Electric, Hydrogen & Hybrid Electric Buses in Ireland

If they could get the depot in Galway electrified then they could redirect some of the PAs being used there to DB that should get the average age of the fleet in Dublin down a far bit.

There is/was talk of Navan getting electric buses as well I believe.

I don't believe there are any EAs to spare at the moment and I don't think the NTA can order anymore EAs as the model isn't being made anymore. For the buses we already have I think the 21 with BÉ are all needed for Sligo and Athlone town services and the 34 with DB for the O. I think any further electrification of town services may be on pause until a new framework is in place, but it's anyone's guess how long that could be.

For now any future town or expanded services will use cascaded stock as between Sligo, Cork, and eventually Waterford there are a still quite a few buses that have plenty of life left (mostly WMs, WLs, and MCs). But I am still hoping they will have a new framework sooner than later.

As previous comment says, they are meant to go to Cork in advance of it's full electrification and it's because Cork really needs the extra buses.

Cork's electrification progress is a bit grim at the moment (at least compared to Dublin, Limerick, and Galway), and the BC network will put the depot/fleet in a bit of an odd spot for a good few years. Electrification of Capwell will only start once Tivoli is complete and operating (with PADs) and a second depot will be needed to replace the capacity added by Tivoli when it is closed in 2030. It's also possible that before Tivoli closes they will need to complete a third permanent depot (mentioned in the business case).

Now that said, assuming Tivoli will close in 2030 and that all goes well with Cork electrification there will be 2/3 permanent fully electrified depots in 2030. That would mean the PADs will have at least 5 years left and could be cascaded elsewhere, and that could be Dublin to help phase out aging SGs (and at the current rate GTs too).

Well the Jamestown Road was only supposed to be temporary and is now a permanent depot

If they do end up putting in chargers at Tivoli I imagine it would be because they are making it a permanent depot. Though I do think that would be a good idea as they could then just avoid having to build a completely new third depot. However, getting planning permission may be tricky, and it would likely mean rebuilding some parts of the depot (or at least at some point in the long term).

However, as difficult as that may be I still think that is better than having to try and find a location for a third depot. It would do wonders for Cork's electrification too and I think it would make electrifying the fleet before 2030 much easier. If they applied for planning permission for that this year as Capwell is being upgraded I would almost think it would be possible to be fully electrified for 2028 (assuming there aren't grid problems… which is optimistic). That also gives them a better buffer for getting Kinsale Rd built.

On the topic of charging capacity and the depots needed to support BEV networks, what is the deal with Limerick, Galway, and Waterford? Dublin is getting several new depots, a replacement depot for Conyngham, and the temporary Jamestown Rd depot. Cork is getting also getting 2 new depots and Tivoli temporary depot (or 1 new in addition to Tivoli if it's made permanent as discussed above).

But what is the case with the other cities? I don't think much has been said about them beyond the current works and planning applications? Limerick now has 70 chargers at Roxboro and Galway (awaiting final planning permission) is also going to get 70, but is that going to be enough for BC rollout? Can their depots handle more buses and/or chargers? Or will they be looking at new depots sometime this decade too? Then there's also Waterford which there just seems to be so little information about. Maybe when Galway's been electrified they will start putting together more finalised plans for Waterford?

Seems that Harristown's EW'S are slowly coming into service,, 3 are out today

Are they on bustimes?

Will any of the EW’s be used on the E2 do we know?

They won't be as they are not tracking yet, they where on the 27B

I doubt it

According to the comments from the above video, they have USB-C ports (or at least EW252 does anyways)