Electric buses move into suburban Perth
Electric buses are being introduced to Perth suburban areas for the first time, marking an important step in the city’s phase-out of its diesel fleet.
Eleven new electric buses are now ready to operate out of Transperth’s Malaga depot, with about 90 electric buses expected to be operating from the facility by the first half of 2026.
“This is a really exciting moment for public transport in Western Australia, with electric buses rolling out into our broader suburban areas for the first time,” Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said.
“We’ve had electric buses operating on the CBD CAT bus routes since September last year, but now people catching buses in the suburbs will be jumping on board too.”
Each electric bus can travel up to 300 km on a single charge, saving about 40 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year, according to the WA Government.
To accommodate the fleet expansion, the Malaga depot is undergoing a $12 million upgrade. This will transform it into WA’s largest EV bus charging facility, capable of supporting 110 electric buses.
The upgrade has included the installation of solar panels and batteries to power the facility, as well as the delivery of new charging infrastructure. So far, 16 chargers have been installed at the depot, with the remainder to be installed and commissioned by the end of the year as more electric buses begin operating from the facility.
The expansion of the electric bus fleet into the suburbs follows on from the initial rollout of 18 electric buses on the CBD CAT bus routes. It is estimated that these 18 buses will carry more than 2.5 million passengers and save a combined 720 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
“We’ve now delivered on our election commitment to stop the production of diesel buses, and that means the community will start to see more and more electric buses operating on the network,” Saffioti said.
“Not only are electric buses cleaner and better for the environment, they’re also cheaper to operate in the long term, which means better value for money for WA taxpayers.”
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