Germany’s Bundesministerium für Digitales und Verkehr (BMDV) has awarded around €160 million to support the electrification of public transport in Hamburg and the surrounding area. The recipients of the funding are Hamburger Hochbahn AG and Verkehrsbetriebe Hamburg-Holstein GmbH (VHH).

These are the first funding notices to be awarded to transport companies under the directive on the promotion of alternative drives for buses in passenger transport.

Hamburger Hochbahn AG has set itself the goal of converting its entire bus fleet—currently around 1,000 vehicles—to alternative drives by 2030. The company is receiving approximately €97 million for the procurement of 289 electric buses and 486 charging infrastructure units.

The BMDV has already supported the operator with €12 million for the purchase of 60 electric buses and 20 charging infrastructure units and with €6.4 million for the new construction of the Gleisdreieck depot.

Verkehrsbetriebe Hamburg-Holstein GmbH plans to convert its entire fleet—around 670 vehicles—to electric drives by 2030. The Elexity2022 project of the VHH is funded with around €59 million for the purchase of 183 electric buses and 216 charging infrastructure units.

So far, VHH has received €15 million for the purchase of 64 battery-electric buses and €1.8 million for the upgrading of the Bergedorf depot.