The Walloon public transport company TEC has put the first full electric bus into service. This happened in Liège. The bus in question is a Mercedes-Benz Citaro.
The ambition is to be fully electric by 2045. “With this first 100% e-bus, TEC opens a new chapter in its history: that of a cleaner, quieter and more environmentally friendly public transport system resolutely focused on the future of mobility in Wallonia,” says Jean-Michel Soors, administrator general of the company.
Almost one-third hybrid
TEC today has a fleet of 2,721 vehicles, including 1,945 of its own buses and 776 from subcontractors. Of these, 825 are hybrids.
The entire fleet will gradually consist of all-electric buses, which will be charged in the depots. At the start of the next school year in September, 14 articulated e-buses will be put into service on the BUSWAY 2 line in Liège.
Slowly progressing
E-buses are also already out at De Lijn in Flanders and MIVB/STIB in Brussels. At MIVB/STIB, there should be 100 or so by the beginning of next year out of a fleet of more than 1,300 vehicles. At De Lijn, 80 electric units are currently operational out of a fleet of 2,200 buses. Another 220 are scheduled to be added next year.
