Going places

 

Our story begins with the Christmas shuttle. It’s December 1999 and the shuttle bus is providing visitors with quiet, zero-emission transportation between Hamburg’s Christmas markets. The vehicle, which is operated by the Hamburger Hochbahn public transport company, is a “Nebus,” the first fuel cell bus produced by Daimler.

Four years later, a worldwide major project is initiated in Hamburg and eleven further cities, in which a total of 36 Citaro fuel cell buses are on the roads.
Today, Hamburger Hochbahn operates six Mercedes-Benz Citaro fuel cell
buses, each with more than 5,000 hours of operation. At the beginning of the
year Mayor Ole von Beust announces: “We plan to further increase the number
of hydrogen-powered vehicles in our fleet.” In other words, the city is now
really going places as far as alternative transportation is concerned. In fact, ten of the latest-generation Citaro fuel cell buses will begin operation in Hamburg in late 2010. They will be joined by 20 B-Class F-CELL cars, which can be easily refueled within minutes and are capable of everyday operation. Hamburg will also receive four new hydrogen filling stations to complement the two it already has.

Hamburg’s commitment to zero-emission H2 drives is also on display in the Speicherstadt district, where a 1:87 scale fuel cell bus makes its rounds amid model railroads at the “Miniature Wonderland.” The bus, which is 14 centimeters long, is equipped with an actual miniature fuel cell that powers an electric motor. Although the lilliputian high-tech vehicle has to refuel every five minutes, the hydrogen is — naturally — generated renewably with solar energy.