EMT Madrid prepares to launch first high-speed bus line

In the Spanish capital, the public transport operator EMT Madrid has launched the first high-speed electric bus line. The line connects the districts of Valdebebas and Sanchinarro with the Ramón y Cajal Hospital over 31 kilometres and will be served by ten electric buses from Irizar from May.

The route is considered a high-speed line because 19 of the 31 kilometres run over a separate bus lane and the e-buses are given priority at the traffic lights at 68 intersections along the line. A novelty in Madrid. According to the municipal Empresa Municipal de Transportes (EMT), the ten vehicles will run every 8 to 12 minutes at peak times. The line includes 19 intermediate stops in each direction as well as a terminus in Valdebebas and another near the Ramón y Cajal hospital. As an investment in the electric buses, but especially in the road works to set up the BRT system (Bus Rapid Transit) including a traffic light sensor system to detect and give priority to the electric buses at intersections, the city council mentions 23 million euros.

EMT Madrid ordered 150 additional electric buses last year, 90 of them from Irizar and 60 from Solaris. With this order from May 2022, there will be 329 electric vehicles in the operator’s fleet by the end of 2023. EMT Madrid wants to operate a completely emission-free bus fleet from 2033. According to an earlier statement, no diesel buses have been used since January 2023, only electric and natural gas buses.

It has been almost exactly three years since EMT inaugurated the first all-electric bus lines. The complete conversion is part of the environmental sustainability strategy Madrid 360, an initiative driven by the Madrid City Council together with EMT to promote the use of public transport. With this strategy, the Spanish capital has set itself high sustainability goals, including the complete conversion of the EMT bus fleet.

sustainable-bus.com, irizar-emobility.com, emtmadrid.es (in Spanish)