parts of the city is a key proposal in Leicester City Council’s draft Air Quality Action Plan.

European Bus Forum