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Any passersby who noticed a large crowd outside the Yorkshire Hotel milling around a hidden object in a giant black sheet might have been forgiven for thinking it was a film premiere.

In fact, the cause of the glitz and commotion on Prospect Place just opposite the Stray was a bus.

But this was no ordinary bus for its unveiling signified the start of a new era for bus passengers in the town.

When the cover was finally removed with great fanfare following drinks, a short film and a speech from a hotel balcony by Transdev’s Managing Director Henri Rohard, there stood the very first electric number 36 bus in Harrogate.

A new era for passengers - The Harrogate Bus Company's first electric no 36 double decker after being unveiled in a launch event outside the Yorkshire Hotel in Harrogate today. (Picture Graham Chalmers)

The gleaming black and red bus is only the first of many to come this year for Harrogate Bus Company which is about to go fully electric and totally ‘green’.

After placing orders in autumn 2023 worth £21 million for 39 new electric buses and arranging the necessary re-equip its Starbeck depot to convert its entire Harrogate fleet to fully electric power, the firm let the large crowd of business leaders, civic figures, representatives of North Yorkshire Council, local disability charities and members of the public see inside their new all-electric double decker and their new all-electric single decker which have been partly funded by the Government.

Working with Mercedes technology and manufactured predominantly in the UK, the new buses take what was already a high quality experience for bus passengers, compared to the rest of the UK, to a whole new level.

More luxurious. More spacious. More glamour.

Very stylish. More accessible. Very Harrogate.

As a regular user of both the number 36 to Ripon and Leeds and the number 1 services from Harrogate to Knaresborough, the only word for the end result of years of hard work is “impressive”.

In total, 47 fully-electric vehicles will be in service in a matter of months.

It’s been a long journey but a transport revolution has truly begun in Harrogate.

Crowds get a glimpse of Harrogate's first all-electric double decker as a revolution in the roads begins in style