Australia’s largest bus body builder continues to make its mark as a part of the Victorian Government’s $20 million Zero Emissions Bus (ZEB) Trial.
Volgren has delivered the first of nine locally built all-electric Optimus electric buses to Australian-based bus operator Transit Systems for operation on routes in Melbourne’s west.
These nine buses will join 15 Volgren-bodied Zero Emissions Buses already in operation across Victoria as a part of the ZEB Trial; with this latest delivery to Transit Systems Australia kickstarting the global operators electric push into Victoria.
“The Victorian Government’s Zero Emissions Bus Trial and backing of local manufacturing has supercharged our expertise in building battery electric buses, and provided a clear pathway towards greater investment in the next generation of green jobs,” said Thiago Deiro, CEO of Volgren.
“The Victorian Government’s ZEB initiative is helping to strengthen local manufacturing and support local jobs; and provides certainty for the local supply chain – whose products and expertise enable us to build every bus right here in Dandenong.”
Yuri Tessari, Volgren’s Chief Commercial Officer, said the delivery of Transit Systems’ first Victorian zero-emissions battery-electric bus is a great example of long-standing partnerships working to deliver clean fleets.
“With Transit Systems’ experience in operating Volgren electric bus bodies in Western Australia (Swan Transit) and now starting their first electric bus operations in Melbourne with the fleet delivered by Volgren, this partnership demonstrates the success of collaboration in the industry.”
“Volgren looks forward to maintaining this partnership and working with Transit Systems to deliver high-quality and reliable products throughout the transition to Zero Emission Fleets in all states across Australia,” said Yuri.
Mark Peters, Transit System’s General Manager Fleet, Innovation & Business Intelligence said the operator was optimistic about the knowledge-sharing aspect of the ZEB trial, which collaboratively builds shared intelligence to inform future bus procurements.
“We’re looking forward to working with the Victorian Government on integrating ZEBs into both existing and future Bus Contract models, and learning more about operating costs and total cost of ownership.
“These new Zero-Emissions Buses leverage more than ten years of Volgren’s experience and development of the Optimus bus body, and experience building on the latest electric bus chassis technology.”
Commenting on local manufacturing, Mark said Transit Systems, industry, government, and local communities view local manufacturing and local jobs “as very important, and critical for the Australian bus industry to move forward.”
“Building local also has benefits in regards to aftersales, where if a body part is required to meet critical operational requirements, you have the confidence to know that the part is only a few hours away.”
Mark said the nine zero-emission battery electric buses will be operated from Transit Systems’ West Footscray depot from May 2023, and will be deployed across their Inner West Melbourne bus contract operating area.
“Customers across our network can look forward to a quieter, cleaner, and more comfortable journey on the new BEBs,” said Mark.
