Sue started with Rock Rail as Commercial Manager in September 2020, having been consulting for the company since March 2020. Sue is primarily managing the project to deliver the new Hitachi Intercity trains for the West Coast Partnership.

Sue is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer with a Masters degree in Transport and nearly 30 years in the railway industry. Sue’s career has included working for London Underground and UK heavy rail in the rolling stock arena with a career covering project management, maintenance reviews, project engineering, testing of new trains and contract management.

Since starting her career at London Underground, Sue has worked for a ROSCO as Fleet Manager, overseeing maintenance changes, refranchising, refurbishments and managing heavy maintenance. Most recently Sue has been contracting and worked as the Rolling Stock Lead for the Operator of Last Resort and managed a project to develop the concept design for a go-anywhere locomotive. As a consultant she has also supported several franchise bids and worked for Greater Anglia franchise as Joint Project Manager for the Class 720 Bombardier Aventra build as well as Testing Manager for Rock Rail’s Stadler Class 755 and 745 fleets.

Driving Net Zero: How Rock Road  Is Funding the UK’s Bus Transition

Accelerating the shift to clean, affordable, zero-emission transport

Year

2025

Category

Rock Road

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The Challenge

The UK bus network is at the heart of everyday travel – but over 30,000 diesel buses still need replacing to achieve a fully zero-emission fleet.

While around 5,000 battery-electric buses are already on the road, the high upfront cost of electric vehicles and depot electrification continues to slow the transition. Traditional funding routes — such as government grants or short-term bank finance – have helped start the journey but cannot support decarbonisation at the scale required.

A new, sustainable funding model was needed: one that could attract long-term capital, spread costs fairly, and give operators and authorities confidence in the future.

The Solution

In 2021, Rock launched Rock Road to deliver exactly that – applying its proven infrastructure financing approach from the rail sector to the UK’s clean bus revolution.

Working with Aviva, the National Wealth Fund, and HSBC, Rock created a dedicated investment platform that channels infrastructure-style finance from pension funds and institutional investors directly into zero-emission bus projects.

This model provides:

Impact

The platform has already raised £100 million, with capacity to scale to £1 billion per year over the next decade – providing a consistent source of affordable capital for local authorities and operators.

Rock’s model ensures that the total cost of ownership (TCO) of electric buses can now be lower than diesel equivalents, thanks to both cheaper long-term finance and reduced operating costs.

In London, Rock has financed 120 zero-emission buses under 7-year leases aligned with Transport for London’s contract lengths. This structure gives operators flexibility and certainty:

The Future

Rock Road’s ambition is to support the rollout of zero-emission fleets across the UK – helping local authorities and operators meet climate goals without overextending public budgets.

By leveraging limited government funding to attract large-scale private capital – for example, £10 million of public investment unlocking over £250 million in total funding – Rock’s model accelerates decarbonisation while keeping costs low for the public sector.

Our ambition is to make electric buses the default choice - not because of subsidy, but because they are the best economic and environmental option.

Louis Swindell

Commercial Director, Rock Road