The Austrian Postbus, despite its name now a subsidiary of the Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB, has procured eleven Mercedes-Benz eCitaro e-buses for use in the “Schweinbarther Kreuz” project in the “southern Weinviertel”. (The “southern Weinviertel” is located north-east of Vienna in a region bordered by the triangle of cities Vienna, Brno (CZ) and Bratislava (SK)). According to Daimler Truck, they are the first purely electric Mercedes buses in Austria. They are designed for recharging via roof pantograph.
The buses are to be used on two lines between the stations of Gänserndorf, Mistelbach and Wolkersdorf. Both lines run every hour, and a total of eight buses are needed to serve them. Alternately, two additional buses will always be parked in Gänserndorf under the recharging stations. The eleventh bus is thus a reserve vehicle. For overnight charging, there are also charging stations in Mistelbach and Wolkersdorf. The charging stations are being built by EVN (Energie-Versorgung Niederösterreich AG) on behalf of the VOR (Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region).
The buses are equipped with a wheelchair space and the corresponding folding ramp at the centre door. A remarkable feature is a closed driver’s cabin – the experience of the Corona pandemic is noticeable here. There is also an automatic passenger counting system, and the passengers registered in this way are informed via monitors inside the car.
The buses’ batteries are high-voltage batteries designed to ensure rapid recharging of the buses. Their telematics system from the Daimler subsidiary OmniPlus constantly informs the control centre about the charge status of the batteries, the remaining range and a diagnosis of the general “well-being” of the bus.
In the last ten years, ÖBB-Postbus has added a total of 579 new Mercedes-Benz buses to its fleet.
19.08.2022
