Five electric buses serve two historic districts of the city of Fribourg. The vehicles, introduced between mid-November and mid-March and costing 3 million francs, are assigned to line 4 which connects Friborg station to the Auge district.
The buses, presented to the press on Friday in Freiburg, are adapted to the narrow streets of the old town and meet current mobility and sustainability requirements. The comfort of passengers as well as that of local residents is greatly improved due to the reduction in interior and exterior noise.
The 240 drivers of Transports publics fribourgeois (TPF) have been trained in driving and recharging the batteries, said the company and the Agglomeration of Friborg (AGGLO). The machines, Solaris brand, have a special length of 9 meters, instead of 12 or 18, and are mainly manufactured in Poland.
Charges in 5 minutes
Each has 20 seats and 46 standing, with the reception of a wheelchair. The buses are recharged in just 5 minutes, by means of a pantograph directly at the Freiburg bus station. Slow recharging at the depot is done at night to top up the battery, TPF detailed in a statement.
The buses emit no fine particle emissions, while the electricity is produced using renewable energies. As for used batteries, the TPF returns them to the Solaris company. In addition to the acquisition cost, the adaptations to the infrastructure at the bus station amount to 750,000 francs.
The approach confirms the will of the TPF and the AGGLO to continue the transition towards alternative engines to diesel. The TPF’s electric road fleet currently includes 10 battery-powered trolleybuses, 12 classic trolleybuses and now 5 small electric buses.
/ATS
