Upgrades to the Karrinyup bus depot in Perth’s northern suburbs have recently been completed, with the addition of 56 dual electric bus chargers making it the largest EV bus depot in the city.
Local and federal politicians were on hand last week at the Karrinyup bus depot to unveil the latest upgrades, part of a $250 million federal and state initiative that is slowly phasing out diesel buses and replacing them with an entirely electric fleet.
The jointly funded program has already delivered 130 electric buses as well as the associated charging infrastructure and depot upgrades necessary to operate them. Over 150 electric buses are now in operation across Perth, including Australia’s first locally made electric “bendy” or articulated busses.
The Karrinyup bus depot is the third site to have its charging infrastructure installed, following upgrades to the Elizabeth Quay Bus Station and the Malaga Bus Depot.
A total of 56 dual electric bus chargers with 112 charging plugs are now in operation at Karrinyup, with 53 electric buses already operating out of the depot – with plans to increase that number to 110 by the end of the year.
Leading Australian EV charging infrastructure company Jet Charge delivered the project, retrofitting the depot with charging infrastructure and completing upgrades to the substation and CCTV system.
Similar upgrades are also underway at the Bayswater and Jandakot North bus depots, with EV charging infrastructure being installed to support up to 130 and 82 electric buses respectively.
Planning is also underway on proposed upgrades to the Welshpool, Joondalup, and Claisebrook bus depots.
“We’re not only building locally made electric buses for the future but delivering the infrastructure needed to support a cleaner, greener public transport system,” said Rita Saffioti, WA transport minister.
“Karrinyup is now our largest EV bus depot, with buses charging up here before hitting the road as far as Joondalup in our north, Fremantle in the south and Ballajura in the east.
“With 11 new electric buses entering service each month, the depot upgrades we’re rolling out across Perth will ensure we can keep pace with demand while building in the capacity needed to keep this momentum going over the coming years.”
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