Buses World News

In brief: Worldwide montly news & informations about Buses, Busmakers, Passengers' and the Transport Industry

18.3.17

SCANIA's GAS CITY BUSES from Sweden to Spain

* Sweden - Scania delivers 160 gas-buses to Madrid

--- The City of Madrid has initiated an ambitious programme to improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions with the stated goal to ban diesel by 2025. Half the EMT fleet of more than 1,500 buses is already gas powered and with the scheduled deliveries that share will be even higher... As part of the complete bus renewal programme for the Spanish capital Madrid, Scania will deliver 160 gas city buses. The municipal transport company, EMT Madrid, will take delivery of 80 new buses this year with another 80 buses added to the fleet in 2018. This order is in addition to the 46 Scania gas buses ordered last year. The 12-metre low floor buses will be bodybuilt by Castrosua... Scania is a part of Volkswagen Truck & Bus GmbH and one of the world’s leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications...
(Photo: A Scania EMT biogas 2017) -- Sodertalje, Sweden - Busworld - 9 MAR 2017

Labels: natural gas fueled, public bus services

17.3.17

ALSTOM ELECTRIC BUSES * Europe: Are tested in the Ile-de-France region

* France - Alstom and NTL launch Aptis new electric bus

--- As cities are looking for smarter, more efficient and more connected means of transportation, Aptis has already attracted the interest of customers in Europe... In France, STIF has decided to launch two trials, one of which is with RATP. Aptis will undergo test runs in Paris and in the Ile-de-France region during the second half of 2017... Aptis’ unique and innovative design, based on that of a tram, incorporates low-floor accessibility and 360° views... Operators will benefit from a vehicle that is easy to maintain with the longest lifetime in its category... Alstom and NTL will provide not only the vehicle, but an entire system. It includes dimensioning, charging options, road infrastructure, leasing and warranty options, Buses can be charged at night in the depot, or rapidly at the end of each line during daily operations. Fast charging is either via inverted pantograph or SRS, Alstom’s innovative fast ground charging system... Thanks to low maintenance and operation costs and a longer lifetime compared to buses, Aptis has a total cost of ownership equivalent to current diesel buses... Aptis prototypes are being manufactured in NTL’s factory in Duppigheim, Alsace, with key components manufactured by five of Alstom’s sites in France...
Duppigheim, Alsace, France - Busworld - 14 MAR 2017

Labels: busmakers news Europe, electric buses makers

"BANDONEON" VEHICLES: BUSES or TRAMS ? * Europe: Belgium / Italy

* Belgium - Bi-articulated buses for Brisbane

--- Van Hool NV from Belgium, or Carrosserie Hess AG from Switzerland, electric-powered buses almost 30 metres long, could move Brisbane commuters in the new "metro" service announced by Brisbane City Council recently. "It is new-generation buses that would shift the people"... They are called "bi-articulated" buses and are common throughout Europe and South America (wheter are known as "bandoneon-buses")... The plans are to have a bus available every three minutes on two new routes which are particularly created for these buses... They would look like modern "bi-articulated buses" with three passenger sections and two rubber-lined joints, with the driver sitting in the front section. The Council is still reluctant to call them buses, arguing that while they would have rubber tyres, they would operate more like trams...
(Photo: Van Hool NV Carrosserie Hess AG Electric-powered buses) -- Koningshooikt, Belgium / Brisbane, Queensland, Australia - Busworld - 10 MAR 2017

* Italy - IVECO to supply 120 hybrid articulated buses to Milan

--- Italian bus and truck manufacturer Iveco will be supplying 120 new 18-metre articulated hybrid buses to Milan public transport operator ATM... The model auppled by Iveco is the Urbanway Hybrid, which was developed by the company to significantly reduce emissions and fuel consumption while ensuring increasingly-sustainable mobility for the community it serves. The Urbanway Hybrid consumes up to 30% less fuel than conventional buses, with reductions of 33% and 40% in CO2 and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions per kilometre respectively, compared with diesel buses... According to Iveco, the new vehicle combines an electric traction system with a Euro VI internal combustion engine and a latest-generation lithium-ion battery pack. The “Arrive & Go” function (a smart power management system) permits 100% electric operation with zero emissions when approaching and leaving bus stops, even where significant distances are involved... Another advantage of the Urbanway Hybrid is its complete silence, said the statement... All vehicles included in the contract are equipped with series-hybrid systems comprising a 175 (peak)/120 kW (continuous mode) electric motor and a 210kW Tector internal combustion engine...
(Photo An Iveco Bus) -- Milan, Italy - Busworld - 2 March 2017

Labels: articulated buses, busmakers news Europe, metro style bus systems, public transport Australia