130 years after Magnus Volk’s Daddy Long Legs….

Thursday 16th April 2026

…. Brighton & Hove Bus Company has begun operating “a brand new fleet of 16 Wrightbus Electroliner Generation 2, zero-emission, state-of-the-art, electric buses delivering a best-in-class range of 275 miles from each 442kWh battery pack” …. on its busy cross-city route 7 between Brighton Marina and central Hove.

Which all sounds good, and, even better, the Company kindly invited me to the official launch of these new buses on Monday afternoon…

… which was a great opportunity to meet up with a whole bunch of lovely people I haven’t seen since retiring 13 years ago and reminding me just how much Brighton & Hove’s buses are embedded into the community and city life.

This wasn’t one of those high profile razzamatazz launches with pyrotechnics and lasers and a suspense building unveiling of a whole fleet of vehicles brought along to some huge sports stadium which must cost a fortune to lay on; no, this was a meet up in the iconic surrounds of the Royal Pavilion and Brighton Museum and Art Gallery with just one example of the new fleet on display for everyone to take a look at as they chatted with friends and colleagues in Monday afternoon’s glorious Spring sunshine.

There were a few speeches inside the Museum itself in a formal part of the proceedings and it was interesting to hear both Rupert Cox (the company’s Interim Managing Director) and Councillor Trevor Muten (Cabinet Member for Transport & City Infrastructure) talk about the importance of partnership working which has, of course, been key to Brighton & Hove’s success at consistently growing passenger numbers over so many years giving the city the highest bus use per head of population outside London.

The 16 buses have seen the bus company invest £7 million with a £2.9 million contribution from the DfT’s ZEBRA 2 fund and £600,000 from Brighton & Hove City Council.

Characteristically for Brighton & Hove Buses, the other speeches were not from representatives of the vehicle manufacturer or electric infrastructure supplier as often happens at these launch events, but instead they were from key people in the city and wider community including the Chamber of Commerce and the Alzheimer’s Society, on behalf of a whole range of local groups interested in accessibility (including Guide Dogs for the Blind and RNID), together with contributions enthusiastically delivered by local primary school children as well as from the Deputy Lord Lieutenant, all listened to by a wide range of people from local community groups.

It was very encouraging to hear so many people heap praise on the positive and engaging approach the Brighton & Hove team take to community involvement not least ensuring these new buses continue to raise standards of accessibility. For example, by involving local people such as Dr Bert Williams MBE along with Shirley, who is living with dementia, in the design of the interiors, small but crucial elements of the layout and colour scheme can be incorporated to be sure it is dementia friendly.

And it looks great too.

Outside in the Royal Pavilion grounds a crowd of local people as well as bus enthusiasts gathered to look over one of the buses and it was lovely to meet so many people clearly enjoying the opportunity to meet up and talk about the importance of buses and how they love the Company.

Brighton & Hove are gradually introducing the new fleet on to route 7 and I took the opportunity to take a ride on one in service yesterday afternoon to see how they were performing on the city’s busy streets.

First impressions as you board are of a simple welcome without a plethora of notices…

…taking you past the stairs to the double wheelchair area with three tip up seats either side …

… followed by a double seat either side, accessed without a step, then another double seat either side with a step, and then the rear four with two rear facing pairs. So not many step free ‘proper seats’ but that’s the compromise with having a dual door bus, which the team feel is necessary for a city route like the 7.

The ‘next stop’ monitor screen on the lower deck…

… and at the front on the upper deck…

… display bright colourful clear promotional messages on a scrolling basis during the journey and I must say how impressive it is to actually be able to read these (so many bus companies use too small a print size or just don’t use them) and see the great offers available which the company has impressively arranged with local businesses and attractions.

Other messages promote the company’s own products including its new tie up with FlixBus.

On the upper deck there are no tables, just more of the very comfortable seats in pairs…

… with usb sockets and bell pushes on the seat backs.

It’s a sensible and practical layout for a busy cross city route such as the 7.

I’m sure Magnus would have approved.

Accessibility has come a long way in 130 years.

And, even better, 29 more buses are on order thanks to further ZEBRA 2 funding from DfT and partnership funding from Brighton & Hove City Council and West Sussex County Council.

Roger French

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