160 New Gas Buses for Madrid’s Public Transport Company EMT

(EMT)

More and more cities in Europe replace their diesel-driven buses by more environment-friendly engines. Now, the Spanish capital Madrid catches up by ordering 160 buses with gasoline engines. According to Scania, a manufacturer of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications, this order is part of a complete bus renewal program of Madrid’s public transport company ‘Empresa Municipal de Transportes de Madrid (EMT)’. The first 80 buses will be delivered this year. The remaining 50 percent will follow in 2018. In a previous order in 2016, already 48 buses were ordered at Scania. Thus, further 208 of the currently 1500 buses in Madrid will be refueled with gas next year.

Half of EMT’s Bus Fleet is Already Gas Powered

“Thanks to lower carbon emissions and noise reduction, interest in gas-fuelled operations has surged worldwide,” says Anna Carmo e Silva, Head of Buses and Coaches at Scania. “The Scania buses with the acclaimed Euro 6 gas engine is comparable in performance to a diesel engine. It is therefore an increasingly popular option, especially among European operators.”

Amongst other European capitals, Madrid aims to ban diesel-powered cars and trucks by 2025. This ambitious project shall reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the high percentage of fine dust causing serious harm to health. “The quality of the air that we breathe in our cities is directly linked to tackling climate change,” said the mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena during the C40 meeting end of 2016 in Mexico.

Madrid is, of course, not the first city turning words into action. Last year, London grabbed the headlines with the announcement to run the largest electric powered bus fleet of 73 e-buses by end of 2016. According to the mayor Sadiq Khan, 300 single-deck buses in central London will be replaced by 2020. Another story takes place in the German city of Hamburg. There, all-electric buses from different manufacturers can charge their battery with one charging station – it is not limited to a certain type of bus.