An award for Ticino’s first electric buses

PostBus will begin using the electric buses in Bellinzona in May 2025. They are the first electric buses to be used in road-based public transport in the Canton of Ticino. The six fossil fuel-free vehicles will operate within the tpb network on route 1 Castione FFS–Arbedo–Bellinzona FFS–Giubiasco FFS–Camorino.

To mark this important milestone, an inauguration event was held at the PostBus depot in Bellinzona on the morning of 15 May. It was attended by Claudio Zali, Director of the Department of Planning of the Canton of Ticino; Mattia Lepori, Communal Councillor for the City of Bellinzona and Chair of the Regional Commission for Transport in the Bellinzona Region; Alex Malinverno, Head of Market & Customers South at PostBus; and Massimo Mobiglia, President of WWF Svizzera italiana. As a symbolic gesture, guests had the opportunity to charge the new electric Postbuses for the first time.

After a delivery delay of several months, the new vehicles are now in operation. The buses are 12 metres long, can accommodate 28 seated and 39 standing passengers, and are equipped with the usual facilities. The new eCitaro electric Postbuses are not just free of fossil fuels, they also offer an impressively quiet and smooth ride. This benefits passengers, drivers and residents along PostBus routes.

The introduction of the first six electric Postbuses in Bellinzona will save 146,000 litres of diesel a year, preventing 373 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. Each bus is fitted with six battery packs that provide total power output of 420 kWh. PostBus will recharge the buses at the Bellinzona depot, where the required charging infrastructure has been installed in recent months. This includes two transformers, rectifiers and a total of seven charging points for individual Postbuses. 1.5 km of electric cable ducts were laid during the construction work.

The final depot structure includes 17 charging points that can recharge more than 40 vehicles. This is because PostBus is gradually converting its vehicles to electric drive systems, including those used on other tpb routes and for local services within the Bellinzona region. PostBus operates throughout the Canton of Ticino and plans to convert its entire fleet to alternative drive systems by 2035. After this point, there will no longer be any diesel Postbuses on the roads in Ticino. At a press conference in Bellinzona, Alex Malinverno, Head of Market & Customers South at PostBus in Ticino, said: “As Switzerland’s number one road-based public transport company, PostBus is leading by example. We have a particular responsibility to convert our vehicle fleet to alternative drive systems, as 20 percent of CO₂ emissions in Swiss public transport are currently generated by Postbuses.”

Award from WWF

At the event in Bellinzona, WWF Svizzera italiana presented PostBus with the Fossil Free 2025 award for electrifying its vehicle fleet. Massimo Mobiglia, President of WWF Svizzera italiana, said: “PostBus Ltd is the first company to use fully electric buses in the Canton of Ticino, a milestone on our path to a zero-emission road-based public service in our region. We congratulate PostBus for this exemplary commitment to the climate, air quality and a first-class, cutting-edge service for the public in Italian-speaking Switzerland.”

Growth within tpb

At the press conference, PostBus took the opportunity to highlight tpb’s positive development. A total of 3,621,041 passengers travelled on tbp’s routes in 2024, an increase of 9 percent compared to 2023. Route 1 remains the busiest route, with almost 1.5 million passengers and a rise of 11 percent year-on-year. tpb celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2024.