VDL, GPN’s Strategic Alliance Partner: RHEINBAHN ORDERS 60 VDL CITEA LLEs

An excellent start to 2013 for VDL Bus & Coach Deutschland. On 2 January 2013 Rheinbahn of Düsseldorf officially awarded the contract for 60 low-entry buses to VDL Bus & Coach. “This is the largest order that VDL Bus & Coach Deutschland has ever won. A sign that the experiences with the first two buses have been extremely positive”, says a proud Boris Höltermann, public transport manager of VDL Bus & Coach Deutschland. In the spring of 2010 Rheinbahn put into service two predecessors of the LLE, the Ambassador, in order to
gain experience with these vehicles for future bus purchases.

INNOVATIVE LIGHTWEIGHT CONCEPT

In VDL buses with a lightweight construction the focus is on improving fuel economy and thereby reducing emissions. Needless to say, the buses continue to meet the highest safety standards. The Citea LLE has a net weight of around 9 tonnes and, based on Rheinbahn’s own experiences, uses 25% less diesel than comparable products. This means that the Citea meets the standards expected of vehicles that use hybrid technology, without any additional costs having to be incurred for this technology or for, say, workshops and infrastructure.

With today’s pressure on costs in mind, the choice of the VDL lightweight concept is a logical step for passenger transport firms whose objective besides carrying passengers in optimal comfort is to reduce the emissions of harmful substances.

RHEINBAHN

Rheinbahn AG provides the public transport in Düsseldorf, Meerbusch and substantial parts of the district of Mettmann. Currently 400 buses, 91 bus lines, 7 sprinter lines (partly underground) and 11 tram lines are in use. The railway network extends as far as Neuss, Krefeld, Duisburg and Ratingen, is part of the railway network of Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (Rhine-Ruhr public transport association) and is approximately 342 km in length. Rheinbahn carries about 216 million passengers a year.