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$70M boost for electric bus manufacturing in NSW

$70M NSW GOV investment to support electric bus manufacturing
Image courtesy of Custom Denning.
Image courtesy of Custom Denning.

The NSW Government is supporting the creation of local manufacturing jobs in Western Sydney with a $70 million investment to transition the state’s bus fleet to zero emissions technology.

Western Sydney based company Custom Denning has been awarded a contract to design, manufacture and assemble 79 new electric buses.

The $70 million investment takes the number of bus orders placed with Custom Denning past 100, following the NSW Government’s commitment to transitioning its entire 8000-plus bus fleet by 2030.

Once built, the 79 buses will operate services in Sydney’s inner west. The manufacturing process is expected to support Custom Denning’s 160 workers at its St Mary’s factory.

NSW Minister for Transport and Veterans David Elliott said the investment would help to drive a post pandemic jobs recovery and a boost for local manufacturing.

“Bus customers are already experiencing the benefits of electric buses from Penrith to Bondi, and we will continue to back local manufacturing,” he said.

The announcement has been welcomed by advocacy group, Committee for Sydney, which has been pushing the state government to use its own procurement to electrify the public transport network.

Sam Kernaghan, Resilience Program Director, Committee for Sydney, said the investment was a meaningful milestone for the state’s emission reduction targets.

“This is a big step in the right direction. It gets us on the road to having the state’s 8000 buses electrified by 2030,” Kernaghan said.

“We encouraged the government to use its procurement power to help local industry help the state reach its net zero targets, and that’s exactly what’s happening here.”

Transport for NSW, in collaboration with its contracted bus operators, have ordered 101 electric buses from Custom Denning.

 


 

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