From a Flash to a Spark, Plymouth Citybus’ recent £3.5 million fleet investment takes to the roads this Sunday 30th July.

Sixteen new Envio 400 City vehicles will bring new standards of passenger comfort, capacity and performanceto Plymouth’s bus network on top of a bold new identity. The new brand, ‘Spark’ is a step up in passenger transport, boasting free Wi-Fi, executive leather seats and for the first time in the Citybus fleet, USB charging points throughout. 

Not only are the new buses comfortable and look great, but they are good for the environment too. The new buses are carbon certified as low emissions vehicles, reducing the number of greenhouse gases produced, making them more than ten times cleaner per passenger than a new diesel car. The buses will be only the second of its type outside of London. 

The new vehicles will be rolled out from 30th July on route 21 and 21A, serving Plympton to Barne Barton via the City Centre. The cross city service is the busiest in Plymouth currently using Redflash buses, introduced four years ago, which will now be moving onto the City’s northern corridor. 

The new investment brings the company’s total to nearly £15 million in the last five years, allowing Plymouth Citybus to replace half its fleet, halving the average age of a bus to just 7.5 years.

Plymouth Citybus carries in excess of 17.5 million passengers a year, running just under 200 buses which cover a staggering 7.2 million miles between them.

Richard Stevens, Managing Director at Plymouth Citybus said “We are really happy to continue to invest in our fleet, making sure we increase the comfort of our passengers. The new buses have a capacity of 106, higher than the double deck buses currently serving the route. 

“The added benefit of the investment is that it means we can cascade newer buses to the service 42’s which serve Derriford Hospital. The newer double deck buses replace older singles deck ones, which means not only a better bus, but a bigger bus, with more seating”.

Mark Collins, Head of Commercial and Marketing at Plymouth Citybus added “We had the new spark bus on display as part of the ‘Your Bus Matters’ in the City Centre and the public feedback was really positive. 

“They loved the new two tone colour way and the neat little additions inside the bus. The buses feature a glass stairwell, which is synonymous with the new London buses, which I think make a real impact”.