Scania has received an order for 60 battery electric route buses from the South Australian Government which has also appointed two global engineering advisory firms to develop detailed planning towards creating a zero emission passenger transport network for the state.
The new fleet of Scania 100 per cent battery electric bodies are being built by Australian bus body builder Volgren, with infrastructure to charge the buses being installed at Adelaide’s Morphettville depot.
The 60 Scania electric buses will be delivered progressively throughout the second half of this year and into early 2026.
SA currently has just one full battery electric bus operating in its network following its succesful trial in the SA Capital.
There is currently just one full battery electric bus operating on the network, after a successful trial over the past couple of years with the SA Government stating it is committed to an emissions reduction target of at least 60 percent of 2005 levels by 2030 and net zero by 2050.
The SA Government long with many others, says that a fully decarbonised public transport network will take it a step closer to de carbonising its public transport network and to provide a better environment, with full battery electric buses offering more comfort for passengers, with reduced noise and carbon-based pollution.
As part of the initiative the Government has appointed two professional global engineering services companies, Mott MacDonald and WSP, to assist with developing detailed business cases to plan towards a transition to zero emission operations across the passenger rail and bus networks.
Mott MacDonald, is a global engineering, management and development consultancy, and WSP in Australia, is one of the leading professional services firms, with both having been selected based on their technical expertise and experience in helping governments globally transition their public transport networks towards zero emissions operation.
The Government points out that Transportation is the largest single source of emissions in South Australia, with the operation of public transport vehicles being a major contributor to emissions generated by the Government.
It says that the work to be undertaken by Mott MacDonald and WSP will consolidate the large body of planning and feasibility analysis already completed by it into a detailed business case for achieving zero emissions operation across Adelaide’s passenger rail and bus networks.
It apparently also follows a series of high-level meetings held by Infrastructure and Transport minister Tom Koutsantonis with some of the world’s biggest rail companies at the world’s largest trade fair for transport technology, InnoTrans 2024, in Berlin, with discussions focussed on the Government’s priority to progress the rollout of battery electric trains more broadly in South Australia.
The Adelaide Metro bus fleet currently consists of just over 1000 vehicles powered by a mix of diesel, hybrid, battery electric, and natural gas powertrains, with two hydrogen buses currently on trial. The Government stopped procurement of diesel only buses as of September 2022, and all new vehicles are now either diesel-electric hybrids or battery electric.
The Adelaide Metro railway network is already partially decarbonised with the Gawler and Seaford Lines, including the Flinders spur line, having been electrified. The Belair and Outer Harbor line, including the Grange and Port Dock spurs, are operated by hybrid-diesel railcars.
The Government says that the business cases are expected to be completed by early 2026.
