281 Crawley - Lingfield

Statement: On Tuesday the 2nd of December, a incident occurred on one of our Hydrogen vehicles, resulting in it burning out. We always put safety first, we got straight to work with help from Wrightbus to investigate the cause of the fire. Eventually we figured out the issue and have unfortunately discovered that the rest of our older Hydrogen Buses (built before Q3 2024) have the same issue. We have been advised to remove these buses from service for the foreseeable future, this means we have lost 40 buses so severe network disruption should be expected. We apologise for the inconvenience that has been caused and we will work tirelessly to get these buses back into service We thankyou for your understanding in the matter. Update as of 9/12/25: Currently, 95% of services are operating and continuing to improve, following the introduction of replacement buses. This will help minimise disruption across the network. Please note that some routes may temporarily be served by buses that are not Metrobus-branded vehicles. You can board and travel as usual, using the same tickets and payment methods. This temporary measure is in place due to an isolated battery issue identified earlier this week, which required certain vehicles to be withdrawn while the manufacturer completes its investigation. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused and strongly recommend checking your journey before you travel to ensure you have the latest service information. Thank you for your understanding and patience as we work to restore full service as quickly as possible.

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