Van Hool to supply hybrid trambuses to Norway
The Belgian busmaker Van Hool says it is the largest trambus order in its history as the Norwegian city of Trondheim orders 58 hybrid vehicles. The 24 metre long blend of a bus and a streetcar is to arrive in Norway by mid-2019.
Van Hool took the order from Trondheim’s public transport operators Nettbuss and Tide that have combined their buying power to receive 58 hybrid trambuses of type Exqui.City. Nettbus will run 44 units and Tide the remaining 14.
The bi-articulated trambuses measure 24 metres and come with a diesel-electric double-axle-drive. The first two units will be delivered in December 2018 with each operator to receive one hybrid vehicle. The remaining trambuses are scheduled to arrive between March and June 2019.
Van Hool says this is the largest order they have ever secured for their trambus, which has been available since 2011 and of which more than 250 vehicles have been ordered in 11 countries to date. Cities using the Exqui.City include Metz, Martinique, Pau and Nîmes, Barcelona, Parma, Geneva, Luxembourg, Malmö, Hamburg, Linz, Belfast, and Brussels. Van Hool produces the trambuses in its facility in Koningshooikt in Belgium.
In Trondheim, the trambuses will serve on three routes. The fleet will be maintained by the Busnor Partner WWist that signed a service contract over 10 years. Van Hool is already working with Busnor on a similar project in Bergen in Norway, where two hybrid trambuses have been in operation since 2014.
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