Middle East Infrastructure
Oman's first hydrogen city bus goes into passenger service on a Muscat route
By Staff Writer | 5 September 2026
A memorandum signed in Salalah puts a 24-seat fuel cell bus into service with Mwasalat from the third quarter of this year, on a pilot running to the third quarter of 2027, alongside a 240 kilowatt ultra-fast charger to be tested at a service station near Muscat.
Oman is to put its first hydrogen powered city bus on public transport routes in Muscat under a memorandum of understanding signed this week at the Gulf Green Mobility Forum in Salalah, between the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology and Hyundai Motor Group. The signing ceremony was held on Thursday 3 September 2026.
The memorandum runs for an initial year and renews automatically. It covers electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell mobility and smart city technologies, and it names Hyundai as a possible technology partner in Oman's urban development programmes, including Sultan Haitham City, under Oman Vision 2040.
A service, not a demonstration
The vehicle is a 24-seat ELEC CITY Fuel Cell bus, and it will be operated by Mwasalat, the national public transport operator, under a separate pilot agreement. It is scheduled to enter passenger service during the third quarter of 2026, with the pilot continuing until the third quarter of 2027. Mwasalat plans to designate a route in the capital for the trial.
The distinction that matters here is that the bus carries fare paying passengers on a scheduled route rather than running empty for a technology demonstration. A year of real duty cycles, real loads and real Omani summer temperatures is the evidence a procurement decision needs, and a demonstration does not produce it.
Over the year the two parties will assess the vehicle under working conditions, including reliability, efficiency and environmental performance measured against conventional diesel buses. Results will be measured against agreed performance indicators.
We are delighted to establish strategic partnerships with MoTCIT today. HMG is committed to helping turn Oman's Vision 2040 ambitions into tangible outcomes through collaboration in smart cities and future mobility.
Hokeun Chung, Executive Vice-President and Head of the Future Strategy Division at Hyundai Motor Group
The charging agreement beside it
A second strand covers battery electric vehicles. Hyundai is working with Oman Oil Marketing Company and its charging brand EVO on the deployment of a 240 kilowatt direct current ultra-fast charger at an Oman Oil service station in Halban, near Muscat. Separate agreements have been signed by the marketing company and Hyundai Motor Group, and by the charging brand and Hyundai Kefico.
The charger is to be tested during the third and fourth quarters of 2026, and the tests are to include trials of its performance in high summer temperatures. The charging pilot will look at charging performance, customer demand and commercial feasibility. Depending on the results of a six month trial, the operator will consider extending the charging network.
What has not been published
No capital value has been attached to either strand, no route has been named for the bus, and no hydrogen supply or refuelling arrangement for the vehicle has been described. Nor has any party said what happens at the end of the pilot beyond a stated intention to explore wider deployment if the trials succeed. For a contractor or consultant pricing depot works, refuelling plant or grid connections for either technology, the useful date is not the start of the pilot but the report at the end of it, and that falls due in the third quarter of 2027.