The New South Wales (NSW) Government has placed an order for 319 battery electric buses, marking a significant step in the transition of its public transport fleet to zero-emission vehicles. The order, which includes buses from manufacturers Custom Denning, Foton Mobility Distribution, VDI-Yutong, and Volvo, will see 276 of the new buses operational on the Northern Beaches and North Shore by 2028. The remaining 43 electric buses will serve the Western Sydney International Airport.
The NSW government stated that this order is part of its broader initiative to replace the state’s 8,000-strong diesel and gas public bus fleet with zero-emission buses. “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,” said Howard Collins, Transport for NSW Coordinator-General. The government plans to place another order for 150 electric buses in early 2025, with an overall target of adding approximately 1,000 battery-electric buses to the fleet by 2027.
The transition is funded by the Zero Emission Bus (ZEB) Programme, which has committed almost $3 billion AUD to the first stage of the project. This stage includes building depots and purchasing 1,500 new electric buses for Greater Sydney, along with $25 million AUD for regional trials in emerging technologies. Currently, 180 battery electric buses are operating in Greater Sydney, and the state aims to have 1,700 electric buses in service by 2028. By 2047, the entire fleet is expected to be electrified.
Custom Denning, which was part of the latest order, had previously fulfilled an order for 79 electric buses in 2022. In the same year, Zenobē and TransGrid established the city’s largest bus charging depot.
