Madrid is now the largest European city with 100% clean-powered buses

Starting 2023 in style and setting a benchmark both for air quality and public transit services

Back in 2020, Jose Luis Martínez-Almeida, the mayor of Madrid, made a pledge that after 2023 no public transport bus circulating on the local streets would be powered by diesel. And now that 2023 is here, the promise has been fulfilled making the Spanish capital the largest European city to possess a 100% environmentally clean bus fleet.

In fact, the last diesel bus turned off its engine and went out of commission at the end of December 2022, ensuring a clean start to the new year.

With the withdrawal of the last diesel bus, the EMT's (Madrid’s public transit operator) current 100% petrol-free bus fleet is made up of 1,915 compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles and 180 electric ones. But already, as early as 1994, EMT was a pioneer in incorporating compressed natural gas buses.

Evolving to more electric and hydrogen power

The search for increasingly sustainable solutions from the environmental point of view for Madrid has been the firm commitment of the EMT and has had the support of the current government, resulting in a progressive electrification that will reach 25% of the municipal fleet in 2025.

For this purpose, the EMT Operations Center in La Elipa, with a capacity for 318 buses, is preparing to become a reference centre for 100% electric fleet management, equipped with a photovoltaic installation designed for the supply. 

Additionally, EMT has a commitment to constantly evolve together with the latest technologies, and in that regard, the company plans to introduce the first 10 hydrogen buses later this year, together with the acquisition of 150 more electric vehicles.

Transitioning to a clean and innovative transport fleet is one of the objectives of the City Council’s Madrid 360 Environmental Sustainability Strategy and one of the axes of the EMT’s Strategic Plan until 2025.

"This reflects the important effort that both the Madrid City Council and EMT Madrid have been making in recent years to incorporate sustainability not only in urban transport but in all facets of urban management,” said Alfonso Sánchez Vicente, General Manager of EMT, as cited by Eurocities.