Rollout of electric buses planned for Athlone

The Athlone town bus service could become the first in Ireland to use electric vehicles, Bus Éireann has indicated.

Details about the local service moving from fossil fuel-powered buses are scarce at the moment, but the plan was cited by the bus company's CEO, Stephen Kent, during an online conference recently.

The 'Transport Ireland 2020' event included a panel discussion on the future of public transport and, during this discussion, Mr Kent said the Athlone town service "will become electric".

When contacted by the Westmeath Independent last week, a Bus Éireann spokesperson indicated that the company couldn't provide any further information about the plans at this stage.

"We’re not ready yet to share detail on this project, but news will be flowing in 2021," said Elizabeth Headon.

She added that Mr Kent had mentioned the use of electric buses in Athlone because it was one of "a number of initiatives Bus Éireann is developing as we move toward zero and ultra-low emission public transport."

Earlier this month, Hydrogen Mobility Ireland announced a trial of an electric bus, in conjunction with Bus Éireann, in the Dublin area.

The bus in question is powered by a 60KW Toyota fuel cell stack, and Mr Kent said Bus Éireann was looking forward to operating it over four weeks on a route from Dublin to Ashbourne.

"The research and experience from this trial is an important prelude to a more extensive pilot deployment that Bus Éireann will be leading on with the National Transport Authority in early 2021," he said, in a possible reference to the Athlone project.

He added that the company was "targeting for half of our vehicles to be zero emission by 2030, with the remainder being low or ultra-low emission."

Separately, at the beginning of this year, the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dublin began using a fully electric Volvo bus.