Press releases

2024/04/26

SOLARIS TO SUPPLY MORE THAN 350 BUSES TO ROME

Solaris has secured renewed success in the Italian market by being awarded two contracts by the operator ATAC S.p.A. to supply a total of 354 buses for the city of Rome.  

The first of the two agreements comprises the supply of 110 state-of-the-art articulated Mild-hybrid vehicles, which were submitted to tender by the Giubileo 2025 S.p.A. purchasing group for the Rome operator and are scheduled to be delivered during the course of this year. The second contract is for an order for 12-meter-long compressed natural gas (CNG) buses, to be delivered between 2024 and 2025. This second order includes the option to increase the number of vehicles by an additional 78 units over the coming months. 

It must be pointed out that in addition to the supply of the aforementioned buses, Solaris will also be responsible for performing the maintenance operations of the vehicles for the next 10 years. The total volume of both contracts, should the customer make use of the options provided for in the contract, will exceed 200 million euros, making it one of the most significant transactions in the company's history. 

The new buses are not the first Solaris vehicles in Rome, as Solaris also supplied the same customer with 30 trolleybuses in 2003-2004. In addition to this, various contracts that have already been secured with the operator Cotral over the past few years have led to a fleet of more than 700 Solaris intercity vehicles operating in regional transport services on the outskirts of Rome. 

In total, to date Solaris has delivered more than 1,800 vehicles to Italy, one of the company's key markets. Proof of this was Solaris' outstanding 2023 financial year in Italy, which saw them win major contracts with various operators in the country. These included projects for the supply of 217 hydrogen buses for the cities of Bologna and Venice, or those awarded in Cagliari for the supply of 100 hybrid and 90 electric buses, as well as those announced at the end of the year for the supply of approximately 150 electric buses for Milan and Catania. 

ATAC S.p.A., the public transport concessionaire for the metropolitan area of Rome, which is wholly owned by the City Council of Rome, is the largest urban transport company in Italy and one of the leading European players. In addition to the tram network, it also controls Rome's three metro lines, the suburban train, as well as the urban bus and trolleybus lines that provide the backbone of the city's transport network. 

It must be noted that at the end of last year CAF entered into another major contract with this same operator to renew the capital's tram fleet, which, together with the more than 70 metro units manufactured by CAF that currently provide service on lines A, B and Roma-Lido, confirms the company's full confidence in CAF as a supplier of sustainable urban mobility solutions.