The Ostrava Transport Company has backed down from its hydrogen plans. It has postponed the hydrogen mobility project and cancelled the tender for hydrogen buses and the construction of a filling station at Hranečník. Instead of hydrogen, it wants to focus on electric buses and charging stations.

According to its spokeswoman Tereza Šnoblová, the Transport Company Ostrava (DPO) continues its strategy WITHOUT DIESEL, using electric buses and CNG vehicles as a priority in its standard daily trips. Diesel cars are also used as backups.

In the first phase of the development of electromobility, the carrier has built three charging hubs in recent years and purchased a total of 26 electric buses with continuous charging. It is now building on this project and plans to deploy electric buses on other lines in Ostrava. These could be served by electric buses this time with overnight charging, as a suitable alternative to some of the outdated CNG vehicles. 
At the same time, the transport company postponed the Hydrogen Mobility project, which it had announced for several years.

Hydrogen must be given time
„Hydrogen is still an important topic for us and we will continue to monitor this technological trend closely. In view of the developments of the last two years since the tenders were launched, we currently feel, from the perspective of due diligence, that we need to give this technology more time for both financial and technical reasons. The DPO currently has 227 CNG vehicles. Some of them are due for renewal within a few years. Given the current market situation, we see the solution in electromobility, which has undergone massive development in recent months and years,“ says Daniel Morys, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of DPO.

According to Morys, the aforementioned electric buses with overnight charging could be able to cover a distance of more than 350 kilometres on a single overnight charge. „So we can deploy them virtually anywhere. However, we still recognise that the limit will be charging capacity, which is why we believe in the development and future of hydrogen mobility.“

The largest electric vehicle project of its kind in public transport is being implemented in Ostrava. DPO has a total of 32 electric buses, 26 of them with continuous charging, which it can power using strategically placed fast chargers in Svinov, Hranečník and, since last spring, also in the city centre, where there are three charging arms. Thanks to this, every tenth DPO bus dispatched can be an electric bus.

Ecology is one of the strategic pillars of the DPO. Under the name DIESEL-FREE, this theme has been anchored in the company's strategy in 2021, with low-emission or emission-free vehicles being used in preference in standard daily dispatches.

Electric buses run on suitable routes, with CNG buses providing the rest. The remaining thirty-five diesel buses serve only as backup.

source - Transport Company Ostrava

photo source - Transport Company Ostrava