Transdev, a French international private-sector company which operates public transport, will be providing 17 new electric buses to Queensland’s public transport network to support its electrification.
Transdev will be partnering with Translink, Volvo and bus manufacturer Volgren to deliver the buses, which will be gradually brought into service this year.
Assembly of the Volvo buses will take place at Volgren’s Eagle Farm plant, with locally-sourced solar power from Transdev’s Capalaba depot being used to power the buses, which will service Brisbane’s eastern suburbs.
The new electric bus fleet follows a recent order from Transdev’s for two hydrogen fuel cell buses.
“These new buses are quieter and fully featured vehicles which I hope our Redlands customers will enjoy,” said Mark Thatcher, head of business operations at Transdev Queensland.
“Major depot work is underway now including cabling, utilities and new vehicle chargers to set us up for our electric and hydrogen-based future.
“This is also about upskilling our local workforce in this renewable energy space with technical skills that will be transferrable to other industries.
“We hope the work we are doing with Translink provides an indicator of suitable specifications for operators moving to zero-emission buses in the future.”
Transdev claims to have been the first operator to run Australia’s first 100% sustainably powered full-size electric bus, powered by a depot equipped with more than 230 solar panels.
The buses are reportedly each fitted with 43 seats, are all made in Australia and work with a dual motor and a 300kW power capacity.
