The Polish city of Krakow (Krakow, as many write or say in English) ordered 50 electric buses from the Polish bus company Solaris last year. These buses are now being delivered.
The city already had 28 electric buses, including 366 other non-electric Solaris buses. So Krakow has gotten into the electric mind for some time, but there are also a large number of polluting buses that are retiring and need to be replaced with electric ones.
In addition to the new electric buses, Solaris has supplied the city's public transport operator, MPK SA, with 50 chargers for these buses. Traditional chargers aren't the only way these buses can download power, however. “The construction of every bus also allows slow charging using a pantograph. This is a novel solution that aims to use the bus depot area as efficiently as possible. It is also possible to charge buses through a quick charge pantograph. This type of charging station is already available at the Wola Duchacka and Podgórze bus depots near the bus stop on Pawia Street and at Dworzec Główny Wschód (East Central Station). Bus terminals Podwawelskie, Biały Prądnik and Nowy Bieżanów. “
“We have been investing in emission-free buses for many years. Krakow was the first Polish city to launch a regular bus line with electric buses in 2014. Krakow was also the first major city in Poland to withdraw all buses with engines that meet the Euro 4 standard and below. Once the 50 Solaris buses have been delivered in the middle of the year, the city's residents will have a total of almost 80 emission-free vehicles at their disposal, ”said Jacek Majchrowski, Mayor of Krakow.
“We will definitely continue to order environmentally friendly buses. At the beginning of the year we applied to finance the purchase of a further 40 articulated e-buses as part of the “Green Public Transport” program. If our application is approved, emission-free vehicles will soon make up 20% of our fleet, ”said Rafał Świerczyński, CEO of MPK SA in Krakow.
The buses can accommodate 43 passengers, and 141 passengers in total can fit on the bus. They use 300 kWh batteries from Solaris.
“The additional devices include a complete video surveillance system, a comprehensive passenger information system, air conditioning, USB connections and an electrical heating system.”
Krakow is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. After years of traveling and living in Europe for more than a decade, Krakow landed in my top 3 top cities (in summer). It is uplifting to see that the beautiful, historic city is getting cleaner and cleaner with these electric buses. If only it were possible to quickly plaster the roofs of the city's many buildings with solar panels to reduce the really harmful and deadly air pollution from coal-fired power plants and heating systems.
If you are in the area or want to know where these Solaris electric buses operate, you can find more information here: “The new buses were taken to service line 179 (Os. Kurdwanów – Dworzec Główny Zachód (Central Station West)) along the avenues of the three bards (Juliusz Słowacki Avenue, Adam Mickiewicz Avenue and Zygmunt Krasiński Avenue), that is, in a region of the city where air pollution is limited are most surpassed. “It is currently unclear how many of the 50 Urbino 18 electric buses have been delivered, but 12 are shown above.
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