New South Wales has unveiled concept designs for what is expected to become the state’s first purpose-built electric bus depot at Macquarie Park in Northern Sydney.
The new $145 million electric bus depot is being jointly funded by the state and federal governments and will be built by New Zealand civil engineering firm Fulton Hogan, which will include both standard 75 kilowatt (kW) and fast 150 kW plug-in chargers.
While the design appears yet to be finalised, the Macquarie Park depot will be located alongside the M2 on Talavera Road and will operate approximately 150 buses, servicing areas from the northwest suburbs to Ryde, Parramatta, and the lower north shore.
“Building a new bus depot in such a centrally located part of Sydney is a rare occurrence and an important milestone in this massive transition to cleaner and quieter buses powered by renewable energy,” said John Graham, state minister for transport.
“Passengers can look forward to a smoother ride as we phase out the oldest diesel buses first.”
The 150 electric buses will be new, adding to the state’s growing fleet and will support those operating out of the existing Ryde and Willoughby bus depots. Each bus will be capable of travelling up to 300 kilometres on a single charge.
NSW announced the purchase of 151 new electric buses in September which will be delivered by local Australian bus manufacturers Custom Denning and Volgren Australia. These new buses will be eventually delivered to the Leichhardt and Kingsgrove bus depots
Upgrades to existing bus depots are also underway, with the first conversion, at Brookvale, completed during September. The depot now boasts 13 pantograph charging positions as well as ten plug-in chargers, enough to accommodate the depot’s planned fleet of 229 electric buses – though there are currently only 13 electric buses operating out of Brookvale.
The Leichhardt and Kingsgrove depots are currently undergoing their own conversions, and are expected to be operational in 2026.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.