Arriva to operate 82 electric buses to Budapest
According to Arriva, these will be the first electric buses in Budapest. The company was successful with its bid to become the first operator of an electric bus fleet in the Hungarian capital Budapest after the transport company BKK (Budapesti Közlekedési Központ) awarded two new twelve-year contracts, according to the former railway subsidiary. From 2010 to 2023, the company belonged to Deutsche Bahn as DB Arriva. It was then sold to infrastructure investor I Squared Capital.
It is not yet known exactly which vehicles Arriva will deploy in Budapest – the operator is expected to issue a tender soon. What is clear is that the fleet of 82 electric buses will initially consist of 58 solo buses and 24 articulated buses. And they will be low-floor buses, Arriva announced. The prerequisite for deploying the electric buses was the electrification of Arriva’s Andor depot, which has already been completed. Work has been underway for two years to be able to charge and maintain up to 150 electric buses at the depot. Arriva states that the fleet can be expanded during the twelve-year contract period (until 2038).
The Budapest transport company published a corresponding tender around a year ago. The new contracts will replace the existing Arriva contracts in the region. Arriva has been operating in the region since 1999 and is currently Budapest’s only privately run public transport operator. The operating area covers the northern part of the city, as well as the East (Pest) and West (Buda) regions on both sides of the Danube.
“Our operation in Budapest is an important part of our European portfolio and I’m delighted that we have been recognised for our expertise and leadership in decarbonisation and awarded these two contracts,” said Sian Leydon, Arriva Group’s Managing Director for Mainland Europe. ” With 12 years ahead of us, we can invest with confidence and consolidate our position as the leading private bus operator in Hungary”.
Although the Arriva buses will be Budapest’s first purely battery-electric buses, they will not be the first public transport buses with electric drive. In December 2021, the Hungarian capital ordered 48 trolleybuses with buffer batteries from a consortium consisting of Solaris Bus & Coach and Skoda Electric, which are already in operation.
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