Fleet of 125 hydrogen buses for the region

THE West Midlands is to buy 125 hydrogen-powered buses which produce none of the pollution linked to global climate change.

Instead of exhaust fumes containing carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming, the vehicles produce harmless water vapour.

Bus operator National Express is working with the West Midlands Combined Authority on the project.

The buses, most of them double deckers, will be used on the streets of Birmingham and the surrounding area.

They will cost around £30 million and West Midlands Mayor Andy Street is asking central government to help meet the cost.

Mr Street spoke about the plan at the COP26 summit in Glasgow.

He said the biggest contribution UK regions could make was to transform their transport systems, replacing high-polluting cars with cleaner forms of transport.

But the mayor said this would require investment to give every region the same type of highquality public transport network that London currently enjoys.

He said: “If every city region in the UK had a London-style transport system, we would see far greater use of public transport, and our emissions would soon plummet.”

He said priorities for the region’s transport network included ensuring the transport network reaches every part of the area served by the combined authority and integrating the ticket systems used on buses, trains and tram services, so that there is a cap on the maximum any person can be charged for a single journey.

Waseem Zaffar, Birmingham City Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment, was also at COP26, where he spoke at an Asthma UK and British Lung Foundation event to explain the city council’s initiatives to tackle air pollution.