Stormont’s Department for Infrastructure (DfI) is paying a more than £200,000 premium for zero emissions buses manufactured in Co Antrim compared with similar buses being sent to England.
DfI made an order with Ballymena-based Wrightbus in May 2024 for 100 single and double deck electric vehicles to the tune of £64 million of taxpayers’ money – an average of £640,000 per vehicle.
However, in October 2024 private firm Go-Ahead Group, based in Newcastle, England, signed a contract worth with the same company worth £500 million for 1,200 buses.
The investment equated to a price per vehicle of £416,666 – a difference of almost £224,000 per bus compared with the deal negotiated by DfI five months earlier.
In total, the 100 buses for Translink appear to have cost an extra £22.4m compared to price paid by the English transport company per 100 buses.
It’s unclear if Go Ahead negotiated a better price because of the scale of the order or if specifications differed.
The Department for Infrastructure has been contacted for comment.
Go-Ahead Group is one of the largest operators of public transport in the UK, managing bus services on behalf of Transport for London (TfL) and other local transport authorities in England.
The Department for Infrastructure purchased the vehicles from Wrightbus and provided them to Translink as part of its attempts to decarbonise public transport in the north.
Bosses of Translink, the north’s primary public transport operator, told MLAs last month its cash reserves had dropped to “unsustainable levels” due to funding cuts and increased costs.
A spokesperson for Translink said the total cost for the buses included “vehicles and associated infrastructure” for the fleet, including charging infrastructure.
“The specification of vehicles and warranty will also differ, depending on operator requirements,” the statement concluded.
The news comes after the Irish News reported last month that several of the buses purchased last year have been gathering dust in Translink depots due to a dispute with engineers over pay.
DUP MLA Deborah Erskine, who is chair of the Stormont Infrastructure Committee, raised concern over the figures and asked what the overpayments on the electric buses could have been directed towards.
“We need clarity as to the specifications of these buses, but there does appear to be questions to answer as to the disparity in the prices being paid by Translink in comparison to a private operator in England,” Ms Erskine said.
“Value for money for the taxpayer should be at the forefront of the minds of those making such investments.
“People will look at this cost and be asking what that differential in price could have delivered elsewhere in the Department for Infrastructure – how many potholes could have been repaired? How many additional rural roads gritted?
“The Department must be open and transparent around these issues and explain why their bus costs so much more.”