VDL Citea electric artics bound for Copenhagen following Arriva order
DENMARK Arriva Denmark has placed an order with VDL Bus & Coach for 21 Citea SLFA-180 electrics – the first electric articulated buses for Denmark.
The buses will be deployed on revised route 2A in Copenhagen from December 2019. VDL will also provide the charging infrastructure at the depots although, during the day, the buses will be topped up at the end points of the route by means of an inverted pantograph. With this order, VDL Bus & Coach has sold its 500th fully electric VDL Citea in Western Europe.
Jens Boe Jacobsen, Business Development Director at Arriva Denmark, said: “Arriva’s past experience with VDL Bus & Coach via our Dutch branch has been exemplary, and the collaboration between VDL and Arriva in Denmark is now progressing smoothly as well. Furthermore, VDL Bus & Coach is known for its good products with excellent quality. The good collaboration between Arriva and VDL Bus & Coach is the key to the success of this project.”
Route 2A in Copenhagen was recently revised and connects a new part of Copenhagen to the bus network.
Starting in late 2019, the 13.7-metre-long buses currently serving the route will be replaced by the electric articulated VDLs, which are 18m long. The service will operate 24 hours a day.
“We are very proud to have received this order and are delighted to be working with Arriva Denmark as a transition partner to zero-emission public transport in Copenhagen,” said Anita Palm Laursen, Managing Director VDL Bus & Coach Denmark.
“We also look forward to seeing the electric articulated VDL Citea articulated buses become part of the daily street scene of Copenhagen.”
With more than 40 E-Mobility projects in Western Europe, VDL Bus & Coach says it’s a proven transition partner for efficient zero-emission public transport systems.
Beyond the Netherlands, electric VDL buses are currently operating in various cities in Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Sweden and France.
In many cases, VDL is also responsible for implementation of the infrastructure, project management and the repair and maintenance of the entire system.
Arriva and VDL Bus & Coach have already carried out a number of successful projects with electric buses in the Netherlands, including those in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, south-east Friesland & Terschelling, Venlo and Maastricht.
