Chinese-made trolleybuses advance Mexico City's e-mobility

MEXICO CITY- Mexico City has added a fleet of 63 Chinese-made electric trolleybuses to its public transportation system, taking one more step towards electromobility.

The buses, made by Chinese company Yutong, began circulating on Jan 8 along Eje Central, one of the main arteries of the city.

The new trolleybuses are part of Mexico City's "Trolebici" project, which aims to improve cycling and pedestrian infrastructure in the city through a total investment of 656 million pesos (around $35 million).

In an interview with Xinhua, the general director of the Mexico City Electric Transport Service, Guillermo Calderon, said that the arrival of the Chinese vehicles represents the biggest change to the network in decades.

"Mexico City's last trolleybus acquisition was 22 years ago, so this purchase is very important because it radically changes users' experience of the journey," he explained.

The new trolleybuses with batteries inside are able to cover 75 km when the cables are not in operation. Given that Mexico City is one of the most polluted urban areas in the world according to the World Air Quality Index, their eco-friendly zero emission is an important advantage as well.

The trolleys contain special areas for the disabled and elder, women and children, as well as more comfortable seats, with a total capacity of between 84 and 90 passengers. Thus far, the trolleybuses on Eje Central have an average of 69,000 users per day.

The city's Secretary of Mobility Andres Lajous said that the Chinese-made vehicles represented the best value for a city looking to better manage the mobility of its large population.

The trolleybuses fit Mexico City's plan to change its transportation network, as "they consume less electricity, they have obstacle detectors and special alarms that alert the driver to cyclists," he said.

Ren Wenhui, commercial manager of Yutong in Mexico, told Xinhua that Mexico City is the first place where the company's trolleybuses are used in Latin America, though the company's electric and gas buses are already present on the streets of Aguascalientes in central Mexico, as well as in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru. "I am confident that there will be more clients in the future " he said.

The Chinese company predicts sales of around 1,000 buses per year over the next five-year period in Mexico.