In a very competitive market environment, Spanish manufacturer Irizar e-mobility was able to secure a number of larger contracts for Polish operators since 2025. These include twenty-two Irizar electric buses of the well-known “ie bus 12” model which were just unveiled at the Wola Duchacka bus depot of MPK Cracovia (Miejskie Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacyjne S.A.) in Krakow. These 12-metre-long vehicles are equipped with, amongst other things, enclosed cabins featuring refrigerators and the ability to chill water for drivers, a modern passenger information system, CCTV, air conditioning and USB ports for charging mobile devices.
The first new Irizar electric buses set off on Krakow’s routes immediately after the presentation. They began operating on routes 107, 124, 424 and 304. In the coming days, they will also appear on other routes. Following the delivery of the new vehicles, the number of electric buses in the MPK fleet has risen to 143, including 26 Irizar. The first four were already delivered in 2023.
MPK is also ensuring the development of the charging infrastructure – increasing the number of chargers at the Wola Duchacka bus depot and across the city. All this is to increase the efficiency of using electric vehicles. In addition, MPK plans to install solar panels on the roof of one of the depot halls, along with the purchase of an energy storage system, which will be used at night to charge the electric buses’ batteries, said Rafał Świerczyński, CEO of MPK in Kraków.
The net value of the delivery of 22 new Irizar buses with chargers is PLN 53,994,556 (approx. EUR 12.76 mn). Their purchase is co-financed from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan,, and the funding amounts to nearly 100% of net expenditure. The subsidies were granted for the project entitled “Development of a zero-emission bus fleet for the provision of public transport services in Kraków”, on the basis of an agreement concluded with the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management.
Other contracts with Polish operators by Irizar e-mobility include orders from Warsaw, Bielsko-Biała, Katowice and Nowy Sącz.
