Fires are a leading safety occurrence in NSW bus fleets.
This 2020 Bus Safety Report gives a detailed overview of all the year's findings.
What happened
There were 73 fire and thermal incidents reported to OTSI in 2020. This represented a 34% decrease from 2019. There were seven fire incidents in 2020.
There was a significant decrease in thermal events from 110 in 2019 to 66 in 2020. In 2020 no passengers or staff were injured resulting from bus fires or related events.
There was a significant decrease in the severity of damage to vehicles, with no buses destroyed in 2020 compared to four in 2019.
The number of buses with major damage, one incident, has remained the same as 2019.
It was likely that one bus was saved from major damage by the activation of the engine bay fire suppression (EBFS) system
What has been done as a result
All NSW buses under Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) metropolitan and outer metropolitan contract are now fitted with engine bay fire suppression systems.
All future buses supplied under these contracts will be delivered with EBFS systems.
Non-contracted buses are not required to be fitted with EBFS systems; these buses are also accredited by TfNSW.
Document download
- Bus Safety Report - Bus fires in NSW in 2020 Download (PDF 0.69MB)
Bus Safety Report - Bus fires in NSW in 2020