In Prague, a hydrogen bus will run on a trial basis for two years
Update: 11/22/2022 2:30 p.m
Issued by: 11/22/2022, 2:30 p.m
Prague – Prague will test the operation of the hydrogen bus for at least two years. The new H’CITY 12 will be leased by the Prague Transport Company (DPP) from the manufacturer Škoda Group with a two-year option and will run on route number 170 from Jižní Město na Barrandová from the first quarter of next year. Outgoing deputy mayor Adam Scheinherr (Prague Sobě) told ČTK during the presentation of the car at the 11th edition of the CzechBus bus fair at the Letňa exhibition center that the metropolis expects costs of around two million crowns.
According to the contract, DPP has to pay 54 crowns excluding VAT for every kilometer driven, and the costs also include filling the bus with hydrogen. The car can travel up to 350 km for one refueling, which takes ten minutes. On route 170, he should travel 300 km every day.
“It will give us data on traffic and financial demands, and then we will decide on the next purchase. We expect costs of around two million crowns, it will depend on the kilometers traveled,” said Scheinherr. He added that the first passenger should ride the hydrogen-powered bus in January or February, which depends on the delivery of the car and the commissioning of the first hydrogen filling station in Prague in K Barrandovu street.
According to the head of the bus operation unit of DPP Jan Barchánek, hydrogen-powered bus operation is the most expensive among emission-free transport. He added that the life cycle costs of a hydrogen bus are about double compared to a diesel bus. “So I believe that it will have its place in the mix of public transport. We need to not be dependent on one type of drive,” said Barchánek.
The Škoda H’CITY 12 bus will travel on route 170, as it will test the approximately 40 km long track with a hilly profile. The hydrogen bus also uses batteries in which heat from the fuel cells is stored, and this is used to heat the vehicle. Similar to the T’CITY series trolleybuses and E’CITY electric buses, Škoda will use bodywork from the Turkish company Temsa.
In addition to diesel cars, electric buses also run in Prague, the first Škoda E’City 36 BB car left this January from the Želivského stop on line 213. And trolleybuses are returning to the streets of the capital after five decades. the line from Letňany to Čakovice. Representatives of Prague have previously stated that by 2030, at least 75 percent of the DPP bus fleet should be replaced by emission-free electric buses, battery trolleybuses and low-emission buses.