Last week, Stadtwerke Osnabrueck welcomed the first of the 13 ordered VDL Citea SLFA-181 electric buses. The E-bus will make its first test drives through Osnabrueck in the coming days.
In the coming weeks, system supplier VDL Bus & Coach bv from the Netherlands will successively deliver the other 12 Citea SLFA-181 electric articulated buses ordered from the production plant in Roeselare, Belgium, to Osnabrueck. VDL not only supplies the battery electric articulated buses, but also, together with Schaltbau Refurbishment from Dinslaken, the complete E-system, consisting of two rapid charging stations at the bus end turns and one rapid charging station plus 14 charging stations at the Stadtwerke bus depot.
Already in the coming days the new E-bus will start its first test drives through Osnabrueck. "The new buses and our colleagues in the workshop and in the driving service have to get used to each other," Dr. Stephan Rolfes, CEO Mobility of Stadtwerke Osnabrueck, mentioned. Numerous training courses are therefore held both at the VDL plant in Roeselare and in Osnabrueck. "After all, there are some differences between the maintenance, care and also the driving style of diesel buses and electric buses. Until the start of operations, however, all colleagues will be 'E-bus fit'."
From the end of the year, the new E-buses will be travelling between Haste and Duestrup on the first purely electric bus line 41, the future M1. The new E-bus terminus in Duestrup has already been rebuilt for this purpose since the end of August. Work on the other end of the new E-bus line in Haste, on the other hand, will only begin after a delay due to the extensive planning approval process.
In addition to the new M1 electric bus line between Duestrup and Haste, further bus axes in the city area are to be electrified in the coming years. The gradual electrification of local public transport in Osnabrueck is a key component in the joint "Mobile Future" project between the city of Osnabrueck and its municipal utilities. These include sustainable mobility concepts, the promotion of environmentally friendly local mobility, the promotion of e-mobility as well as the strengthening of bicycle traffic and the promotion of public transport.