Alsa has launched its first bus run on renewable hydrogen to operate  in regular service on a regular basis.

The bus will be operating the Route 4 in the city of Torrejón de Ardoz as part of the public transport network of the Autonomous Region of Madrid managed by the Regional Consortium for Transport (CRTM).

The service is supported by a new hydrogen fuelling station launched at Alsa's maintenance depot, the first one in the Autonomous Region of Madrid for public transport.

Both the bus and the hydrogen station were presented at the Torrejon de Ardoz depot in an event hosted by the Regional Secretary for Transport and Infrastructures of the Madrid Government, David Perez Garcia, and the mayor of the city, Ignacio Vazquez Casavilla.

This milestone is a further step towards Alsa's commitment to run a fully zero emission urban bus fleet by 2035. The same commitment for a zero-emission long distance coach fleet is set for 2040.

This updated environmental challenge is an ambitious extension of the current commitment to buy only zero emission urban buses by 2030.

Francisco Iglesias, Alsa CEO, said, “This project is a new target step to lead the transition towards clean fleets in our country. It is part of our commitment to the decarbonisation of public transport, that we recently extended to all urban fleet operated by us in Spain with the aim of becoming fully zero emission by 2035.

"The launch of this first hydrogen bus in our country is a great example of how successful a joint work between public entities, as the CRTM in this particular case, and private operators, is. When we work together in searching for shared objectives, success is guaranteed.”   

Since 2020 Alsa has only added vehicles into its fleet which are Eco or zero emission. Currently, as part of the company´s commitment to sustainable mobility, the company has 455 vehicles driven by alternative power in different modes  - electric, hybrid-driven vehicles, GNC/GNL and dual ECO fuels both GNC and GLP -, noe 15% of the total fleet operated in Spain. 

To support this first hydrogen bus service, a refuelling facility, with a  capacity of 50kg/day, is being managed by Carburos Metalicos, a leading company in the sector of industrial and medicinal gases in Spain.

Miquel Lope, Managing Director of Carburos Metálicos, said, “The commitment made by the regional Government of Madrid and Alsa to a sustainable mobility based on hydrogen vehicles showcases that the technology has reached a maturity and is ready to help in the decarbonisation process of public transport in the cities of our country. Carburos Metálicos will continue raising awareness about these solutions based on their expertise in all the value chain of H2, including all the process starting with the production and the supply of vehicles”.