HUNGARY Keolis Group subsidiary Syntus has ordered nine 12m ebuses from BYD. The vehicles, each specified with three doors are expected to enter service in December. Two will provide services in Amersfoort under an existing Syntus contract while the remaining seven will be for a new concession in Almere. In both cases it will be the first time pure electric buses have been used on the routes.
The Amersfoort order calls for a six-year service agreement while in Almere it’s 10 years. Two demonstrators are due to enter service in the latter town until the new buses are delivered.
Syntus General Manager Cees Anker said: “We consider it as our responsibility to reduce the environmental impact and we are proud that we will operate these. The deployment of these electric buses fits with the strategy of Syntus as a subsidiary of Keolis on sustainable mobility.”
Isbrand Ho, BYD Europe’s Managing Director, commented: “This is encouraging further progress for us in the important Dutch bus market and is further evidence that the demand for our proven and cost effective emissions free buses is there. We are pleased to welcome Syntus and Keolis to our growing customer base.”
BYD has opened its first owned European bus plant in the Hungarian town of Komarom. Currently there are 32 employees of whom 68% are factory workers. Eventually around 300 people will be employed, the vast majority to be locally recruited. The factory will assemble 400 electric buses on two shifts annually that will be exported across continental Europe.
