MORE e-BUSES NOW: Newcastle deserves better!
- olwynjoyhocking
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
Cleaner Air Campaign priority: DON'T LET NEWCASTLE BE BACK OF THE QUEUE FOR E-BUSES
The North East mayoral area is promised 100% zero emission buses by 2035. But it looks likely that Newcastle will be stuck with dirty older diesel buses far longer than neighbouring areas - despite the city's residents suffering health harms from far worse air quality than many parts of the region and the UK.
Our research over the past six months has dug deeper into why this may be happening, why it matters and what we can do about it. Please draw on these findings to lobby decision-makers - there's a list and links below, to help with this.
Why has Newcastle so few e-buses?
Newcastle Council's draft Air Quality Action Plan to 2030 spells out why local residents are behind the queue for the modern e-buses that many other cities already enjoy. It says: "Potential barriers to implementation are cost and the need for host infrastructure at the depot locations, such as charging points."
This cause, and the extent of e-bus rollout delay as a result, was first spotted at Newcastle Climate Forum on transport, which CAN supporters attended in November 2025 (see pic above). New e-buses can only be introduced if there has been investment in charging facilities suitable for a fleet of buses.
E-bus rollout is being co-ordinated by the North East Mayor, pictured below at the January 2026 launch of nearly 30 new e-buses for the North East.
Her North East Local Transport Plan: Delivering Green Transport (2025) does not include targets for suitable charging infrastructure for buses. That's in contrast with improving chargepoints for cars and vans, which are mentioned 22 times in the plan.
Why replacing old diesel buses with clean reliable e-buses matters
Health is identified as a key goal of the NE Local Transport Plan: "how we choose to travel is important as it can leave an impact on our environment, health, and wellbeing". It confirms the harm from current poor air quality: "It is estimated that poor air quality is responsible for around 360 deaths each year in central Tyneside alone." However, there is no priority identified for e-bus rollout to Newcastle, despite old diesel buses being the biggest transport factor in the city's unhealthy air (there are lots of graphs proving this in Newcastle's draft Air Quality Action Plan).
This vital improvement helps tempt more people away from car use and gives local people more freedom - changes badly needed at a time when bus travel in the North East remains a third lower than 15 years ago.
Government information about English air pollution complying with acceptable health standards, which was unearthed by Tim Farron MP, says: "We expect Newcastle-upon-Tyne will be the last city to become compliant" .
Here's why this is bad news for local residents and our environment:
Old-style diesel buses pump out harmful fine particulates (PM2.5) - so delays in replacement by e-buses means Newcastle's residents will continue to breathe unhealthy air for longer than most parts of the UK. This damages our quality of life and increases the number of local people suffering premature deaths.
E-buses transform travel, through greater reliability, additional benefits and more pleasant travel experience.
What we can all do to speed up the arrival of e-buses to Newcastle:
These disadvantages are unacceptable for a city with poorer health and more polluted air than many other parts of the UK: we should be AHEAD of the rate of national bus modernisation, not behind! Please lobby:
your local councillors (link here to trace the councillors representing your ward)
Nexus, our public transport provider: link here
the North East Mayor: link here
you local MPs: Chi Onwurah (Central & West) email here, Catherine McKinnell (North) email here; and Mary Glindon (East & Wallsend), email here.
Ask them to speed up e-bus replacements for old-style bus routes. Climate Action Newcastle has already sent a formal response to Newcastle City Council's latest Air Quality Action Plan. The council is seeking to achieve acceptable air quality standards by 2030, but its plan does not spell out how it is going to speed up the replacement of diesel buses by clean popular e-buses.
Here's what we Newcastle residents COULD be enjoying!
This launch of new services at the Utilita Arena illustrated the many attractions of new e-buses. They are much smoother and quieter, allowing people to chat easily and be less at risk from over-balancing.
Seating has a wide range of options, improving access for people of all ages and abilities. Aids to convenient travel include device charging points and improved passenger information about next and future stops.
Comments