Solaris has won a tender to supply 161 Urbino 12 hybrid buses to the French speaking part of Belgium. The contract involves an agreement for 8-year maintenance service. The tender was issued by Opérateur de Transport de Wallonie (OTW). The vehicles will make their way to Wallonia in 2022. The contract is worth over €76 million.
As soon as next year, the cities of Namur, Liège and Charleroi will welcome these low-emission Urbino 12 hybrid buses. The vehicles will be handed over to regional transport operators TEC Charleroi and TEC Liège-Verviers, with which Solaris has previously collaborated, and for the first time - to TEC Namur-Luxembourg. “We are extremely proud of this large new order placed by Opérateur de Transport de Wallonie. Since 2017, we have delivered nearly 240 hybrid buses of this exact same type to the cities of Liège, Hainaut and Charleroi”, said Petros Spinaris, Member of the Solaris Management Board for Sales and After Sales.
The Urbino 12 hybrid units will be equipped with the HybriDrive series hybrid electric propulsion system consisting of an electric motor next to a diesel engine. The buses will have a Stop-and-Go feature and turns off the diesel engine completely when the bus comes to a rest at bus stops and the doors open. The vehicle uses at that moment electricity recuperated during braking and stored in supercaps. The hybrid Urbino 12 buses have been ordered with two-door and three-door layouts. The two door vehicles are for Namur, the capital of Wallonia (64 units), and the latter are going to Charleroi (58 units) and Liège (39 units). and a spacious and comfortable bus interior will provide for even more passenger comfort. The vehicles will also feature a high-efficiency air-conditioning, video surveillance system and a passenger counting system.