Bus Éireann claims 470,000km of emissions-free travel last year

Bus Éireann aims to travel one million kilometres emissions-free this year after hitting 470,000km in 2022, the State public transport company claims.

The company uses 61 hybrid and three hydrogen-powered buses, funded by the National Transport Authority (NTA), according to a sustainability report published on Tuesday.

Its vehicles travelled 470,000km without emitting greenhouse gas last year, more than trebling the 2021 total of 150,000km, the document states.

Stephen Kent, Bus Éireann’s chief executive, said it aimed to halve total emissions by 2030 and expected to hit the “crucial milestone” of one million emission-free kilometres this year.

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Its 61 hybrid vehicles, which make up the entire Galway city fleet and half of Limerick’s buses, accounted for 415,000km of emissions-free travel.

Its hydrogen-fuelled buses, which travel the 105x route between Dublin and Ratoath, Co Meath, made up the other 55,000km.

The return to pre-pandemic passenger numbers in 2022 aided the company in reaching the 470,000km total, Mr Kent said.

Customers completed 89.5 million passenger journeys in 2022, while a record 151,000 travelled on school transport each day.

“In January this year we launched Ireland’s first fully electric town bus service in Athlone, a pathfinder project, supported by the NTA and Department of Transport,” Mr Kent said.

“Later this year, we will deploy 20 new double-deck electric vehicles in our Limerick city fleet, completing the transition of our Limerick city services to 100 per cent zero or low-emission vehicles.”

Bus Éireann’s road passenger and school transport services last year covered more than 225 million kilometres.