In Vancouver, Canada, a battery trolleybus of the Trollino 12 model from the Polish manufacturer Solaris Bus & Coach is in test operation since August 2023. The trolleybus operation, which currently consists of 13 lines, is to be expanded in the long term by the use of new trolleybuses that allow longer trips off the existing overhead network by means of powerful traction batteries, thus enabling future network expansions with only modest investment in the fixed infrastructure. In the current decade, the operator TransLink will also replace its current vehicle fleet, which consists of 188 rigid and 74 articulated vehicles from the American manufacturer New Flyer with electric equipment from Kiepe Electric built in 2006-9.
Vancouver’s trolleybus system just celebrated its 75th anniversiary – on 16 August 2023.
For Solaris, this would be the first export order for trolleybuses in the Americas.
The article implies that an order has been placed with Solaris. This is not true. Translink has not even issued a Request For Proposals, let alone an actual order. The 75th anniversary of the system was 16 August 2023, not 15 August.
Thanks, this text has been slightly adjusted.
John is correct. The Tender (proposal with inherent specifications) and Bidding (response) process hasn’t commenced as of yet.
The Solaris coach is a demonstrator. Having demonstrators, at this stage of the game, come in for evaluation, is customary practice.