Polish manufacturer Solaris, part of the Spanish CAF group, has received an order for 250 Urbino 12 CNG buses for the city of Madrid. The deliveries to operator EMT are due to begin by the end of the year and should be completed in 2023. This is the first contract won by Solaris in the Spanish capital. EMT (Empresa Municipal de Transportes de Madrid) is the largest public transport operator in Spain and the second biggest in Europe. It has set itself a goal to have solely electric, hybrid and CNG buses plying the streets of Madrid by 2023, and envisages replacing all its diesel vehicles with CNG buses. At the beginning of the year EMT put out a tender for the supply of a total of 520 12-metre CNG-fuelled vehicles, of which the 250 supplied by Solaris makes up almost half in a contract worth €73,375,000.
The first 91 Solaris CNG buses will arrive on the streets of Madrid this year. They will be powered by a 239kW CNG engine, with fuel stored in five CNG storage tanks with a total capacity of 1575 litres, which will be mounted on the roof towards the front of the vehicle. This is expected to allow the buses to cover around 400km. The air-conditioned interior will be fitted with a passenger information system, USB charging ports and a video surveillance system.
