149 electric buses suspended in Paris area after two fires in a month

Paris transport operator RATP has recalled 149 electric buses after one caught fire yesterday morning (April 29), the second time a bus of the same make and model has gone up in flames in the past month in Paris.

The buses that caught fire were both made by Bolloré and from the Bluebus 5SE series. No one was injured in either incident, and no cause has yet been discovered. An investigation is underway to determine the causes of the accidents.

“After these two fires in a few weeks on the same series of buses, we immediately decided to withdraw these buses from operation," Nicolas Cartier, director of bus maintenance at RATP, told franceinfo yesterday. .

RATP has asked Bluebus for an action plan to return to a “normal bus safety situation", Mr Cartier said.

“Until we have this action plan and a guarantee that we can operate safely, none of these buses will run.”

A Bluebus caught fire at around 08:00 yesterday in the 13th arrondissement in Paris. It follows a separate incident at the beginning of April, when another Bluebus caught fire in Paris’ fifth arrondissement.

"All our teams are mobilised to analyse and collect the data that will enable us to provide an assessment [of the situation]," said Serge Amabilé, Bluebus’ commercial director.

"The first Bluebus was delivered in December 2015. Apart from the last three weeks, there has never been a fire," he said.

RATP operates a fleet of 4,700 buses, including 500 electric buses from three different manufacturers.

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