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VRN: No hydrogen buses for Odenwald Mitte
The Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar GmbH (VRN GmbH) faces an unexpected turn in the planned commissioning of hydrogen buses in the Odenwald Mitte route bundle. As part of the re-tendering, it was originally intended to deploy a fleet of fuel cell buses from early 2026. For these hydrogen buses, the VRN has already received a funding notice from the Federal Ministry of Transport in 2023. This project is now failing due to the non-issuance of the second grant notice for the construction of a necessary hydrogen filling station, which the BMDV could not issue due to the cuts following the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling on the Energy and Climate Fund.
After the Ministry of Transport's decision became known, the VRN was forced to initially re-tender the route bundle with diesel buses.
"It is very unfortunate that we cannot start with hydrogen in the Odenwald Mitte route bundle as planned. The debt brake or its handling by the Federal Ministry of Transport is currently dramatically slowing down the urgently needed transition in drive technology," says VRN Managing Director Dr. Michael Winnes, disappointed by the political decision from Berlin.
Setback as a Challenge
However, alternatives are also available. The VRN has included an opening clause in the updated tender documents. This clause allows for the use of buses with alternative drive systems such as electric, hydrogen, and hybrid vehicles to be reviewed and possibly implemented during the ten-year contract period.
In collaboration with the commissioning authorities, the affected municipalities, and the executing transport company, a special implementation concept is to be developed during the first two years of operation. The aim is to use alternative drive systems from the third year of operation, provided the concept is positively evaluated.
"We see this setback as a challenge and are firmly committed to advancing the mobility transition despite the strained budgetary situation and implementing sustainable mobility solutions for the region. Together with our partners, we will find practical solutions," Dr. Michael Winnes makes clear.
What does this mean?
The impact of federal budget cuts in the area of e-mobility promotion continues to widen and endangers Germany's climate goals sustainably. The public transportation sector, in particular, requires substantial subsidy measures due to the high procurement costs for fuel cell and electric buses. The decision of the VRN is likely just the beginning of a series of similar steps. Many public transport authorities and companies will, for example, use Class II diesel buses, which are actually intended for rural areas, within Class I areas, i.e., city transport. This is legally possible because Class II vehicles are still exempt from the binding provisions of the EU Clean Vehicles Directive (CVD). However, this does nothing to help the climate. There is currently little hope for sustainable solutions in public transportation unless the federal government reverses its subsidy practices by 180° or states step in massively. The only conceivable alternative possibility would be that transportation companies nationwide start sourcing electricity from the Day-Ahead market to obtain inexpensive energy for their e-buses. This might allow the high procurement costs for vehicles and charging infrastructure to be amortized during operation. However, whether this is a workable model, not only for large transport companies like VAG in Nuremberg, which already practices this energy concept, still needs to be determined in the case of SMEs. For fuel cell city buses, with their high fuel costs alongside the already immense procurement prices, the current (non-)subsidy practice in Germany might well be the death knell.
Translated automatically from German.
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