The MCV-bodied Volvo BZL double-decker has entered service for the first time with Stagecoach East.
On the drizzly morning of May 12, a fleet of electric doubledeckers was launched in Cambridge. The 30-strong fleet is comprised of MCVbodied Volvo BZLs double-deckers, a model entering services for the first time anywhere in the world. The fleet has been funded by the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority, Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP), Stagecoach East and the Department for Transport, following a successful bid to the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme. The total investment is around £17m. It was proudly proclaimed during the launch that each vehicle cost “close to half a million pounds”. They will allow Stagecoach to complete the electrification of all of the Cambridge park-&-ride services it operates, along with the Citi 2 route, which runs from Milton to Addenbrookes Hospital. The Citi 2 was chosen partially because it serves the Milton park-&-ride site, but also because it passes through an area with particularly high air pollution levels.
BZLs first began operating from the Madingley, Trumpington and Newmarket park-&-ride sites from May 14, with a se…
