Bologna orders e-buses from VDL
In Italy, the public transport operator TPER (Emilia-Romagna Passenger Transport) has ordered seven Citea SLF-120 Electric buses from VDL Bus & Coach. These are to be deployed in the city of Bologna in 2022. Both parties also want to explore extending the order to up to 20 electric city buses.
The order from Bologna is the second e-mobility project for VDL Bus & Coach in Italy. In May this year, two Citea electric buses were put into service between the car parks and terminals of Milan Malpensa Airport. Bologna is one of the largest cities in Italy with almost 400,000 inhabitants. The new electric buses will be deployed on lines 28 and T1. The Citea SLF-120 Electric buses have been ordered in the configuration 31+2 seats and 49 standing places and with a battery capacity of 350 kWh.
VDL Bus & Coach is also responsible for the supply and implementation of the charging infrastructure, in accordance with the contract with the Italian public transport operator. For this purpose, the manufacturer is again working with the Dutch company Heliox from Best. VDL says that the TPER depot is to receive charging stations at which three buses can be charged simultaneously.
“Cities in Italy are increasingly making the transition to sustainable public transport”, says Massimiliano Costantini, Managing Director of VDL Bus & Coach Italia. “We are proud that TPER has called on our expertise as a frontrunner in e-mobility in Europe. Our electric buses have covered more than 125 million kilometres, which is a clear indicator of our competence. This order strengthens our foothold in the market, which speaks to our ambition to play a major role in Italy’s transition to zero-emission public transport.”
TPER has so far only had experience with electric minibuses with a battery operating range of up to 100 kilometres and is now graduating to the use of electric city buses. The operator was created only this year by merging the transport divisions of ATC, a road transport company from Bologna and Ferrara, and FER, a regional railway company. TPER now employs around 2,500 people.
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