BRITAIN’S first double decker bus to run on sewage is coming to Altrincham.

Arriva North West is bringing Britain’s first biogas-powered double decker to the streets of Manchester, trialling it on the 263 route from the city to Altrincham.

With emissions of carbon dioxide reduced by up to 84 percent, the vehicle can operate on biogas created from waste products such as household food waste or waste water.

The bus has been developed over a two-year period by Scania, the Sweden-based commercial vehicle manufacturer, specifically for the UK bus market.

Alastair Nuttall, General Manager at Arriva North West says, "Arriva is committed to reducing its environmental impacts. Trialling new low-emission technologies to reduce air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions helps us move towards our environmental goals and supports our Group-wide 'Destination Green' environmental programme.

“The biogas bus is now on trial on our route 263 between Manchester and Altrincham, where customers can experience it first-hand. We will be encouraging feedback and are very much looking forward to our passengers' comments on this exciting new double decker.

Scania has a long history of producing gas-powered vehicles for European markets but developing a product to supply to bus operators in the UK has been a greater challenge.

For the trial, the bus will be fuelled using a mobile refuelling station provided by Scania’s infrastructure partner Roadgas.

Tanya Neech, Senior Advisor Sustainable Fuels at Scania, said: “The double deck gas bus is being trialled in Manchester to demonstrate the vehicle’s reliability, running costs and the benefits of running on Biogas in real life service. Gas double deckers offer real savings in carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.”