Wellington New Zealand to up electric bus numbers

The city of Wellington is to increase the number of electric trolley buses from only two per cent up to 22 per cent. Through service provider Metlink, 98 new e-buses have now been ordered, which are to arrive in New Zealand between mid-2021 and early 2023.

The public transport service marketed under the Metlink brand in the greater area of New Zealand’s capital Wellington already runs ten electric buses in and around Wellington. The latest orders of electric buses will bring Netlink’s fleet up to 108 electric buses. Seventy-three of the new buses will be used on existing scheduled services, while a further 25 will be progressively added to routes to meet planned network growth.

“I’m sure that people across the region will be pleased to see another 61 diesel buses taken off the road and this will drive real climate benefits by deploying the new electric buses on high use areas of the network,” said the Chair of Greater Wellington, Dara Ponter. “Just like our plans for rail, this is also about ensuring we have a fleet in place that can cope with rising population trends and demand for public transport over the next few years. That’s why 25 buses will be used to accommodate forecast passenger growth without an increase in emissions,” added Ponter.

NZ Bus will source 67 ready-to-go large single-decker electric buses from China and Tranzurban will build 31 double-decker electric buses at Kiwi Bus Builders in Tauranga, with parts sourced from Chinese bus manufacturers.

Also in New Zealand, but further north, the city of Auckland recently made headway with electric buses. In February this year, Auckland’s CityLINK services said they would be able to provide an all-electric bus service by the end of the year. Also in Auckland, late last year, Auckland Transport moved ahead with the electrification of their buses with more bus orders but also announced that the small country will be producing fuel cell buses itself.

stuff.co.nz, metlink.org.nz

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