In recent days, polemics have dominated the debate surrounding the announced contract awards by the Deutsche Bahn Group for the procurement of new buses.
Initially, the press controversially reported the alleged conclusion of a framework agreement for the purchase of 700 electric buses from the Chinese manufacturer BYD – it was said that just under 200 of these were to be firmly ordered. Deutsche Bahn itself did not confirm these figures. In particular, the trade unions strongly criticised the awarding of the contract to a manufacturer outside the EU – and moreover to a producer from China – arguing that the Deutsche Bahn Group is a wholly state-owned enterprise and that, from an industrial policy perspective and with regard to German jobs in commercial vehicle manufacturing, this would send a clear signal in the wrong direction.
Deutsche Bahn has now published concrete details of its procurement policy up to 2032: around 3,300 new buses are to be purchased in total. A framework agreement has been concluded with the German manufacturer MAN covering more than 3,000 buses with hybrid or electric drivetrains, in various versions including single-deck and articulated vehicles, for delivery between 2027 and 2032. Details regarding the exact quantities of the individual variants have yet to be disclosed. The vehicles will be manufactured in part at MAN plants in Poland and Turkey. This represents the largest bus order ever placed by Deutsche Bahn to date. Some of the vehicles will be required for further large-scale rail replacement services in the coming years.
The electric buses to be ordered from BYD in interurban configuration belong to a segment which, according to Deutsche Bahn, accounts for only approximately five per cent of the expected new vehicles. They will be assembled at BYD Group’s plant in Hungary and delivered from there. In addition, DB Group has concluded secondary framework agreements with IVECO, Scania, Daimler Buses and Zhongtong, in order to ensure the availability of new vehicles whenever required.
Deutsche Bahn has already been operating a variety of electric buses with different propulsion concepts from various manufacturers since 2020; we have previously reported on this, among other things, here:
https://www.urban-transport-magazine.com/en/five-byd-ebus-12-for-db-regiobus/
Among the most recent procurements are hydrogen fuel cell buses from the Portuguese manufacturer Caetano. Six vehicles have recently entered passenger service with DB Regio Bus Nord (Weser-Ems Bus) in Jever.
Through its regional transport subsidiary DB Regio AG, Deutsche Bahn operates public bus services nationwide with some 6,000 own buses plus a further 5,000 vehicles operated by subcontractors. Approximately 561 million passengers were carried on the network last year, including various urban transport services.
