Solaris has secured a significant order for environmentally friendly CNG-fuelled articulated buses for public transport operator Dopravní podnik Ostrava a.s., in the Czech city of Ostrava. The firm will take delivery of 37 Solaris Urbino 18 CNG buses within 12 months, in a deal worth €13m.
The heart of the new vehicles will be a 239kW CNG engine, supplied from five tanks containing the compressed natural gas on the vehicle roof, with a total capacity of 1,875 litres.
The buses have a capacity of 110 passengers, with two spaces for wheelchairs and pushchairs, plus 42 seats, of which 17 are accessible from the low floor. For an efficient exchange of passengers at bus stops, it was decided that a door layout consisting of four double-leaf doors would be used. A full-vehicle air conditioning system will be fitted, along with dual USB ports and WiFi. The vehicles will also receive a comprehensive passenger information system with bus stop voice announcement.
For safety, a fire detection and extinguishing system will be installed in the engine compartment, and a CCTV system with cameras monitoring the door areas, six cameras turned towards the passenger compartment, as well as front and rear-view cameras will be fitted.
The latest order will take the number of Solaris buses operating in the Czech city to almost 400, a large majority running on compressed natural gas (CNG) as well as zero-emission trolleybuses.
