Sunderland e-scooters: Energy costs blamed for end of service

Sunderland's e-scooter service is to end in a matter of weeks after the firm behind it decided to pull out of the city.

Neuron said it was "not financially viable" to continue and blamed rising energy costs as one of the reasons for not reapplying for a new contract.

The uptake of the orange scooters had been hailed as "great" in April.

The withdrawal from Sunderland on 30 November will not affect the company's operations in Newcastle, it said.

A new operator is set to be announced by Sunderland City Council.

A pilot launched in March 2021 saw 300 vehicles rolled out across the city, including Roker and Seaburn, with 170,000 journey miles completed.

Customers have received notification that passes not already redeemed will be reimbursed and no further ones will be on sale.

Neuron said it had made "the difficult decision" not to reapply for the contract in Sunderland.

"Although Sunderland's e-scooter trial has been well-received by riders and the community, sadly, in its current form, it is not financially viable for us to continue and so we made the difficult decision not to apply for a new contract," it said.

"A number of factors, including increasing energy costs, have led to this decision.

"We will work with the council to achieve a smooth wind down of the service prior to a new operator being announced."

Sunderland City Council said an announcement on a new operator who will take over the trial was "being finalised".

"It has been great to work with Neuron over the last two years, and we would like to thank them for their efforts in bringing e-scooters to Sunderland and integrating this new form of travel in a safe and sustainable manner."

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