Hamburger Hochbahn: At a Rapid Pace Towards a Climate-Neutral Bus Fleet

Mission emissions-free public transport - Hamburger Hochbahn is making rapid progress in transforming its fleet – since the start in 2019, 88 electric solo buses and 12 electric articulated buses have been in operation in the Hanseatic city, and by the end of the year, the fleet will be expanded with five more solo and articulated electric buses each.

“No breathing pause, history is being made, it is moving forward” ...

By the end of 2025, the Hochbahn fleet is set to grow to 430 electric vehicles, including 305 electric solo buses (with around 70 seats and standing places) and 125 electric articulated buses (with around 105 passenger places).

By then, the charging infrastructure will also be expanded to 600 charging stations. For this purpose, two bus depots will be completely newly built and three bus depots will be retrofitted with the corresponding charging stations.

The conversion of the remaining four bus depots will take place in the second half of the decade, according to the tight planning schedule. At the same time, all workshops of Hochbahn's subsidiary FFG will be geared towards emissions-free drive technologies. By the end of the 2020s, the conversion of the entire fleet of currently 1,100 buses to emissions-free drives should be completed. According to Hochbahn, this will reduce CO₂ emissions in Hamburg by 65,000 tons annually.

“The first nearly three years have shown that we have production-ready vehicles. Our clear course to consistently and swiftly transition to an emissions-free fleet was the right signal to manufacturers to be able to deliver the vehicles in the required quantities. We are absolutely on schedule: By the end of the decade, the last diesel bus will roll off the lot and we will be driving completely emissions-free through Hamburg,” said Henrik Falk, CEO of Hochbahn.

One step further - the goal is a completely neutral transport offer

“We know that this is a very ambitious goal. At the same time, we are also seeing growing awareness among manufacturers and suppliers that climate-neutral and fair production will no longer be an attractive add-on, but will become the standard,” explains Dr. Markus Dietmannsberger, project manager at Hochbahn.

To achieve complete climate neutrality, the total emissions from the production and operation of the vehicles must be reduced to zero. Here, the focus of the Hochbahn project team is on the battery. In the latest tender, sustainability criteria accounted for 10% of the award criteria. Hochbahn demands transparency from manufacturers regarding the entire supply and production chain.

Not least, the “Electric Bus Initiative” founded by Hochbahn, VHH, and BVG in 2016 facilitates intensive dialogue between transport companies and manufacturers. The goal is the “green battery.” Not only ecological criteria play a role in this. According to Hochbahn, social conditions and the respect for human rights in the production of the batteries and their precursors are also inquired about.

No issues with range

A key factor for economical use, among other things, is the range. The range of electric articulated buses is currently around 200 km, and for electric solo buses even up to 260 km. Given that around 95% of bus operations (trips without intermediate charging) are shorter than 300 km, and in view of the observed advances in battery technology, the Hamburg transport operator is convinced that range will no longer play a decisive role in the future.

For the 5% of operations that are longer than 300 km and require the use of the heavier articulated buses, Hochbahn is also keeping a close eye on other technological solutions – in addition to deploying fuel cell buses from 2023, en-route charging remains a possible strategic approach, according to the transport company.