Arriva, a British transport company, will begin operating 82 fully electric buses in Budapest by the end of 2025, marking the city’s first electric bus fleet.
An additional 21 buses could be added under an optional agreement. The move comes after Arriva secured two twelve-year contracts from the Budapest transport company BKK, becoming the first operator to manage an electric bus fleet in the Hungarian capital.
The fleet will consist of 58 solo buses and 24 articulated buses, all of which will be low-floor vehicles. The electrification of Arriva’s Andor depot has already been completed, enabling the facility to charge and maintain up to 150 electric buses.
Arriva’s current contracts will be replaced by these new agreements, extending its operations in Budapest, where it has been the sole private public transport operator since 1999.
The electric buses will not be the first electric vehicles in Budapest’s public transport system, as trolleybuses with buffer batteries have been in operation since 2021. However, this initiative will be the city’s first battery-electric bus fleet.
“Our operation in Budapest is an important part of our European portfolio, and we are proud to be recognized for our leadership in decarbonization,” said Sian Leydon, Managing Director for Mainland Europe at Arriva Group.
