Two men died in a collision between a gas bus and a passenger car on Farstabron in Värmdö outside Stockholm. The vehicles started burning and in pictures from the accident site, flames were seen spraying out from the gas-powered bus.
Five years ago, another bus fire, at the entrance to the Klaratunnel in Stockholm, received great attention.
According to Kjell-Olof Matsson, who after the fire in 2019 on the government's commission investigated traffic safety for gas buses, buses powered by gas are not more prone to fires than other buses.
It's often the fire process that gets attention. But what we saw was that gas buses do not start burning more often than other types of buses, he says.
It's also very rare that they start burning due to the gas, but rather other things, such as electrical faults or overheated brakes that are behind.
"Dramatic fire processes"
On the other hand, he continues, the gas buses pose a special challenge for the rescue service.
To prevent the gas tanks from exploding, there are safety valves that should release the gas if it expands due to heat. If the gas then catches fire, it can lead to long flames shooting out from the bus's roof.
It often becomes dramatic fire processes, but the buses are built in this way because it is considered the safest way, says Kjell-Olof Matsson.
It's a safety feature so that the gas cylinders don't explode. So the rescue service and others naturally need to know.
Electric buses on the rise
According to the industry organization Sveriges Bussföretag, there are approximately 2,400 gas buses in Sweden right now.
At the same time, the authority Trafikanalys predicts that the number of gas buses in the next three years will decrease from today's approximately 17 percent of the bus fleet to around 13 percent.
Many municipalities drive gas buses on self-produced gas. But in recent years, electric buses have become increasingly common instead, says Kjell-Olof Matsson.
