Transport Minister Chris Steel charges an electric bus at the new Woden Bus Depot. The chargers are lowered from an overhead gantry. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
The electrification of Canberra’s bus fleet has marked a significant milestone with the opening of the Woden Bus Depot, the largest facility of its kind in Australia.
Officially, the depot will open for service on 28 April, together with the introduction of the Term 2 bus network and timetable.
The electric depot can house and charge up to 100 electric buses, and has been designed to incorporate rooftop solar to offset some of the charging and running costs.
It has 12 service bays, a panel shop, a tyre changing bay and specialist bus maintenance facilities, as well as new amenities to support around 250 staff.
Transport Minister Chris Steel said it was a big moment for Transport Canberra and the staff working on the project.
“This is a nation-leading piece of infrastructure,” Mr Steel said.
Mr Steel said the 60 electric buses already on Canberra roads would now be based at Woden and charged overnight using the depot’s unique charging infrastructure.
“There are 24 chargers around the depot, and each of those chargers can charge four buses at once, which provides capacity and capability that many other cities around Australia simply don’t have,” he said.
A unique feature is the overhead gantries for the chargers that can be lowered at the flick of a switch to be plugged in.
“It will provide a high level of capacity for the growing fleet of electric buses that the ACT Government is committed to introducing, with the full fleet being transitioned by 2040 or earlier,” Mr Steel said.
For now, the government has committed to procuring 106 electric buses, with about one arriving every week.
Mr Steel said the depot would make the network more efficient, converting that gain into boosting the number of services and their frequency.
There would also be benefits for the environment with fewer greenhouse gas emissions and noxious fumes.
Mr Steel said the Chinese Yutong E12 buses were performing really well, but the four Australian-made Custom Denning buses on short-term lease less so, and this would influence future procurement decisions.
With the Woden depot open, attention now turns to an electric depot on the northside.
Mr Steel said the Belconnen bus depot can only charge four electric buses, but the government was talking to Evoenergy about boosting electrical capacity there.
He said the government was starting the planning work for the new northside depot, but it would not be needed for some years.
The new bus timetable starting from 28 April included more AM and PM weekday peak services for key Rapid routes including the R2, R4 and R10; more weekday and Saturday services to better connect the growing Molonglo region; and improved services for many local schools.
Timetables and school-specific information are now available on the Transport Canberra webpage ahead of the improvements that begin at the start of Term 2.
