De Lijn to order up to 100 futuristic electric buses
The Flemish public transport De Lijn has signed a framework agreement with the Spanish bus-builder Irizar that will allow it to order up to 100 electrically-power articulated buses. The buses are hi-spec e-buses that offer improved comfort to passengers. The first of the new buses will enter service on routes in Limburg Province.
Irizar has a lot of experience when it comes to the manufacture of electric buses. Irizar e-bus are already in service in Barcelona, the French city of Amiens and the Swiss city of Schaffenhausen.
De Lijn now has the option of ordering up to 100 of the buses to run on its routes here in Flanders.
Extra comfort
The buses are hi-spec to say the least. They have features including USB charge points, mobile phone holders and reading lamps. De Lijn intens to use the first of the new buses on its routes between Hasselt and Maasmechelen (both Limburg Province) and Hasselt and Maastricht, in the Netherlands. There is no rail service offering an alternative for either route. The buses can run up to 160km without needing to be recharged. Rapid charge station will also be built to ensure that the buses can be recharged en route.
De Lijn says that when exactly the new buses will be ordered will be up to the transport minister in the next Flemish Government.
Currently just 80 buses in De Lijn’s 2,200-strong fleet are electrically powered. A further 220 electric buses are due to enter service next year. However, these are standard specification buses that offer the same level of comfort to passengers as buses powered by an internal combustion engine.