Messina (Italy) expands electric bus fleet to 97 units with latest Iveco Bus delivery

Italian public transport operator ATM Messina has taken delivery of 29 new battery-electric buses from Iveco Bus, expanding its fleet to 97 BEV buses out of a 232-units fleet.

The municipal public transport operator of Messina, a port city in north-eastern Sicily facing the Strait of Messina between mainland Italy and the island, has received eighteen 12-metre and eleven 9.5-metre battery-electric buses supplied by Iveco Bus.

The delivery took place on Friday, 20 February, as reported on Italian trade media (and out sister platform) Autobusweb, that states that an additional 18 electric buses are expected to be delivered by June 2026, including 12 articulated vehicles intended primarily for use on the Shuttle line and six 8-metre buses. Messina’s fleet also includes BYD and Karsan e-buses.

Messina deploys electric buses

With the introduction of these vehicles, Azienda Trasporti Messina (ATM) now operates a fleet of 232 buses. This total comprises 97 battery-electric buses, 19 hybrid vehicles and 116 low-emission units. The newly delivered buses are scheduled to enter service in the coming days on urban routes across the city.

The 29 electric buses are part of ATM’s ongoing fleet renewal programme, which has progressively reduced the average age of the vehicles in operation. The company states that the new units will further reinforce the local public transport offer in Messina.

Messina has approximately 220,000 inhabitants and represents one of Sicily’s main urban centres, with transport connections linking the island to Calabria via ferry services across the Strait of Messina. Public transport services in the city are managed by ATM Messina, the municipally owned operator responsible for bus and tram operations.

“We continue to invest in electric mobility with a view to increasingly sustainable transport that places public transport at the centre and aims to reduce CO2 emissions in the city. In recent years, ATM has played a fundamental operational role in supporting the green policies implemented by the municipal administration, with the objective of improving air quality and quality of life,” said Messina Mayor Federico Basile.

“ATM’s green fleet is continuously growing, thanks to strategic decisions taken since 2020 in synergy with the Municipality of Messina. Today, the company has an increasingly defined green identity and is progressing along the path of ecological transition at a pace above the national average, as certified by the latest ASSTRA report. Furthermore, by June 2026, a further eighteen electric buses will arrive, including twelve articulated units to be mainly deployed on the Shuttle line and six 8-metre buses,” stated ATM Messina President Carla Grillo.