Stagecoach spends £6.8m on eco-friendly fleet

Oct 30 2007 by Graeme King, The Journal

BUS company Stagecoach North-East has spent £6.8m on a new fleet of buses which use a substance similar to urine to reduce their effect on the environment.

The smart new fleet of Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 buses are being used on the 62/63 and 39/40 routes in Newcastle, but Stagecoach’s passengers are currently unaware of the unusual technology behind their trips into town.

Stagecoach uses efficient diesel engines from Darlington company Cummins to drive the new vehicles, and then the urine-like additive is used to treat the exhaust fumes to help take harmful pollutants out of them.

The system works by the “urea” substance clinging to particles in the exhaust, which ensures the particles then get caught up in the buses’ catalytic converters – rather than being pumped out into the environment.

The chemical, supplied to Stagecoach by Northampton company Filtration Control, is stored in a tank on board the buses, which has to be refilled along with the diesel, oil and water tanks on the vehicles.

John Conroy, managing director of Stagecoach North-East, said: “Bus travel is the greener way to travel and we want to encourage more people to use the buses.

“Having modern, new buses is vital to provide a top class journey experience for our passengers.

“The investment we have made reflects our faith in the future of bus travel as cost efficient and energy efficient.”

As well as using urea to be environmentally friendly, the new buses are also innovative in featuring internally lit advertising space on their sides – something previously only seen in London.