- Australia's first locally made electric
articulated 'bendy' bus unveiled
- New bus built at Volgren's facility in Malaga,
supporting local jobs
- Longer
buses able to carry more than 100 passengers
- Two new
buses to start road testing in Perth in coming weeks
- Local
electric bus manufacturing key part of Cook Labor Government's Made in WA plan
to diversify economy and generate local jobs
In a first for Australia, Transperth will
introduce two locally made electric articulated 'bendy' buses to its fleet.
The buses are the first of their kind in
Australia and are being built in Perth at Volgren's Malaga facility, with the
first unveiled today.
The 18-metre buses are around six metres
longer than a standard Transperth bus and can carry about 105 seated and
standing passengers, compared to about 80 on a standard bus.
The two articulated buses will begin testing
on routes in Perth's northern suburbs in the coming weeks and are expected to
enter service around August, providing increased capacity for passengers on
some of the network's busiest corridors.
The buses can recharge in approximately four
hours and form part of Transperth's growing electric fleet, which includes more
than 150 electric buses, with around 11 new electric buses entering service
each month.
Local electric
bus manufacturing is a key part of the Cook Labor Government's Made in WA plan
to diversify the economy and grow local jobs.
More than 100 local jobs, including 15
apprentices, are supported at Volgren's Malaga facility - with battery electric
buses exclusively produced and delivered for public transport across Western
Australia.
Transperth's diesel and Compressed Natural
Gas bus fleet will gradually be phased out as they reach their end of service
life.
The last diesel
Transperth bus was manufactured more than a year ago, with every new addition
to the Transperth fleet since being a locally built electric bus.
Shifting bus manufacturing to fully electric
follows on from a $250 million program jointly funded by the Australian and
West Australian Governments to deliver an initial 130 electric buses and
associated infrastructure and bus depot upgrades.
Upgrades to
accommodate EV charging infrastructure have already been completed at the
Malaga depot and Elizabeth Quay Bus Station, with work underway on a new EV bus
depot in Bayswater as well upgrades at the Karrinyup and Jandakot depots.
Comments
attributed to Premier Roger Cook:
"This
Australian-first - locally made articulated buses - is just another way my Government
is prioritising the diversification of WA's economy.
"We can keep
WA the strongest economy in the nation, by making more things here and develop
a skilled and productive workforce.
"More than
100 local jobs, including 15 apprentices, are supported here at Volgren's
Malaga facility, working to make Transperth's fleet greener and be part of the
energy transition."
Comments
attributed to Transport Minister Rita Saffioti:
"We're proud to
be leading the nation with the roll out of our first locally made electric
'bendy' buses – made right here in WA.
"These two new
buses build on our growing electric bus fleet, with 11 new electric buses entering
service each month.
"Building
electric buses locally is a key part of our Government's plan to diversify our
economy and generate long-term jobs for Western Australians.
"The transition
to locally made electric buses is keeping our economy strong while delivering a
greener, cleaner public transport network for the future."
