AUSTRIA A Solaris Urbino 8.9 LE electric bus has entered service in the city of Klagenfurt. Municipallyowned Stadtwerke Klagenfurt purchased the vehicle as a part of a European Union project called Cemobil. Solaris electric bus performance will be evaluated both by the operator and the manufacturer’s R&D department. The bus is being trialled on the route which runs from the city centre, through the main railway station to the university campus on the outskirts of the city.
On the basis of the results, Stadtwerke Klagenfurt will decide whether to acquire further examples.
The batteries power both the drive system and the airconditioning, heating, power steering and electric door control. The Polish manufacturer said that for the first time, CO2 airconditioning system with a built-in heat exchanger has been installed.
In a separate development, Solaris has announced it has won an order for 43 Urbino 12 buses to Austrian national bus operator ÖBB Postbus.
Due to be delivered over the course of the next four years, the deal forms part of the stateowned operator’s fleet renewal programme. In the next five years ÖBB Postbus is going to order up to 700 urban and interurban buses.
The relationship between ÖBB Postbus and Solaris began in 2009 with the order of 14 Urbino 10 midibuses. To date, Solaris vehicles are run by over 20 Austrian operators in such diverse locations as Vienna, Salzburg and the popular Alpine resort of Mayrhofen.
For more details about the EU Cemobil project, visit www.cemobil.at
