
After the long-planned and intesively discussed tram project for the city of Regensburg with its 175,000 inhabitants was, as reported (see LINK), rejected in a public consultation, the city is continuing to focus on the purchase of more electric buses.
The current fleet of 115 buses owned by the municipal public transport operator Stadtwerk Regensburg GmbH already includes 27 purely electric buses. 12 of them are Mercedes-Benz eCitaro delivered to the Bavarian city in 2021 and 2022.


Five Rampini midi buses of the ‘Alé EL’ model have been mainly operating on lines A and 18 since 2017. They can be found on line A which uses the narrow streets and alleyways of the old town, where no other bus is able to access and to serve the district so directly. Some of the journeys continue beyond the main railway station as line 18 – at weekends they operate here exclusively. The service concept has been christened ‘das Stadtwerk.Emil’. The Rampini – with Siemens electric motor – have a length of 7.72 metres and a width of 2.20 metres; they are fast-charged during the day via pantograph under the Galgenberg Bridge (ooprtunity charging) and are fully recharged overnight at the depot.



The Dutch manufacturer Ebusco delivered ten of its well-known model 2.2 – 18M articulated buses to Regensburg in 2022, which will be used on the busy main lines. They are recharged overnight in the depot.
During summer 2024, a Mellor Sigma 7 midi bus was in test operation in Regensburg.
All electric buses run locally emission-free and environmentally friendly on 100% green electricity from REWAG, which is produced at the nearby Pfaffenstein hydropower plant.




And the expansion of e-bus operation is set to continue:
At the beginning of October 2024, the Bavarian state government approved funding for the procurement of a further 8 electric buses for delivery in the coming year. The state is thus partially compensating for the expired funding for e-buses at federal level.
In addition, a so-called ‘charging island’ for 50 e-buses on 3,500 square metres is under construction for 15 million euros, as a covered parking facility with charging infrastructure on Siemens – as is already the case in the depot. However, the depot halls dating back to the 1960s cannot be adapted to the current fire protection requirements for charging electric vehicles with reasonable effort, which is one of the reasons why the construction of the charging island is necessary.
Envisaged completition date for the entire conversion to emission-free bus service is 2040.
02.01.2025