New bus fleet ready for Wellington

Tranzurban’s new fleet of electric and environmentally-friendly diesel buses is on the way.

Part of the Tranzit Group, Tranzurban will operate most of the new Metlink urban bus network from July in collaboration with Greater Wellington Regional Council, rolling out a fleet of new electric and Euro 6 diesel buses to transport commuters.

Kiwi Bus Builders in Tauranga will deliver 40 new buses, including 10 fully-electric double-deckers, with a further 114 Optare MetroCity buses now being built in the United Kingdom. The first shipment of Optare buses have left Southampton in the UK en route to Wellington.

The remainder of Tranzit’s new 234-strong Wellington region fleet, including 28 Euro 6 diesel double-deckers, is being built by BCI.

The first of the new MetroCity buses will arrive in Wellington next month, Tranzit Group transport and operations director Keven Snelgrove says. Euro 6 certified, the new diesel buses meet the newest and highest possible global emissions standards.

Construction of Tranzurban’s electric double-deckers is going extremely well, Snelgrove says.

“Kiwi Bus Builders are doing a great job working flat-out on new diesels and the electric double-deckers.

“The first diesel will roll off the line later this month, with two more to be completed each week after that.

“But it’s the progress of the electric double-deckers that’s really exciting. We’ve got chassis on site in Tauranga for framing and everything’s in place to speed up what’s a really innovative build process.

“The first one will be ready by the middle of April, with the remainder to be completed ahead of July.”

Tranzurban successfully trialled a prototype electric bus in Wellington recently, with results exceeding performance expectations.

Dubbed EV1, Tranzurban’s single-decker electric bus has been tested on various routes in Wellington – including some of the city’s hilliest. It has also been transporting passengers from the Wellington cruise ship terminal to the city and back.

“Power, reliability and range results have been excellent,” Snelgrove says. “It has proven to be more than capable of meeting the stop-start requirements of a passenger vehicle, as well as handling the hilly roads typical of Wellington. Electric is the future for public transport and we’re excited to bring it to Wellington.”