- First fleet of electric buses ready for operation across Perth's broader suburban areas
- Electric buses will operate out of Transperth's Malaga depot
- Malaga depot will become one of WA's largest EV bus charging facilities
- Upgrades to Malaga depot have also seen installation of solar and battery storage
- A total of 90 electric buses to operate out of Malaga by early next year
- EV upgrades to further depots underway or planned as part of broader rollout
Electric buses are now rolling out to Perth suburban areas for the first time, marking another important milestone in the phase out of diesel buses.
A total of 11 electric buses are now ready to operate out of Transperth's Malaga depot, with around 90 electric buses expected to be operating from the facility by the first half of 2026.
As part of the expansion, the Malaga depot is undergoing a $12 million upgrade which will see it become WA's largest EV bus charging facility, capable of supporting 110 electric buses.
The upgrades have included the installation of solar panels and batteries to provide power to 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.
Each electric bus has the capability to travel up to 300km on a single charge, saving about 40 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year.
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 the 18 Perth CAT electric buses will carry more than 2.5 million passengers and save a combined 720 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
The rollout of more electric buses will ramp up in the coming years with upgrades either planned or underway at the Karrinyup and Claisebrook bus depots and a new EV bus depot being delivered at Bayswater.
The first electric buses are expected to be operating out of the Karrinyup depot by early next year.
Over the next two decades, all bus depots will be upgraded to support the full phase out of diesel buses from the network.
Comments attributed to Transport Minister Rita Saffioti:
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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."
