The Municipal Transport Company of Madrid (EMT Madrid) is today incorporating line 101 (Canillejas-Aeropuerto Barajas) into its network of electrified lines. In its commitment to decarbonization and sustainability, the municipal company plans to add more lines – currently 40 – to the Madrid bus network and increase the electric fleet from the current 17.5% to reach 25% by the end of 2025. So far this year, lines 55, 116, and the university line U have also been electrified.
During this month of March, new models of electric buses have arrived at EMT Madrid’s operations centers. They are part of a batch of a hundred buses from a large tender that amounted to €54,845,000 (excluding VAT), of which EMT Madrid will receive €200,000 per bus from the Next Generation EU funds. This contribution is part of the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan, specifically in the 2022 call for aid to municipalities for the implementation of low-emission zones and the digital and sustainable transformation of urban transport.
This important tender includes a batch of 80 standard 12-meter vehicles, of which 50 bear the signature of the manufacturer BYD with Castrosua bodywork, and the remaining 30 are being supplied by the company Solaris. This same European manufacturer also includes 20 units of electric midibuses (measuring 9.3 meters) that have been circulating on the streets of Madrid since last week.
On the other hand, from the Basque manufacturer Irizar, ten standard buses are in circulation, and another eight will arrive at the facilities of EMT Madrid this year. The BYD models, on the other hand, are all operational, and it is expected that ten more units will arrive this spring.
The electric fleet is expanding year after year
The pioneers in the electric climb of the municipal company were, at the beginning of 2008, lines M1 (Sevilla-Embajadores) and M2 (Sevilla-Argüelles), then operated by minibuses from the manufacturer Tecnobus, which were later replaced by the modern Wolta. After the absorption of M2 by the current line 002 (March 2020), it became part of the zero lines strategy of the Madrid City Council.
Another of the first lines to use electricity to operate was line 76 (Plaza Beata-Villaverde Alto) in 2018. Subsequently, throughout the year 2020, six lines were added to the 100% electric fleet of EMT Madrid: lines 1 (Cristo Rey-Prosperidad), 3 (Puerta Toledo-San Amaro), 001 (Atocha-Moncloa), 002 (Puerta Toledo-Argüelles), C03 (Puerta de Toledo-Argüelles), and M3 (Sol/Sevilla-Puerta Toledo).
In 2021, lines 33 (Príncipe Pío-Casa Campo), 41 (Atocha-Colonia Manzanares), 50 (Plaza Mayor-Av. Manzanares), 51 (Sol/Sevilla-Plaza Perú), 81 (Oporto-Hospital 12 de Octubre), and 155 (Plaza Elíptica-Aluche) were gradually integrated into the municipal fleet. Throughout 2022, another eight lines began to operate exclusively with electric models: 6 (Benavente-Orcasitas), 23 (Plaza Mayor-Villaverde Cruce), 46 (Sol/Sevilla-Moncloa), 60 (Plaza Cebada-Orcasitas), 75 (Callao-Colonia Manzanares), G (Moncloa-Ciudad Universitaria), 119 (Atocha-Barrio Goya), and 247 (Atocha-San José Obrero).
In 2023, it was the turn of the electrification for lines 17 (Plaza Mayor-Parque Europa), 31 (Plaza Mayor-Aluche), 35 (Plaza Mayor-Carabanchel Alto), 138 (Cristo Rey-San Ignacio), E1 (Cibeles-La Peseta), and BR1 (Valdebebas-Hospital Ramón y Cajal). More recently, last year, lines 18 (Plaza Mayor-Villaverde Cruce), 25 (Plaza de España-Casa Campo), 36 (Atocha-Campamento), 39 (Plaza España-San Ignacio), 47 (Atocha-Carabanchel Alto), 65 (Benavente-Gran Capitán), 86 (Atocha-Villaverde Alto), and 118 (Embajadores-La Peseta) were added to the 100% electric fleet in Madrid.
The latest lines added so far this year are: in January, line 55 (Atocha-Batán) and in February, lines 116 (Embajadores-Villaverde Cruce) and the university line U (Av. Séneca-Paraninfo). With line 101, which has just started operating exclusively with electric buses, 40 electrified lines have been reached, and before the year ends, EMT Madrid will electrify six more lines completely. By March 2025, the municipal company already has 432 electric buses in its fleet, a number that will reach 463 units by the end of this year. /
FUENTE
