De Lijn will order up to 1 600 charging points to charge electric buses in its depots. The Flemish public transport company is placing the order with two suppliers: TM SPIE-Ekoenergetyka and ABB.

De Lijn will purchase some 320 to 490 charging points in the first phase, representing an investment of 15,3 million euros. The investment is part of the electrification of De Lijn. Since 2022, the company has only purchased e-buses.

Transformation of 50 depots

By 2035, De Lijn wants to drive completely emission-free in Flanders. This requires 2 100 buses and over 50 depots to be greened. For this step toward a green fleet, the most polluting buses, the Euro 3 and Euro 4 buses, will be phased out and systematically replaced by e-buses. The Euro 5 buses will follow.

This greening operation should ensure that some 550 De Lijn e-buses will drive around by 2027. However, this also means that all the depots must have the necessary e-charging infrastructure.

Test phase over

De Lijn is counting on the technology companies ABB and SPIE for this. Tests with ABB have already been carried out with the installation of slow-charging infrastructure in the depots of Leuven and Antwerp.

With SPIE Belgium and Ekoenergetyka, a Polish company specializing in electric charging infrastructure, De Lijn concluded a framework agreement in 2021 to deliver, commission, and maintain chargers for electric and hybrid buses at De Lijn’s depots.

After delivering the first set of chargers last year, De Lijn placed a new order with SPIE for 252 additional chargers for its depots in Destelbergen and Genk, among others.

Social unrest

Spontaneous strikes broke out at De Lijn at the end of October following the announcement that several depots and maintenance centers would be closed.

De Lijn wants to renovate four depots and build 13 depots/maintenance centers. Eight depots and five maintenance centers will be closed and integrated into other locations. Some 280 full-time jobs will move to neighbouring locations as a result.

In the future, De Lijn wants to open its e-stations to third parties (operators, cities, and municipalities…) so that they, too, can load their vehicles there.