Alcorcón in central Spain, located in the Madrid metropolitan area, boasts to be the first major Spanish city to handle its inner-city transport entirely with electric buses. Nine BYD battery buses have been in service on the three inner-city lines since February and six more since July 2023. Twelve e-buses belong to the 12-metre model K9UB and offer 37 seats and 44 standing places (+1 disabled space), while the other three are 13-metre model K9UE e-buses, which are low-floor only up to the second door and with only one narrow front door, for use on intercity lines leaving Alcorcón.
The urban and suburban transport for the approximately 169,500 inhabitants of Alcorcón is operated by Arriva, a subsidiary of the DB Deutsche Bahn Group. The city is connected to the suburban railway network and the metro network of the capital Madrid.
More e-buses are currently being purchased in the metropolitan region. For example, 13 MAN Lion’s City E buses have been running on line 484 in Leganés since spring this year. Electric buses are also to be used on several suburban lines, some of which have their own reserved routes, such as in the Mostoles area and between Majadahonda and Las Rozas. These BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) standard connections will hopefully be better accepted than the first BRT of the municipal transport company EMT, which was opened in May and whose current routing is hardly in line with the actual passenger requirements.
