Press releases

2021/01/25

SOLARIS, A CAF GROUP SUBSIDIARY, STARTS THE YEAR AT THE SAME STRONG PACE AS THE CLOSING THE PREVIOUS FINANCIAL YEAR

Italy to receive Solaris interurban buses

A Solaris-manufactured interurban bus model is winning Italy over. The Italian company COTRAL, which operates suburban and interurban transport services in Rome, has placed its trust in the CAF Group once again, entering into a new contract for the supply of 80 InterUrbino buses, which also includes maintenance services for a term of 10 years. Further to the contract that was recently entered into, almost 600 InterUrbino buses will run on the routes leading to the Eternal City, something that resulted in all Solaris contracts with COTRAL since 2016 exceeding a total value of €228 million.

The new InterUrbino buses are 12-metre long, 67 passenger capacity interurban buses, designed to provide safe and comfortable transport on long journeys beyond the city limits. They are scheduled for delivery in 2021, when they will connect cities, towns and villages in the province of Rome and the entire Lazio region.

The extensive features of the bus will include a complete video surveillance system, door passenger counting systems, a closed-off driver's cab, as well as the Lane Keeping Assist system, a MobilEye function that alerts the driver in the event of involuntary lane departure.

Over the past few months, Solaris has strengthened its position in Italy, where it is the electric bus market leader. It should also be noted that the CAF Group subsidiary set a sales record in the first three quarters of 2020, supplying more than 80% of all of the country's electric buses. Asides from this, a contract for the supply of the 1,000th electric bus in the transalpine country was entered into at the end of last year as part of the order placed for 100 Urbino 12 electric vehicles for the operator ATM Milanos.

Further Trolleybuses Supplied in Romania

The CAF Group has been awarded the supply of 25 and 11 trolleybuses by the Romanian cities of Brasov and Târgu Jiu, respectively. The total value of both contracts amounts to approximately €25 million.

Firstly, the purchase of 25 Solaris Trollino 18 articulated vehicles for Brasov will allow the city to replace and significantly expand its current fleet of trolleybuses in service, replacing diesel vehicles with more modern and environmentally friendly ones, thereby fulfilling the core goal of this EU co-financed project: Significantly reducing city centre pollution.

With a capacity of up to 133 passengers - 41 seated - the new models Brasov has ordered will be fitted with 240 kW electric motors as well as 30 kWh batteries so that they can run a certain distance along the route without having to be connected to the line, e.g, should there be a power outage on one section of the route.

Secondly, Târgu Jiu, which is located at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains, will also receive 11 trolleybuses further to the tender raised by the country's Ministry of Public Works, Development and Administration. In this case, the order is for the low-floor Solaris Trollino 12 model, with these new vehicles scheduled to enter into service at the beginning of 2022.

Solaris is highly regarded in Romania, where its relationship with Romanian transport operators dates back to 2002. Since then, the CAF Group subsidiary has supplied more than 300 vehicles in Romania, with all of the latest contracts comprising environmentally friendly transit vehicles, essentially Solaris Urbino electric buses and trolleybuses.