Solaris has been shortlisted for a contract regarding the delivery of up to 550 intercity buses for Italy.
In mid-April, the manufacturer signed a framework agreement with joint-stock company Consip owned by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF). Under that agreement, public transport companies (TPL, Italian: Trasporti Pubblici Locali) will be allowed to order vehicles directly or make a call for tender targeting chosen suppliers. Solaris has offered to provide InterUrbino and Urbino 12 LE buses.
In the second half of last year Italian company Consip made a call for a framework tender. Solaris took part for two lots of the tender; these cover the supply of up to 550 intercity buses in total. The manufacturer has made it onto the final lists for both lots. The framework agreements signed by the company apply to the delivery of up to 300 Solaris InterUrbino 12 and up to 250 Solaris Urbino 12 LE buses to a variety of locations in Italy. The vehicles will be ordered by selected TPLs, by way of accelerated and shortened tenders over the course of the next two years.
Both of Solaris’ bus models are propelled by diesel engines meeting the restrictive Euro 6 emission standards. The Urbino 12 LE as well as the InterUrbino are adapted to the transport of passengers on routes reaching beyond city outskirts.
The low-entry Urbino 12 are suburban buses with a comfortable and ergonomically planned interior. The lightweight buses offer ample room, wider and taller doors as well as comfortable passage from the low-floor part of the Urbino to its back. Six rows of comfortable seats adapted to longer distance travels are situated in the spacious rear part of the vehicle.
The InterUrbino, on the other hand, is a novel intercity bus type designed for the purpose of safe and comfortable carriage of passengers on very long journeys. Locker room has been earmarked inside of the 12-metre buses both for hand luggage (on the shelves above the seats) as well as for hold luggage (luggage compartments underneath the bus floor).
“It is a huge distinction for our company to have been selected as one of the key potential suppliers of up to 550 intercity buses. Carriers will be able to order buses in various configurations within the limits set out in the framework agreement. I do hope that, in the near future, more Urbino LE and InterUrbino models will get deployed in Italian public transport to carry passengers. The more so since the intercity buses produced by us are already well-known across Italy,” remarked Petros Spinaris, Deputy CEO of Solaris Bus & Coach sp. z o.o. for Sales, Marketing and After Sales.
There are nearly 350 Urbino buses cruising on Italian streets. But it is the Solaris InterUrbino model that enjoys particular popularity on that market. So far the manufacturer has supplied over 600 vehicles of that type to Italy. All in all, there are currently over 1300 vehicles of the Solaris brand deployed on the Apennine Peninsula; some of these are electric buses and trolleybuses.