EMT orders 20 Irizar electric buses for Madrid
The Madrid public transport operator EMT has ordered another 20 electric buses from Irizar. This brings the number of electrically powered Irizar buses in service with EMT to 55. The contract also includes the supply of 20 chargers with a capacity of 100 kW each.
The buses now ordered are the new generation of Irizar’s ie bus. According to an accompanying press release, the 12-meter-long units for the Spanish capital have a range of 220 kilometres and have two doors, 28 seats and two wheelchair spaces. This is already the third order placed by the municipal Empresa Municipal de Transportes (EMT) for the Spanish bus manufacturer: The first 15 electric buses from Irizar for Madrid went into service at the beginning of 2018 as reported. In the following year, ETM ordered a further 20 electric buses from the brand and integrated them into regular service at the beginning of 2020 reportedly.
Ten of the Irizar buses will be used on the ‘Línea Cero’, inaugurated in February 2020. This line is free of charge and is operated exclusively by electric buses. In March 2020, Madrid already opened a second ‘Line Zero’. The Madrid city administration is driving the initiative with EMT to promote the use of public transport in line with the ‘Madrid 360’ strategy. With this strategy, the capital of Spain has set itself high sustainability goals, including the complete retrofitting of the EMT bus fleet. The transport company wants to phase out all diesel buses by 2022. From 2027, the bus fleet is to consist of one-third electric buses and two thirds gas-powered buses. The EMT fleet currently comprises 2,100 vehicles, which means that there will be around 700 electric buses procured shortly.
The public transport operator from Madrid is relying on several bus manufacturers. Besides Irizar, EMT has also placed orders with BYD, for example. In August the Chinese company received the go-ahead for the construction of 30 electric buses for Madrid. Since May 2020, 15 BYD electric buses are already in operation there.
0 Comments