A £14 MILLION scheme to bring new electric buses to Somerset roads is set to leave the depot.

A total of £2.2m from the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Zero Emission Bus Regional Area scheme (Zebra) will be put with a £12.5m investment by bus firm First South to bring 25 new EVs to the county.

Somerset Council will not pay towards the new single- and double-decker vehicles, which will serve routes from and to Taunton.

They will operate from First Bus South’s Hamilton Road depot in the county town, which is being upgraded to include charging infrastructure.

Saving up to 60 tonnes of tailpipe emissions each year, the new buses will serve five routes.

The routes proposed for the new electric buses are:

28 – Taunton to Minehead
21 – Taunton to Bridgwater
22 – Taunton to Wellington
1 – Taunton Town Service
2 – Taunton Town Service.

Councillor Richard Wilkins (Lib Dem, Curry Rivel & Langport), lead member for transport and digital, said: “This is incredibly exciting news for Somerset and a major part of our drive towards a cleaner, greener county and we are really grateful to First Bus South for their major investment in Somerset’s future.”

Cllr Dixie Darch (Lib Dem, Rowbarton & Staplegrove), lead member for climate change and the environment, said: “It’s a fantastic opportunity to start the process of electrifying buses in in the county and will ultimately have huge benefits for the wider environment and communities in Somerset.”

And First Bus South’s managing director, Simon Goff, added: “We’re delighted to be bringing electric buses to Somerset, supporting cleaner, greener travel in the county.

“We’re making a major investment of £12.5m in this project, which shows our strong commitment to our passengers and bus services in Somerset.

“We’ve worked in close partnership with Somerset Council to get to this point, and we cannot wait to get these vehicles on the road.

“This is a vital project will improve travel for our customers who will benefit from these state-of-the-art vehicles, including improved air quality and a much better journey experience overall.

“It’s also exciting news for colleagues as we start to transform and secure the future of our Taunton depot.

“We’re proud to be a leader in sustainable transport, and this marks an exciting point for bus travel across Somerset.”

Transport Secretary, Mark Harper (Con, Forest of Dean), said: “As part of our plan to improve local transport across the South West, we’re providing over £2 million to roll out 25 brand new zero-emission buses across Somerset.

“This latest investment into our bus fleet comes on top of the £3.5 billion we have invested into our bus network since 2020, protecting and improving bus routes into 2025 as well as extending the £2 bus fare cap until the end of 2024, made possible by reallocated HS2 funding.”