First Bus has appointed Tom Donnelly as Operations Manager for its depot in York.

He leads of team of staff managers and supervisors supporting a crew of over 200 drivers and a fleet of more than 80 buses.

Tom joins following two years in the same role at Aircoach, another First Bus business based in Ireland running airport services.

His arrival marks a return to the city, where he was previously in the rail sector with Virgin East Coast and roles with other train operators at York station for five years.

He said: “It’s great to be back in York and I’ve joined at an exciting time in the transformation of First Bus and the future of transport in the city.

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“More zero emission buses are gradually entering our fleet since the new-look York Electric vehicles began operating at the end of August and the total conversion of the depot with power charging infrastructure is progressing well.”

The new buses can be seen on services 1, 4, 5 and 5A and are about to be introduced on the university routes.

First Bus has ordered 53 electric-powered buses from Wrightbus of Northern Ireland.

The operator is spending £13m on them, with a further £10.2m coming from City of York Council who received the money from the Government’s Zebra scheme.