Local ZEBRA Scheme Funds A Further 60 Electric Buses - December 2025

Leicester City Council is the first authority to successfully complete its own local electric bus grant scheme using devolved government funds.

Agreements have now been signed for around £8m towards an overall investment of £26m for 60 electric buses by Arriva and Centrebus. These will come into operation in 2026 and take the total electric bus network of the Leicester Buses Partnership to 240, operating from five charging depots.

The new funding brings the total investment made in Leicester’s electric bus fleet over the past four years to £100m. This leaves just 20 remaining on routes within our Enhanced Partnership Scheme. A funding package for these is planned for approval by March 2026 and delivery by December 2026.

So we might be in a race with our neighbours Coventry for first electric bus city in the UK…

This project is aimed at making bus travel Electric

Flexi Fare Freeze - December 2025

The Leicester Buses Partnership has reached an agreement to keep Flexi fares unchanged for the next 12 months, despite rising costs of operation. This will be funded through government grant awarded to Leicester City Council to assist bus travellers over this period.

This means Flexi is now the best value, most flexible ticket for most journeys.

This is another initiative aimed at making bus travel Easy and Great Value.

Co-ordinated Timetables in the Flexi Area - December 2025

The Leicester Buses Partnership is now rolling out co-ordinated printed timetable and route information at all main bus stops across the Flexi area. These are already at City Centre bus stops, bus stations and on the Humberstone Rd - where they have received high levels of customer satisfaction. This is another project aimed at making bus travel Easy.

New Highways Measures To Assist Bus Travel

These schemes have recently been completed to assist bus travellers:

• Evington Road - Introduced bus stop enforcement cameras and relined with new restrictions to better manage obstructive parking. Further engagement in 2026 on proposal for a red route.

• Aylestone Road - Resurfaced the pitted carriageway - a long-standing bus user issue.

• Abbey Lane (A6) - Red route has been fully implemented and now subject to enforcement. Particularly assists in preventing off-loading car transporters blocking inside lane in the peak.

• Gleneagles Avenue / Nicklaus Road - Re-balanced signal timings to give more priority to the two side roads over the main road, improving bus punctuality and journey times in peaks and school times.

• Vaughan Way / Highcross Street - Signals adjustment to assist left turning buses from Causeway Lane onto Vaughan Way.

• Freemens Common Road - Signal renewal works at the Counting House Road / Freemen’s Common Road junction has allowed the signal sequence to be changed to aid bus movements.

These schemes are currently being developed for introduction in early 2026:

• Swain Street - Proposal being developed to install a yellow box at Swain Street/St Georges Way junction to support bus services using that route. Traffic blocking the junction currently delaying bus services.

• Bus Lane enforcement – network wide with camera enforcement car to be used to red routes across Leicester in early 2026

• Queens Road / Clarendon Park Road - Upgrading existing signals at Queens Rd / Clarendon Park Rd in Feb 2026 with a detector for approaching buses, extending green times to allow them through without stopping.

These measures are all aimed at making bus travel more Reliable

£41.7m Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) Award by the DfT - December 2025

Leicester City Council has been awarded £41.7m by the Department of Transport to further transform Leicester's bus network.

These funds will be used for the priorities set out in our Leicester Buses Partnership plan:

• To maintain existing commitments , such as subsidised bus routes, discounted ticketing and the real time information system

• Integrate routes, timetables and ticketing to mirror a London-style co-ordinated network

• Complete the electrification of the Leicester Buses network

• Expand the frequency of the Orbital bus routes to every half an hour or better

• Increase the whole Mainlines network to a daytime frequency to every 15 minutes or better

• Complete real time information at all bus stops throughout the Flexi area

• Targeted Flexi fare discounts for commuter and younger persons

• Extending the Park & Ride network - route and timetable extensions

More details about our plan can be found here. More details on the phasing of this upcoming work will be decided in early 2026.

This funding will be used to make bus travel electric, frequent, reliable, easy and great value.

Real-time Information Display in Leicester Railway Station - October 2025

We now have real-time information with text-to-speech audio inside the main foyer at Leicester Railway Station showing bus departures and stands from the railway station bus stops to help passengers with onwards travel fom the station by bus.

This is a project aimed at making bus travel Easy.

Transport Focus Survey Interim Results - September 2025

We are pleased to report that our interim Transport Focus survey results have been published and satisfaction for our network is higher than other areas:

Flexi Add On Launches - July 2025

Save 50% off the price of Flexi, when you purchase an Arriva or Centrebus East Midlands Adult Day or Week m-ticket. Our Flexi add on product allows you to conveniently travel with one ticket wholly within the Flexi zone at a discounted rate.

• Arriva East Midlands Adult Day £8.20 + Flexi Day for only £3.15 (normally £6.30)

• Centrebus East Midlands Adult Day £7.80 + Flexi Day for only £3.15 (normally £6.30)

• Arriva East Midlands Adult Week £31.50 + Flexi Day for only £12 (normally £24)

• Centrebus East Midlands Adult Week £26 + Flexi Day for only £12 (normally £24)

Simply buy from the Arriva or Centrebus app today and benefit from discounted, fast, convenient and contactless seamless travel from further afield with the benefits of being able to travel on any bus service within the Flexi zone.

This is another initiative aimed at making bus travel Easy and Great Value.

Real-time information Totem Project Completed - June 2025

After 3 years we have completed our real-time information bus stop totem project after investing over £6.3m of grant funding towards new bus stop infrastructure to help make travelling by bus more easy. Our network now has over 470 Leicester Buses branded real-time information display units with text-to-speech announcements on inbound stops in the Flexi area and 540 standard Leicester Buses branded bus stop totems.

This project is aimed at making bus travel Easy

One million trips on the Hop! service - May 2025

The success of the Hop! service continues with over one million trips being made on the service as of May 2025. The service launched in April 2023 and over 100,000 trips were made in the first 5 months of launching. Passenger numbers have been steadily rising with an average of 2,070 trips being made a day, with Haymarket Bus Station, Nelson Mandela Park and the Railway Station being the most popular stops on the route.

Stagecoach launches 21 electric buses - June 2025

Stagecoach have completed the launch of their electric buses on the 148 (Leicester to Coventry) route as part of the Coventry All Electric Bus Town + Warwickshire ZEBRA scheme, helping to bring the Leicester Buses Partnership one step closer to having a fully electric bus network. Our electric bus count is now at 180!

This project is aimed at making bus travel Electric

Orbital Service Change - April 2025

The Orbital service has been split into two sections to help improve reliability. The service now operates as 40N Northern Orbital between General Hospital and Glenfield Hospital, and 40S Southern Orbital between Hamilton, Tesco and Beaumont Leys. The services operate on an hourly basis Monday to Saturday in both directions.

Passengers travelling directly between Hamilton and Leicester General Hospital, and Beaumont Leys and Glenfield Hospital, will have the benefit of an increased frequency by being able to travel on either service.

This initiative is aimed at making bus travel Reliable

New Red Route Along the A6 - April 2025

A red ‘no stopping’ route has been introduced along the A6 from St Margaret’s Way and Abbey Lane to help with unauthorised parking which causes traffic congestion affecting the reliability of buses. There are a number of buses along this corridor which should see an improvement to punctuality including the 303 Birstall Park and Ride, 54 City Centre to Beaumont Leys, Skylink Leicester to Derby, 154 Leicester to Loughborough, 25/26 Mowmacre Hill to City Centre and the 74 Leicester to Anstey. All of this services support a number of student and work movements in and out of the city.

This project is aimed at making bus travel Reliable

£1.3m of Major Resurfacing Works

£1.3 on major resurfacing works have been carried out over the last 12 months, helping to make bus journeys more comfortable. Resurfacing works have been carried out on the following roads:

• Melton Road (Checketts Road/Loughborough Road)

• Narborough Road (Dumbleton Road/Winchester Road)

• Uppingham Road (Trocadero)

• Saffron Lane (Cyprus Road)

• University Road (Lancaster Road/Welford Road)

• Gleneagles Avenue/Kincraig Junction

• The Portwey

Arriva launches 25 electric buses - April 2025

Arriva have launch an additional 25 Streetdeck Electroliner buses to their fleet. This has been funded under the DfT’s ZEBRA 2 scheme as part of Leicestershire County Council’s bid. Leicester City residents benefit from this scheme as the buses are used on services that operate into and out of the city. This brings us one step closer to electrifying our network, with 159 buses now being electric!

This project is aimed at making bus travel Electric

£9.45m BSIP24 funding awarded from the DfT

We are pleased to confirm that we have been awarded £9.45m of funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) to help us deliver our projects under our Bus Service Improvement Plan 2024 (BSIP24) for 2025/26.

The projects we are planning to fund and details of our delivery plan are shown below: