Metrobus's Hydrogen buses for Crawley Fastway, officially launched.
A fleet of 20 new hydrogen buses are now operating on the Crawley Fastway route, courtesy of Metrobus and a range of partners.
Fuelled by the largest hydrogen refuelling centre in Europe, at the Metrobus depot in Crawley. Hydrogen fuel cells power advanced electric engines. Rather than pumping out polluting fumes through their tailpipes, they just produce droplets of H2O i.e. water.
Beating the rain clouds at the Hydrogen Bus Launch, Crawley, 29 June 2023."Hydrogen is one of the most environmentally friendly ways to operate a bus", according to the Metrobus brochure accompanying the launch. It's quick to refuel them - unlike conventional electric powered vehicles and they have a greater range - crucial if you're running a bus service.
How it works is that the hydrogen fuel cell generates a chemical reaction that splits the hydrogen separating the proton and electron. The electron stores energy in the battery and when it returns to the cathode it meets filtered air and the proton produces water vapour as a bi-product. The battery pack powers the electric motor, enabling the bus to travel. Well, I admit, I'm not a scientist - that info was also from the Metrobus brochure. So, it is still a bus with an electric motor, it just uses hydrogen to power the motor rather than juice from the mains.
An example of how environmentally friendly these buses are: a journey from Crawley Bus Station to Gatwick South Terminal (that's a distance of just under 6 miles) would save 1,066g of CO2 compared to driving.
#WestSussBus attended the launch listening to speeches by, among others, the UK Govt Bus Minister Richard Holden MP and Ed Wills, Managing Director of Metrobus. It was all very exciting - and to top it off, we were given a ride round the Fastway route on board a brand new Hydrogen bus.
Quiet and quick is how I'd describe the journey around Crawley town centre out towards Horley, and it felt good that the journey wasn't adding to the planet's woes, but helping to provide a bit of daily climate action in West Sussex.
A further 34 hydrogen buses are planned for Metrobus services.
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