Scania sees record order for gas engines and Volvo sell 76
SWEDEN Nordic operator Nobina has made an order for 121 biofuel buses from Scania, along with 76 new buses from Volvo, in a major investment of over half a billion SEK.
The move comes after Nobina Sverige secured a contract in Uppland worth close to SEK 5 billion across 10 years (around SEK 490 million per year), commencing in June 2012. Nobina is already responsible for bus traffic in Uppland, so the contract win is both an extension and expansion of responsibilities in the area. The new service agreement combines fixed price with compensation based on passenger numbers, giving incentive to increase travel in the region. The firm is expected to take on an additional 70 employees, the majority of which will be drivers.
The order is Scania’s largest for gas engines to date, with 109 of the vehicles running on biogas. The remaining 12 Scania vehicles will run on biodiesel.
The new vehicles will be put into service in Uppland and Skåne provinces from the summer of 2012.
Lars Åkesson, purchasing manager for Nobina, said: “This is one of Nobina’s larger bus investments in recent years. We are especially pleased to find new suppliers of biogas buses for this kind of traffic, being an environmentally friendly alternative, which is more frequently requested by our customers.”
Ingrid Håkanson, managing director for the Nobina Fleet, said: “The optimization of the bus fleet is a key tool in Nobina’s efficiency program and a way to increase the profitability in the contracts. Through regular renewal of the bus fleet, Nobina is able to offer better comfort, more environmentally friendly travel, smarter fuel options and more efficient vehicle utilisation.”
The Nobina group has annual sales in excess of SEK 6 billion, operates 3,500 buses and makes more than 260 million passenger journeys per year.
For more information on Nobina visit www.nobina.com
