Wrightbus to supply double-decker battery-electric buses to Republic of Ireland

The Streetdeck Electroliner BEVs will be built at the Wrightbus factory in Ballymena in a contract worth 80.4 million euro.

Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said they will be the first double-decker electric buses in the Republic.

“There’s 120 (buses) on order from Wrightbus with a view of up to 800,” Mr Ryan said.

“These buses have already started in Belfast. We are hearing they are working really well, quiet, comfortable, clean, efficient and using our own power.

“This is the future.

“Electrifying everything in transport, cutting out the carbon, using our own local fuels, our own local buses, making it a really attractive way to get around our cities, not just Dublin.

“These will be heading down to Limerick and we expect to see them in every city.

“They will become the norm and the standard.”

Neil Collins, managing director of Wrightbus, said: “We are delighted and thankful to the NTA for the order for 120 buses, we are delighted to say the buses are designed and built by our workforce in Ballymena who built the buses from the ground up, designed to be purely zero emissions.

“We are also proud to say this bus has been measured as the world’s most efficient electric double-decker bus and that is a real badge of honour.”

NTA chief executive Anne Graham said: “Well, it represents a significant order first, but it’s also a change now in moving our fleet from fully diesel to fully electric.

“We need to encourage more people to use public transport, walk and cycle and to reduce their use of the private car.”

John McLeister, sales and business director at Wrightbus, said: “We are in Dublin to launch our Electroliner, it’s a very exciting time for the business.

“This vehicle has been tested and is classified as the most battery-efficient electric vehicle in the world, so that is a very proud boast for us.

“The National Transport Authority are going to deploy a number of these on the streets of Dublin, which is significant to our business.

“It will secure employment for many of the staff as we continue to grow.”