Bologna runs on hydrogen: 127 fuel cell buses begin rollout

A large-scale rollout of hydrogen buses has begun in the Italian city of Bologna. Public transport operator TPER has put the first of a total of 127 fuel cell buses into service. The vehicles are appearing on the streets step by step – the first ran on selected journeys of routes 11, 14, 20, 36 and 92.

Which buses, and where they run

These are the Solaris Urbino 12 hydrogen from Polish manufacturer Solaris, ordered in 2023 and delivered in batches. They are deployed on urban routes that require 12-metre buses and on suburban links between the city and the wider metropolitan area.

The fleet comes in two configurations: 60 three-door buses for busy urban lines and 67 two-door buses for the suburban routes. The buses seat around 85 passengers and are equipped with climate control and accessibility features.

The technology

Each bus is powered by a 160 kW fuel cell module (built around Ballard technology) and has a range of up to about 350 km – according to TPER, even more than 400 km on a single refuelling cycle under favourable conditions. A fuel cell converts onboard hydrogen into electricity; the only emission is water vapour. Refuelling takes place at the new hydrogen station at the Via Battindarno depot, built specifically for this fleet and now operational.

Funding and context

The Municipality of Bologna secured €69.9 million from Italy's Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR, funded by Next Generation EU) to finance the buses, supplemented by €5 million of TPER's own funds – €74.9 million in total. Once fully deployed, the hydrogen buses will make up around 12% of TPER's city fleet. In nearby Ferrara, ten similar fuel cell buses are already running.

For manufacturer Solaris, Bologna fits a growing European story: the company speaks of a fleet of now more than 800 hydrogen buses in Europe, and recently won an order for fuel cell buses in Krefeld, Germany, planned for 2027.

Hydrogen as an asset for city transport

For public transport, hydrogen has appealing qualities. Buses run long days with high occupancy; fast refuelling and ample range suit that well, without long charging breaks during the day. Grid congestion also plays a role: fast-charging an entire bus fleet at once demands a lot from the electricity grid, which in many places is already full. A hydrogen fleet spreads that load differently.

Alongside battery-electric buses – which TPER is also expanding further, together with trolleybuses and a future tram network – this project shows that hydrogen is a fully fledged zero-emission option within a broader mix. With it, Bologna joins the European cities with the largest hydrogen bus fleets.

Sources:

• TPER – tper.it
• Sustainable Bus – sustainable-bus.com
• Hydrogen Europe – hydrogeneurope.eu
• Ballard – blog.ballard.com
• gasworld – gasworld.com