Finance provider Rock Road has entered the zero emission bus market, funding 30 Wrightbus StreetDeck Electroliner battery electric double deckers for Abellio London’s route 111 between Heathrow Central and Kingston.
The agreement involves a consortium led by Rock and the Mayoral Energy Efficiency Fund, managed by Amber Infrastructure, while senior debt is provided by the Greater London Authority and NatWest.
Rock Road, a subsidiary of Rock Rail, aims to use the project as a launchpad to rollout its funding solution and help accelerate the procurement of more zero emission buses in London as the capital targets a fully zero-emission bus fleet by 2030.
The company is also interested in working with operators outside of London to provide funding for orders submitted through the Government’s ZEBRA scheme
Mark Swindell, Rock Rail & Road CEO, said: “Back at COP26, Rock made the decision to widen its scope into a new sector to accelerate the decarbonisation of public transport and to further support the UK to reach its Net Zero targets.
“We set out to provide operators with a new type of funding for zero-emission buses that reduces the impact on balance sheet, allows operators to retain full control over their fleet and absorbs two key risks, namely: residual value and battery replacement.”
Alastair Willis, Head of Commercial at Abellio, said: “By introducing these new state-of-the-art Wrightbus Electroliners with the enhanced features inside the bus, we will provide safe, comfortable and sustainable journeys for even more Londoners.”
