The first of 30 Solaris Urbino 18 electric articulated buses ordered by Dortmund’s public transport operator DSW 21 arrived on 24 November 2022 – the e-bus is numbered 1842. The entire fleet is expected be in Dortmund by spring 2023.
They are foressen for use on lines 470 – 440 – 437, which will be operated in a way that the e-buses switch from one line to the other during its daily shifts. By this means the electric buses will travel from the district of Mengede to the district of Sölde throughout the entire city. DSW: “by this means as many passengers as possible can experience the new way of electric mobility.”
Solaris specifies a minimum range of 200 kilometres for each vehicle. As this is not yet sufficient for an entire shift the new e-buses will stop-over for recharging at Brünninghausen bus depot. Instead of recharging along the line, each bus can be exchanged for a newly charged electric articulated bus once a day at the depot. This is much cheaper than building several charging stations on the way, and the fleet management systems allows for optimized use of the new ebus fleet. Their batteries are “fast-chargeable”, so they can be charged particularly quickly.
Conversion at the Brünninghausen depot
The necessary conversion work for the electric buses in the Brünninghausen depot is making good progress. A new transfer station has been put into operation, to which four transformer stations are now connected. Already at the beginning of October, a five-megawatt, 150-ton transformer station was anchored five metres deep in the ground. Its “roof terrace” can be walked on, and it stands in a concrete tub to shield its surroundings from electromagnetic radiation. As the electric buses have essential components on the roof, rooftop workstations are also being installed in Brünninghausen.
From next spring, the new electric articulated buses are to go into service on their “line combination”. Drivers and workshop staff will be trained in their use by then.
DSW21 Transport Director Hubert Jung: “Our bus fleet is already one of the most modern in the whole country. In terms of climate friendliness, it will now reach a significantly higher level. In addition to the reduced pollutant emissions, the noise level of the vehicles will also drop at the same time. All this directly pays for the quality of life in our city.”
The investment
The total cost of the project (so-called “StromFahrer”) is 37.9 million euros. DSW received €13.6 million public funding for this project. The remaining 24.6 million euros had to invest DSW 21 out of its own pocket.
