The New South Wales government has announced a massive investment in sustainable transport with an order for 319 battery electric buses.
As part of Transport for NSW’s (TfNSW) zero-emissions bus program, the buses will be supplied by four manufacturers in VDI-Yutong, Volvo, Foton Mobility Distribution and Custom Denning.
Manufacturers will supply a mix of vehicles consisting of either buses built in Australia, or where key bus components are imported and the bus is fitted out locally. This means that all buses will have some local equipment fit out as a minimum for the ZEB program’s first bus order.
“The first zero emission bus orders for the program mark an important milestone in what is an undeniably ambitious plan to transition all public transport diesel and gas buses to zero emission buses in Greater Sydney by 2035, in Outer Metropolitan regions by 2040, and in Regional NSW by 2047,” TfNSW coordinator-general Howard Collins says.
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“NSW is leading the way with the largest ZEB fleet in Australia, while also supporting the government’s aim of progressively increasing local goods, services, and workforce in bus manufacturing to 50 per cent for future bus orders by 2027.
“That’s why we are delivering the program in stages in close consultation with industry, to give local industry, including manufacturers, the opportunity to increase capability and capacity with the knowledge that there is a sustained pipeline of bus orders.
“We want to encourage investment in the future of local manufacturing and support the growth of the industry in NSW and Australia wide in new technology and the jobs skills that will be created.”
Marking a significant step forward in the multi-billion-dollar program to transition NSW’s 8,000-plus diesel and gas public transport bus fleet to zero emissions technology, 276 of the new buses will be operational on the Northern Beaches and North Shore by 2028.
The remaining 43 battery electric buses will service the new Western Sydney International Airport.
A further order for more than 150 battery electric buses is expected to be placed early next year with around 1000 more buses to be ordered by 2027.
“Ultimately it’s the community that will benefit from this investment as the majority of Transport’s carbon emissions currently come from our diesel and gas buses – instead we will have a cleaner, quieter fleet across NSW,” Collins says.
Stage 1 of the ZEB Program, covering Greater Sydney, will see almost $3 billion invested to convert and build depots across the region, purchase around 1,500 new electric buses and invest $25 million for regional trials in new and emerging technologies.
The ZEB Program is well underway with Brookvale Bus Depot currently being converted to be the first pantograph (overhead) charging depot in Australia. Work is expected to be complete in mid-2025.
Under the first stage of the ZEB Program, Transport will build a new electric bus depot at Macquarie Park and convert 11 existing bus depots to 100 per cent battery electric bus operations at Brookvale, Kingsgrove, Leichhardt, Tempe, North Sydney, Willoughby, Penrith, Smeaton Grange, South Granville, Taren Point and Menai. A further four bus depots in Mona Vale, Waverley, Port Botany and Randwick will be partially converted.
TfNSW says there are 180 battery electric buses already in operation in Greater Sydney, including three in Newcastle, with around 1,700 battery electric buses anticipated to be in service on Sydney roads by 2028.
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