The site is to house one of the largest hydrogen bus fleets and refuelling stations in the UK. It fuelled nine buses onsite on its first day (15 November 2024).

Hydrogen will be stored at the Metrobus Crawley depot in liquid form, before converted into gas held in tanks on the roof of vehicles. It took eight minutes to fill an empty tank of a route 100 bus.

Before now, the Metrobus Crawley depot was solely reliant on gaseous hydrogen to fuel the hydrogen buses. The gaseous fuel was delivered to the depot in special hydrogen tanks on trailers, meaning the operation was at a much lower scale and not all hydrogen buses could be fuelled and be fully operational. There still remains regulatory challenges that need to be addressed before the refuelling station can operate at full capacity. The regulations for hydrogen need to catch up to support the sustainable goal of decarbonisation in the transport industry.

“This innovation for buses is a giant leap forward for sustainable transport with Metrobus leading the way in the decarbonisation of local public transport” – Ed Wills, Managing Director for Metrobus & Brighton & Hove Buses

Ed Wills, Managing Director for Metrobus & Brighton & Hove Buses, said: “The plan is for the entire fleet of Fastway buses to operate daily with 16 buses on routes 10 and 20, and nine further buses on the route 100. That’s 25 vehicles in total, with a longer-term plan of fuelling a fleet of up to 54 buses from the Metrobus Crawley depot.

“This innovation for buses is a giant leap forward for sustainable transport with Metrobus leading the way in the decarbonisation of local public transport. Less emissions from road vehicles helps to tackle climate change benefiting the environment and the communities we serve.”

Metrobus claims liquid hydrogen is an ideal fuel for operating the intensive 24/7/365 Fastway service, which has lengthy routes, heavy passenger loads and hilly terrain. The buses can run for up to 600 miles before they need refuelling.