The Düsseldorf Rheinbahn (Germany) has placed an order at VDL Bus & Coach for the delivery of 20 battery-electric Citea's. A large part of the order consists of 15 articulated and the remaining 5 are 12 metre solobuses. Delivery of the first vehicles is scheduled for next year as the public transport operator reveals.
The new 20 buses ordered are 15 articulated and five solo buses. With a length of 18 metres, the articulated VDL buses with four doors offer 48 seats and 66 standing places. The minimum range is 245 kilometres. For the 12-metre-long solo buses with three doors, 34 seats and 43 standing places, the minimum range is 252 kilometres. Rheinbahn is planning a new bus depot with charging and parking
infrastructure for a total of 60 battery-electric buses. With this new VDL-order Rheinbahn is now increasing its number of battery electric buses to a total of 30. The first ten were put into service in 2020. The investment volume is around 18.5 million euros. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia has approved around 7.5 million euros in funding for this through the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR).