New city buses and bus totems on the way

New electric buses and bus stop totems are part of investment worth close to £5 million in Leicester's bus services.

Leicester Buses, a partnership between Leicester City Council and bus operators, said the council was set to purchase 10 electric buses using around £4 million from the Department for Transport's local authority bus grant to add to its existing fleet of 24 electric buses.

The new buses will operate on council-supported services delivered by Centrebus, serving routes 20, 24, 81, 83 and 162.

The partnership also said an additional £1million investment had been agreed to install more than 100 new bus stop "totems" in the city and surrounding Flexi fare area.

The project is set to see the installation of 104 battery-powered totems with real time display and a text-to-speech button to support passengers with visual impairments.

A further 85 Leicester Buses branded totems with four-sided poster drums for timetables, maps and passenger information are also being promised.

The real time display totems will be "prioritised at bus stops serving the city centre and locations with the highest passenger demand", Leicester Buses said.

Installation of the new totems will begin later this year it added.

By the end of 2026, the Leicester Buses Partnership will have around 200 electric buses operating across its network, the spokesperson added.

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