Wrightbus has delivered a set of five new Kite Hydroliner single-deck hydrogen buses to German operator Saarbahn.
The vehicles form part of a larger order of 28-buses for Saarbahn, and are set to enter regular service this summer.
In addition to the new vehicles, Saarbahn is also installing a new hydrogen filling station on the grounds of its bus depot as part of a 24 million EUR investment into the decarbonisation of its network.
The project has been funded in part by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV), who has pledged a total of 11.1 million EUR under the ‘Directive for the promotion of alternative drive systems for buses in passenger transport’ initiative.
Wrightbus CEO, Jean-Marc Gales, said:Wrightbus is at the forefront of zero-emission technology both in hydrogen and EV buses, so we are delighted to be growing our presence in Germany.
We have built up an excellent partnership and cooperation with Saarbahn and we know these buses will have a significant positive impact on the region’s roads, benefitting the environment and ensuring that people in the region breathe better air.
I would like to sincerely thank their team for working with us so closely on this project, while also acknowledging our own excellent engineers and designers in Northern Ireland, the production teams, product development and the sales and service teams. We can all be very proud of the Kite Hydroliner.
The 28 new hydrogen buses are anticipated to save 2,000 tonnes of CO2 per year (when compared to diesel buses) and join Wrightbus’ recent delivery of 12 Kite Hydroliners to German operator WestVerkehr GmbH, bringing the company’s hydrogen-powered bus presence within the country to 48.
The company also recently opened a European service centre in Brühl, which also includes a spare parts warehouse.
