Limerick gets Ireland’s fifirst fully electric regional city bus service

Limerick’s city bus service, operated by Bus Éireann, is set to become Ireland’s fifirst fully electric regional city bus ser‐ vice as part of a €54 million investment by the National Transport Authority (NTA).

The new service was o cially launched by Ireland's Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan TD at Limerick’s Colbert Station on Friday, April 12.

As part of the investment, a total of 55 new state-of-the-art double deck bat‐ tery-electric buses, operated by Ire‐ land’s national bus company Bus Éire‐ ann, will service more than 2.1 million emission-free kilometres across Limer‐ ick city service annually. Currently, 34 all-electric buses are in Limerick ahead of their introduction into service en-masse, with a further 21 of these buses expected to enter service in early 2025.

The all-electric service will be enabled by a network of 35 Hitachi Energy charging stations (providing a total of 70 charging guns), with 15 of these charging stations already in place. The remaining 20 charging stations are ex‐ pected to be operational in early 2025. The NTA’s investment builds on recent double-digit year-on-year passenger growth across Bus Éireann’s Limerick city services. In 2023, Bus Éireann op‐ erated over 44 million passenger jour‐ neys nationally. Of those, 4.6 million were in Limerick, representing a 15% increase (600,000 additional journeys) compared to 2022.

The all-electric buses will be charged using newly installed charging infra‐ structure at Limerick’s Roxboro depot.

Construction and installation work was carried out by Hitachi Energy.

Bus Éireann employs in excess of 300 people in Limerick and continues to in‐ vest in growing the team across all of its operations.

In preparation for the new all-electric service, Bus Éireann drivers and me‐ chanics have undergone a comprehen‐ sive training programme - more than 500 hours - on the driving, mainte‐ nance, and operation of the state-of-theart new fleet.

The investment builds on the success of Ireland’s first-ever all-electric town bus service launched in Athlone in January 2023.

Minister Ryan said: “It is great to see the launch of electrified bus services in Limerick city today.

"This follows on from the successful rol‐ lout of a fully electrified town bus ser‐ vice in Athlone last year and the ongoing decarbonisation of the Dublin bus fleet. "Government is committed to the green‐ ing of our public transport services and today represents an important step to‐ ward meeting our climate targets, while also providing a quieter, cleaner bus service for the people of Limerick.

"In other city and town locations, people have responded to the transformation of our public transport services in their droves and I fully expect it will be the very same here in Limerick."

Limerick is the first regional city to in‐ troduce a fully electric bus service and will remove over 2 million kms of tailpipe emissions from the environment each year.

Up the Treaty! pic.twitter.com/TrqMzx‐ Ithc

- Eamon Ryan (@EamonRyan) April 12, 2024

Anne Graham, CEO of the NTA, said: “The introduction of the 34 state-of-theart electric buses today in Limerick marks a milestone in the NTA’s ongoing commitment to decarbonising the urban bus fleet.

"These zero- emission vehicles will not only provide a smoother, more accessi‐ ble journey for our customers, but will also significantly reduce CO2 emissions and noise pollution in the areas they op‐ erate.

"This investment highlights the NTA’s dedication to creating a cleaner, greener and more e cient future for the people of Limerick."

Limerick’s city bus service, operated by @BusEireann , is set to become Ire‐ land’s first fully electric regional city bus service.

Find out more: https://t.co/Bw80l1EIzX pic.twitter.com/WGxKorytvw

- Transport for Ireland (@TFIupdates) April 12, 2024

Speaking in advance of the launch, Stephen Kent, Chief Executive O cer, Bus Éireann said: “We are delighted to launch our first ever all-electric city bus service.

"Our mission is to help make life better, and this transformative €54 investment in new, zero-emission fleet, funded by the NTA, helps us reduce greenhouse gas emissions, providing a cleaner and greener public transport solution for everyone in Limerick city.

"In the months ahead, we will see a total of 55 new all-electric double deck buses in service. This, coupled with investment in Roxboro Depot in Limerick City, will see Bus Éireann deliver a cleaner, qui‐ eter, and enhanced customer experience for our 4.6 million Limerick city service passengers annually.”

Kent added: "I would also like to recog‐ nise the support of the Department of Transport and the National Transport Authority, together with the exceptional commitment on the part of our team in Limerick and all of the great companies who collaborated to deliver this excep‐ tional transformation. I am confident it will enrich the lives of this and future generations“