About one-third of the National Transport Authority’s (NTA) urban bus fleet will be zero-emission within two years, following the arrival of the first nine battery-electric buses in Dublin this week.
Driver training, vehicle testing and route piloting has begun following the delivery of the first of 120 vehicles from manufacturer Wrightbus’s plant in Ballymena, Co Antrim.
Testing, commissioning and driver familiarisation with the buses will continue throughout August and September, while Dublin Bus undertakes an extensive training with drivers from their Phibsboro and Summerhill depots. 760 drivers will be trained in the coming months.
The routes being used to test the range of the electric fleet include C1/C2, 123, 15A/B, 122 and 9.
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The vehicles are being charged via chargers already installed for the previously-purchased hybrid diesel-electric buses, however an electrification project is under way to install multiple electric chargers in Summerhill and Phibsboro.
Diesel vehicles will be gradually swapped out with electric buses on a weekly basis over about a three-month period.
The NTA board also recently approved an order of an additional 210 buses from Wrightbus for delivery in 2024 under the framework agreement, bringing the total number of buses due to enter service in the next 24 months to 421.
Anne Graham, chief executive of the NTA, said that seeing electric buses on the streets is “very encouraging”.
“There is no doubt that people are looking to us to provide better, more sustainable transport alternatives in all areas, and it is incumbent on us as an Authority to respond to that demand,” she said.
Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said that the buses are a “critical component” of the effort to transition the fleet to zero emissions.
“But they will also offer a much-improved customer experience, and as somebody who had an opportunity to travel on one last week, I was very impressed with how quiet and comfortable the journey was,” he said.
The training programme is progressing well, according to chief executive of Dublin Bus Billy Hann.
“This ground-breaking project fills us with great excitement as Dublin Bus embraces the opportunity to transform public transport and pave the way for a greener and cleaner future for generations to come,” Mr Hann said.
The 120 buses ordered last year are part of a framework agreement which provides for the procurement of up to 800 zero-emission battery-electric buses over a period of five years.
