PRR: Carris with 29 more electric buses budgeted at 17.05 million

O29 buses were presented in Belém, Lisbon, in the presence, among others, of the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, Miguel Pinto Luz, the Deputy Secretary of State for Energy, Jean Barroca, the President and the Vice-President of the Municipality of Lisbon, Carlos Coins and Gonçalo Reis, respectively, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Carris, Rui Lopo.

For Rui Lopo, the presence of those individualities represents a “commitment” among all to achieve the “ambitious plan that Carris has to significantly decarbonize its fleet by 2030, aligned with the strategic options of the Lisbon House”.

Carris’ president, a transport company managed by the Lisbon City Council, said it was a “very demanding” job for new buses to be in service “next week, at the return of the school period”.

Asked by journalists, in the margins of the event, about the guarantee left by the government that the investment is to continue, Rui Lopo stressed that it is not “propaganda”, since it is defined in national public policy, not only by the current government, but also by previous governments.

“ Always optimistic, given the set of variables we need to know how to work. European industry is clearly struggling to deliver on time, (...) we do not get there on a corner and we now buy 30 buses, and Carris’ ambition is to buy 150 a year, and it is not just buying, buying and having them circulating, 150 a year. And, therefore, this requires us to have a great capacity for intervention, with suppliers, with the market (...), but, yes, with complete confidence and ambition in achieving this process decarbonized in 2030,” Rui Lopo said.

In his speech to present the new buses, Rui Lopo said that Carris ran “100% of its PRR”, recalling that it is almost 32 million euros, of which 15 million in its own budget, which allowed the acquisition of 25 loading stations, 29 minibuses and 49 standard buses since 2022′′.

“Carris has 103 electric buses today and, when these 29 are in operation, more than 50% of our kilometres will be completed by non-diesel vehicles,” he said, advancing that by the end of the year “about €2 million will be invested in electrical infrastructure projects for the stations and, in 2027, more than €10 million will be invested in infrastructure and information systems for energy management.”.