Yutong's 26-meter pure electric buses, known as "land trains", can carry up to 270 passengers in a single trip in Mexico City. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

As the FIFA World Cup 2026 approaches, Mexico City is overhauling its public transport fleet to welcome the expected surge of global fans, and Chinese bus manufacturer Yutong Bus is at the center of that effort.

The city has assembled 800 new energy buses for the tournament, over 95 percent of which are Chinese-made. Yutong, based in Henan province, accounts for 85 percent alone, according to Henan Daily.

The procurement includes 12 nine-meter pure electric buses and 19 trolleybuses for short-distance routes, alongside 26-meter pure electric articulated buses — dubbed "land trains" — capable of carrying up to 270 passengers, the equivalent of three standard buses.

Yutong Bus in Mexico City. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Yutong says the vehicles have been adapted to local conditions. The trolleybuses run on a dual-power system combining overhead wires and batteries, with an off-wire range of 75 kilometers. The 26-meter models carry 770 kWh batteries and can cover 300 kilometers daily without mid-route charging, suited to the city's heavy congestion and high-frequency service demands.

The buses also feature women-only pink seats and dedicated accessible areas, custom-designed for the Mexico City market, according to Huang Ruoyu, a product engineer for Yutong in the Americas.

Platform height required adaptation as well. Zhang Xiang, Yutong's brand manager for Latin America, noted that Mexico's bus platforms stand one meter high, above the 90-centimeter global standard — a modification the company says improved BRT efficiency by 40 percent.

During the World Cup, the buses will operate dedicated routes linking the city center, stadiums, and the airport.

Yutong has been supplying Latin America since 2018, with more than 29,000 vehicles now operating across Chile, Peru, Colombia, and other countries in the region.

Web editors: Shen Jianqi, Li Siyao