Irizar is to supply 14 new 18m-long ie tram buses to London Gatwick airport to connect passengers with long-stay car parks.
Replacing a fleet of diesel buses running on hydrotreated vegetable oil, they are set to be the airport’s first battery-electric buses in permanent operation.
They will be supported by pantograph chargers at the long-stay car parks that can give an additional 35km of range within six minutes.
In order to transport passengers to the terminals, they will come equipped with luggage racks. Meanwhile, the manufacturer will also install digital cameras to enhance safety.
Forty-eight of the “tramlike” vehicles are already in use on the roads in the UK, according to Irizar. Go-Ahead London put 20 into service on the 358 service between Crystal Palace and Orpington last summer. The operator earlier rolled out 28 on the North Kent Fastrack Bus Rapid Transit Network. Both networks use 12m-long examples.
London Gatwick, which is jointly owned by Vinci Airports and Global Infrastructure Partners, is the UK’s second busiest airport with more than 40 million passengers per year.
Metrobus already uses hydrogen fuel cell-electric buses to serve Gatwick Airport.
