Solaris Bus & Coach will supply an Arriva Group operator in the Netherlands with 30 electric buses. A total of 26 Urbino 12 electric and four articulated Urbino 18 electric 30 buses will serve public transport in the West-Brabant region.
The investment is part of Arriva’s plan to make the entire bus fleet in the region zero-emission by July 2025. The buses are set to arrive to West-Brabant in the first half of 2025.
‘Arriva’s order of 30 electric buses is an important step toward greener mobility solutions in the Netherlands,” says Olivier Michard, chief commercial officer at Solaris. “We are very happy to continue our cooperation by introducing another zero-emission technology — besides hydrogen — to Arriva’s fleet. We strongly believe that e-mobility is a key to the global transformation of transport.”
‘With the investment of these buses, we invest in the future,” adds Jan Pieter Been, regional director of Arriva Zuid. “We take a huge step regarding our zero-emission ambitions. Over 90 percent of the public transport by bus in West-Brabant is electric, with no emission. It fits our ambition to work CO2 neutral in 2027.”
The buses that will be deployed in West Brabant are based on a new modular drive system architecture that eliminates the so-called engine tower. This design increases passenger space and allows for placement of batteries solely on the roof. Both the 12- and 18-meter vehicles will have batteries with a capacity of approximately 400 kWh, charged via a plug-in socket. Each bus will have two charging sockets, on the left and right side. The 30 buses for West-Brabant will be equipped with central traction engines.
In the contract, the operator has opted for driver amenities to increase safety and comfort. A monitoring system will be available on board each bus, with fisheye cameras observing areas in front of the vehicle and on its right side, as well as cameras in place of traditional side mirrors. A system will alert the driver to pedestrians and cyclists in the vicinity of the bus, and a lane departure warning system and fatigue monitoring system are also provided. The interior will feature comfortable seating, onboard WiFi and USB chargers.