Stagecoach in South Wales celebrates Clean Air Day 2019

Stagecoach in South Wales has worked in partnership with Caerphilly County Borough Council to support Clean Air Day 2019.

All week, children from various schools around Caerphilly have been taking part in a five-day event hosted at the iconic Caerphilly Castle grounds to learn about clean air initiatives including how public transport can reduce harmful emissions and improve air quality. An electric bus was donated by Optare to transport the children to the event on 20^th June and is being operated by Stagecoach around Caerphilly Town.

Over the next two years, Stagecoach will deliver one of Europe's largest single investments in electric buses for South Wales after winning £2.9m in grant funding from the UK Government. Stagecoach, will invest £3.6 million in the ground-breaking project, which is supported by the Cardiff Capital Region Transport Authority, Caerphilly County Borough Council and the Welsh Government.

The combined investment of £6.5 million will deliver a new 16 vehicle fleet of zero emission buses and associated infrastructure. The first of the planned single-decker e-buses are expected to go into service from 2020, helping to deliver a boost to local air quality and UK manufacturing.

Nigel Winter, Managing Director, Stagecoach in South Wales said: "It’s important to educate the next generation about air pollution and how they can help to reduce it in the future. We hope that the children around Caerphilly enjoyed travelling on the electric bus and have learnt how buses provide a more environmentally friendly way of getting from A to B. The new e-bus fleet for South Wales will reduce annual CO2 by 572 and supports the region’s Air Quality Action Plan”.

Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Deputy Leader, Cllr. Sean Morgan attended the event and commented, “Caerphilly’s Environmental Health Team have been working on an air quality project with schools over the last few months to raise awareness of the causes of air pollution and promote good practice in the hope that it will embed a cultural change which will benefit future generations. The event has seen more than 600 pupils attend over the 5 days which was made possible as a result of key partnership working.”

He added: “We are committed to becoming a carbon neutral authority and we are taking positive steps to support this change.”

ENDS