The Northern Irish manufacturer has supplied 12 hydrogen buses to the German operator, taking its total delivered so far in the country to 43
Wrightbus has delivered 12 new hydrogen vehicles to German operator WestVerkehr, taking the total number of deliveries in the country of its Kite Hydroliner single-decker to 43, with around 130 due to be delivered by the end of this year. WestVerkehr is based in the western-most district of Germany, on the border with the Netherlands, and will operate the Kite Hydroliners on routes between Heinsberg, Hückelhoven, and Erkelenz.
CEO of Wrightbus Jean-Marc Gales said: “We are delighted that WestVerkehr is bringing our zero-emission hydrogen buses onto the roads of North Rhine-Westphalia. This benefits the environment and ensures that people in the region breathe better air.
“What means just as much to us is the excellent partnership and cooperation with WestVerkehr.
I would like to sincerely thank Managing Director Udo Winkens and his team. I also want to acknowledge our own excellent engineers and designers in Northern Ireland, the production teams, product development and the sales and service teams. We can all be very proud of the Kite Hydroliner.”
WestVerkehr Managing Director Udo Winkens cut a red ribbon to mark the official commissioning of the buses at the official launch event. He commented: “By participating in this project, WestVerkehr is underlining its commitment to environmentally friendly, future-oriented mobility. Together with the partners of the H2HS consortium, we are actively driving forward the transformation of local public transport – innovative, emission-free and close to the people.”
District Administrator Stephan Pusch said he was particularly pleased about the commissioning of the vehicles: “The whole world is talking about the energy transition. But we aren’t talking about it, we are doing it. Hydrogen-powered public transport is an important building block in our efforts to act as a globally sustainable municipality.”
Hartmut Höppner, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport Affairs added: “The purchase of hydrogen buses offers real added value: they are quieter, more environmentally and climate-friendly and thus contribute to a higher quality of life and environment for people in our cities and villages. The use of new technologies reduces noise levels and pollution. We are therefore happy to support WestVerkehr GmbH’s initiative to switch to alternative drive systems with €3.4 million.
This is good news for the citizens of the region as well as for climate and environmental protection.” Wrightbus began delivery of its first buses to mainland Europe in 2024, and now has 31 Kite Hydroliners in operation at Regionalverkehr Köln (RVK), which has placed orders for eight additional buses by the end of 2025, and has the option of more. Deliveries for Saarbahn (28 vehicles), Cottbusverkehr and Spree-Neiße-Cottbusverkehr (46) and Vestische Straßenbahnen (five) are also earmarked for delivery during 2025, supported by Wrightbus’ new European service centre and parts warehouse in Brühl, near Cologne.
“Under the AllServiceOne brand, our team of experts maintains and services all types of buses here in the heart of Europe,” said Jean-Marc. “This includes those from other manufacturers and with different drive types.”
