Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB), the city’s main public transport operator, expects around one in three of its buses to use zero-emission technology by the end of 2027. The plan involves adding 136 new buses and investing €77 million.

For passengers, TMB has not identified which routes will receive the vehicles. However, a separate tender for 19 electric articulated buses, each 18 metres long, states that they are due to replace buses currently in service during 2026.

Laia Bonet, TMB president and First Deputy Mayor of Barcelona City Council, presented the 2027 target at the operator’s Zona Franca depots. She said the planned proportion would place TMB among major European bus operators.

“With this tender, we are reaffirming our commitment to a zero-emission bus fleet,” Bonet said of TMB’s procurement of 19 electric articulated buses.

136 buses planned before the end of 2027

TMB expects the additional 136 vehicles to bring zero-emission buses to about 30% of the overall fleet by the end of 2027. The supplied information does not specify the technologies or models that will make up the full order.

  • Target date: by the end of 2027.
  • Planned additions: 136 buses.
  • Investment: €77 million.
  • Expected share: approximately 30% of TMB’s bus fleet operating with zero-emission technology.

The 19 articulated electric buses in the separate procurement have a base budget of €18.392 million. TMB said that investment in replacement vehicles is intended to improve fleet age and reliability as well as reduce environmental impact.

Electric and hydrogen fleet expansion

TMB previously said it expected to finish 2024 with 242 zero-emission buses: 196 battery-electric vehicles and 46 hydrogen buses. The operator said that combination would represent 25% of its fleet.

Its official news service reported that a hydrogen bus was assigned to the V19 route after the operator had initially run its first eight hydrogen buses on the X1. That vehicle was the first delivered from an order for 36 standard 12-metre hydrogen buses awarded to Solaris Bus Ibérica, while TMB also planned two articulated hydrogen buses from the same manufacturer.

Passengers will need to check TMB’s route information for any future vehicle allocations, as the 2027 plan does not set out a timetable by line or neighbourhood.

Primary sources: noticies.tmb.cat, Ramon. Reported by EP, Chris Randall, Editorial Staff, barna.news, europapress.es, Monica, Europa Press, eib.org, Carrie Hampel, coebank.org, El Periódico Barcelona.