Kinetic has completed a major charging infrastructure upgrade at its Heatherton bus depot in Melbourne’s south-east, paving the way for every urban route bus operating from the site to become zero-emission by the end of 2026.
The project increases the depot’s electric bus charging capacity from 12 vehicles to 30, allowing the site to support the entire Metropolitan Bus Franchise fleet based at Heatherton.
Once the remaining diesel buses are replaced, passengers travelling on routes 600, 603, 604, 922 and 923 will be carried exclusively by zero-emission buses operating from the depot.
While the transition to electric buses is significant, the Heatherton project also highlights the growing importance of charging infrastructure and energy management as larger fleets move beyond small-scale EV trials.
For the first time on Kinetic’s Australian network, the depot will use automated charging technology. Load-management software will distribute charging demand across the site overnight, keeping electricity consumption within the depot’s available power capacity while ensuring buses are charged and ready for morning operations.
The system uses a single overhead charging gantry capable of supporting up to 22 charge points, together with two fast chargers for high-capacity opportunity charging and a dedicated electrical kiosk to increase the amount of power available at the depot.
For fleet operators planning depot charging, the way the project was installed is also noteworthy.
The gantry system required relatively little civil construction and could be manufactured off-site, allowing the installation work to take place around normal depot operations. Heatherton remained operational throughout the upgrade and no vehicle parking or operational space was lost. Kinetic says additional usable space will become available once the remaining diesel infrastructure is removed.
Kinetic Managing Director Australia Matthew Campbell said reliable charging infrastructure was becoming fundamental to maintaining electric bus operations.
“Heatherton will be the first depot in Kinetic’s Victorian network where every urban route bus that leaves the depot gates is 100% electric,” Campbell said.
“Reliable charging is what keeps buses in service, so we keep investing in the equipment our people work with.”
The Heatherton project follows several other charging infrastructure developments across Kinetic’s network.
The company previously installed its first overhead charging gantry in Australasia at Glenfield in Auckland, while its Preston depot became the first Australian Kinetic facility to introduce gantry and cable-reel charging in January 2026. Heatherton is the first location to introduce automated charging, with the same technology now being extended to the company’s Sunshine West depot.
The depot was already one of Victoria’s early electric bus charging locations and was electrified as part of Kinetic’s Metropolitan Bus Franchise.
Electricity used for charging comes entirely from renewable energy supplied through the grid, while more than 200 solar panels provide additional renewable energy for the depot.
Kinetic has operated the Metropolitan Bus Franchise since February 2022 and took on the Metropolitan Zero Emission Bus Franchise in July 2025. It now operates more than a third of Melbourne’s public bus network across 64 routes.
For other fleet operators preparing to electrify larger depots, Heatherton demonstrates that the challenge is increasingly about more than installing chargers.
Power availability, automated charging, load management, vehicle scheduling, space utilisation and keeping the depot operational during construction all become central parts of the fleet transition as the number of electric vehicles increases.
Moving from 12 charging positions to capacity for 30 buses is an example of the next stage of fleet electrification — designing infrastructure around full-scale operational requirements rather than accommodating a small number of electric vehicles.
