Archive, Industry News

GERMAN BUS OPERATOR ORDERS EXTRA ADL DOUBLE-DECKERS

BERLIN-BASED bus operator BVG has confirmed an order to add 198 ADL Enviro500 double-deckers to its fleet, to be delivered by the end of 2022, Alexander Dennis Limited announced recently.

In ‘exercising options’, the order will take Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG)’s total fleet number of ADL Enviro500 double-decker to 200, the companies confirm. ADL will build these buses in its factories in the United Kingdom, it explains.

ADL – a subsidiary of the North American New Flyer Industries Group Inc. (NFI) – delivered the first two Enviro500 double deckers to BVG in October, 2020, as part of a multi-year framework contract signed in 2018, it states. Following the successful completion of a testing programme with this initial pair of vehicles, BVG’s supervisory board, “…approved the conversion of options for another 198 buses into firm orders, taking the fleet to 200”. Options for a further 230 Enviro500 double-deckers remain in the contract, ADL adds.

Berlin’s new generation of iconic yellow double-deck buses is the first to have been designed in Britain by ADL, the world’s leading supplier of double-deck buses, ADL says. Production of all 198 units will take place in the manufacturer’s facilities in the United Kingdom, with the Scarborough site in Yorkshire to lead final assembly, ADL confirms.

Once delivered, they will be supported locally by an experienced team operating out of ADL’s recently opened Berlin office, service workshop and parts warehouse, it adds.

ADL will increase its investment in Berlin to underpin the fleet roll-out and support its European expansion, and recruitment is underway for additional team members, it states.

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THE BUSES

Berlin’s Enviro500 are 13.8 metres long and 4.06 metres tall. With three doors and two staircases, they facilitate rapid boarding and alighting on busy urban services for up to 112 passengers, 80 of them seated, while minimising road footprint, ADL explains.

ADL president and managing director Paul Davies said: “This fantastic news is testament to the incredible efforts of the hugely talented team that we have here at ADL, who have yet again demonstrated that they can innovate and execute on highly complex product development projects.”

“The successful results of BVG’s testing programme and the award of this milestone contract are yet another ringing endorsement of our global double deck expertise and customer focus.

“We are delighted to confirm that we will build these buses in Britain to help underpin our skilled jobs and apprenticeships.”

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ABOUT NFI

Leveraging 450 years of combined experience, NFI is leading the electrification of mass mobility around the world, it states. With zero-emission buses and coaches, infrastructure, and technology, NFI meets today’s urban demands for scalable smart mobility solutions, it adds. Together, NFI is enabling more liveable cities through connected, clean, and sustainable transportation, it says.

With 8,000 team members in ten countries, NFI is a leading global bus manufacturer of mass mobility solutions under the brands New Flyer (heavy-duty transit buses), MCI (motor coaches), Alexander Dennis Limited (single and double-deck buses), Plaxton (motor coaches), ARBOC (low-floor cutaway and medium-duty buses), and NFI Parts, it states.

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ABOUT ADL

Alexander Dennis Limited is a global leader in the design and manufacture of double-deck buses and is also the UK’s largest bus and coach manufacturer, it explains.

ADL offers single and double-deck vehicles under the brands of Alexander Dennis and Plaxton, and has more than 31,000 vehicles in service in the UK, Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada and the United States, it confirms.

Photography: courtesy ADL

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