(MENAFN- Swissinfo) The company that runs public transport in the Swiss city of Lausanne intends to convert its entire fleet of vehicles to electric power within the next five years, with the exception of a few minibuses. The plan is to replace 162 diesel buses with electric vehicles in the Swiss city.

This content was published on October 7, 2024 - 15:50 3 minutes Keystone-SDA

• Français fr Lausanne: les tl passent au tout électrique en 2030 Original Read more: Lausanne: les tl passent au tout électrique en 203

Currently three-quarters of the 126 million passengers carried by the public transport company tl every year travel in electric vehicles.“The company intends to increase this figure to 100% by 2030,” the company said on Monday. The additional investment required to decarbonise the fleet is in the region of CHF130 million ($152 million).

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The measure is in line with public authorities' climate plans. In Lausanne, mobility accounts for almost a quarter of direct greenhouse gas emissions.“The city is aiming for zero direct emissions from mobility by 2030. The decarbonisation of the tl fleet will enable us to make progress towards this objective”, said Florence Germond, the municipal councillor in charge of mobility.

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Numerous challenges

The diesel buses will be replaced“as and when they reach the end of their life”, tl said. The final deadline of 2030 will be met“if all the necessary purchasing, infrastructure and equipment procedures [...] can be carried out”, it added. It described the technical challenges as“numerous but clearly identified”.

To achieve this, tl is banking on two different technologies: trolleybuses with on-the-go recharging and battery-powered electric buses (e-buses) with recharging at the terminal station and/or depot.

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