Arriva adds 21 BYD electric buses to its Spanish fleet

The former Deutsche Bahn subsidiary Arriva has put a fleet of 21 electric buses from Chinese manufacturer BYD into operation near Madrid. A bus depot in the town of Móstoles was electrified in advance for this purpose.

Thanks to the new electric buses, all local transport in the municipality of Móstoles will be 100 per cent emission-free from October, according to Arriva. The electric buses will have a range of 350 kilometres and can thus remain in operation all day without the need for intermediate charging. Charging only takes place at night in the depot, where 22 charging points have been installed. Arriva has already considered a potential expansion and could later increase the number to 44 charging points.

With an investment of more than 20 million euros and the support of the European Next Generation Fund, Arriva has driven forward the modernisation of its fleet and the creation of new operating facilities in the project.

“By expanding our zero-emission fleet and electrifying a second depot to serve Madrid, not only are we supporting the city’s commitment to carbon neutrality by 2030, but we’re delivering modern, safe and comfortable forms of public transport which we hope will encourage more people to opt for buses instead of cars,” said Sian Leydon, Arriva Group’s Managing Director for Mainland Europe.

With the new BYD electric buses, the Madrid region has 1,079 environmentally friendly buses in service. Of these, 725 are hybrid vehicles, 102 are electric, three are hydrogen vehicles, and 249 use liquefied or compressed natural gas. They make up 50.7 per cent of the entire regional fleet.

arriva.co.uk, arriva.es (in Spanish), telemadrid.es (In Spanish), 20minutos.es (in Spanish)