By Doug Jack

As I visit manufacturers the subject of alternative fuels and drive systems is always on the agenda. Heavy taxes on diesel in Europe make the fuel considerably higher priced than in North America. Still, operators acutely aware of fuel economy generally prefer to stay with diesel because of its ready availability.

With stark warnings from green lobbies about fossil fuels running out, it is simply not acceptable to say that fuel will not run out in one’s own generation, a problem for future generations. This is why manufacturers are trying to think ahead. They do not want to wake up one day and find their investments in diesel engines rendered obsolete by electric motors.

Currently, diesel engines in the European Union must have emission limits that comply with the Euro 5 standard. Euro 6 goes into effect January 2014, which is broadly similar to EPA 2010. Several manufacturers have announced Euro 6 engines already.

Hybrid sales low

Sales of hybrid buses in Europe are still relatively low, but with the higher price of diesel in Europe, the payback period for hybrid buses is becoming more realistic. Normally government funding makes up the difference between a standard diesel vehicle and the hybrid unit. Volvo has sold its in-house ISAM hybrid system in more than a dozen European countries. However, the leader, in volume terms, is Alexander Dennis with BAE Systems, almost wholly in the United Kingdom, but with some units soon to enter service in Spain.

With Allison, Eaton, Siemens and Vossloh Kiepe also offering hybrid systems there is plenty of competition in the European market. BAE Systems also is working on stop-start technology. Buses fueled by compressed natural gas (CNG) have been around in Europe for many years. At one time they held a very significant advantage over diesel buses because of their lower emissions.

CNG buses popular

That gap has almost closed but CNG buses remain popular in some countries, usually for political reasons. There are drawbacks, not least the weight of the gas tanks on the roof of the vehicle. They increase its unladed weight, and therefore can restrict the total number of passengers. On the other hand while enforcement authorities in some countries frequently check coaches and their gross weight, they have probably never taken a loaded city bus to the nearest weighbridge.

Although the consumption of gas is about 1.6 times that of diesel per mile, its normal tax rate is much lower. Sometimes, the gas utilities will pay for the installation of refuelling facilities at a depot, recovering that cost in the price of the gas supplied. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) buses are less common in Europe, mainly because LPG is a bi-product of refinery processes. MAN was the last European manufacturer to offer an LPG engine large enough to power a bus, but ceased production due to the cost to build.

LNG a no go

Solbus, a small Polish manufacturer, showed a full-floor city bus powered by liquefied natural gas at Hanover in 2008. The gas tank was little larger than the fuel tanks on a diesel bus, and sat neatly above the Cummins ISLG engine at the rear of the vehicle. It did not catch on probably because the only LNG refuelling facility in Poland was at the Solbus factory.

Biogas a win-win

Demand is on the rise for buses that run on biogas, principally from Sweden and Norway. The Swedes describe it as a “win-win” fuel because they can produce it from renewable resources such as sewage, slaughterhouse waste and surplus food and more easily dispose of the residue from the process.

For more than 20 years Scania in Sweden has developed engines that can run on ethanol, another fuel produced from renewable resources such as sugar cane, beets, sellulose and other feedstocks. Sweden produces from the unwanted sap in trees felled by the forestry industry.

Ethanol fuel tanks are half again as large as diesel tanks to provide the same range. Ethanol requires an additive to improve ignition, as well as special lubricants because engines run hotter. Napier University in Edinburgh has developed butanol made from two bi-products of the distillation of whisky. It blends with petrol, diesel or ethanol. Although not yet in volume production, the raw materials are readily available.

Hydrogen progresses

Prototype liquid hydrogen buses by MAN entered service at Munich Airport and a small fleet later when on trial in Berlin, but stopped any further development in 2009 after difficulties modifying a supercharged 12-litre engine to produce sufficient power and torque, and problems with backfiring and an overheating exhaust manifold.

The technology for fuel cell hybrid buses is making steady progress. Mercedes-Benz has developed the third generation now on extended trial in Hamburg. Others are in service in Switzerland and Italy.

With fuel cell stacks becoming more efficient, the number of hydrogen storage tanks has dropped from the previous nine to seven on the latest generation. The price of fuel cells has probably fallen by half in the last two years, and there are confident predictions of a similar fall over the next two years. Even so, there is a long way to go before they can become commercially viable.

All-electric buses still popular

All-electric trolleybuses have operated in Europe for years and have recently enjoyed a revival in Italy. These modern, conventionally styled buses draw current from overhead wires. In Switzerland, the electricity from hydropower, make the trolleys truly zero-emission vehicles. Most models have a small diesel engine to power the generators so they can run off-wire off their normal route and circulate within depots.

In the Swiss city of Zurich trams and trolleybuses tend to operate almost all services. In its last order for bi-articulated vehicles with Hess, VBZ, the Zurich operator, specified super capacitors instead of diesel generators. These have sufficient energy to power the vehicle for up to one mile off wire.

Until now the only vehicles powered solely by batteries have been small buses. The problem has always been the limited range of the batteries. New techniques allow vehicles a fast charge at each end of their route. Usually a charging station built into the surface of the road activates only when the bus parks above it.  As these technologies become more refined it may well be possible to build larger battery-powered buses with sufficient range for a full day’s service.

The IAA in September in Hanover, Germany is the next major commercial vehicle exhibition in Europe. The latest examples of at least some of these technologies are bound to be on display.

BIO: Doug Jack is with Transport Resources in the United Kingdom.

The open rear platform closes off outside peak hours so one person can operate the bus.

NB4L is text-speak for the New Bus for London that Mayor Johnson promised when he took office in 2008. Transport for London is the city authority, which decides the total route network and the types of vehicles that will operate on them. Private contractors provide all the services, most for five-year terms.

London had acquired more than 400 articulated buses under the previous mayor, all from Mercedes-Benz. Known to Londoners as bendi-buses they were very good at picking up large numbers of passengers, particularly on busy commuter routes connecting with the main rail terminals. However, they were not ideally suited to London’s narrow streets and many junctions. Too often they could be held up half way across an intersection, blocking other traffic from moving.

London’s evening newspaper launched a campaign against the bendi-buses, which mayoral candidate Boris Johnson took up. He promised not only to get rid of the bendi-buses, he would also champion the development of a new generation of buses for the capital.

The Routemaster served London for many years. It was an almost indestructible double deck model with a front mounted engine alongside the driver who sat in a half width cab. It had an open platform at the rear that served both decks. They were popular because passengers could jump on and off when the vehicle stopped in traffic. A few still remain on two heritage routes principally used for sightseeing.

Boris Johnson won the election in 2008 and set about his promises with vigor. The last articulated buses came out of service towards the end of last year, replaced with standard double decks running more frequently to  make up for the loss in total passenger capacity.

A nearside view of the vehicle showing the three doors and the deeper windows on the lower deck so that standing passengers can see outside easily.

The interior is of a high standard. A wheelchair passenger parks facing rearwards against the padded board on the right.

He also launched a competition for a design for the New Bus for London. With the announcement of the winner, Johnson invited manufacturers to bid for building a prototype fleet of vehicles to the new design. The one catch was that Transport for London would have the rights to the design, as it would pay the full development costs.

Some might think this was a reasonable proposition, but it was unacceptable to major international manufacturers contributing many years of their highly valued and closely guarded technical expertise. In the end it came down to a straight contest between two British manufacturers; Alexander Dennis and the successful bidder, Wrightbus, based in Ballymena in Northern Ireland.

Transport for London introduced London-based Heatherwick Studio to work hand-in-hand with Wrightbus on the design. At the time Thomas Heatherwick was an unknown name in the automotive world.

It may have been tense for the free ranging mind of Thomas Heatherwick and his design colleagues to come up against the rigidity of the strict regulations of the European Union for driver and passenger safety. However, Mayor Johnson was determined to create a new icon for London, as well known as the previous red double deck buses and black taxicabs.

Wrightbus garnered a contract worth around $18 million to develop eight pre-production NB4L prototypes. The company and Heatherwick were up against the clock from the beginning, as the next Mayoral election in London is this May. Johnson wanted to have the prototype fleet in service and seen by millions of Londoners before the critical date.

NB 4L also had to meet the latest hybrid specification. Working closely with Siemens the company had its own patented light and strong aluminium construction system. Only the low-floor underframe is steel.
NB4L features three doors and two staircases. A double-width door is located at the front alongside the driver and ahead of the front axle. The second double-width door opens behind the front axle. One interesting feature is the traditional-styled open rear platform leading to a second staircase at the rear of the bus and into the lower deck. This door can close off so one driver can operate the vehicle during off-peak periods without a conductor to tend to the passengers and ticketing, which is effectively the same two-door layout as all other double deck buses running in London.

To accommodate the door and staircase arrangements the overall length came out to 36-ft 9-in, quite a bit longer than most other double deck buses running in the capital. The cleverly packaged hybrid drivetrain at the rear of the vehicle uses a compact 4.5 litre Cummins ISBe diesel engine that drives a generator to power the Siemens hybrid drive system. The rear axle drives with regenerative braking to recuperate energy stored in compact lithium-ion batteries.

I saw the first nearly complete prototype at Wrights factory in the spring of last year. It was certainly different and broke away from the rather square shape of most double deck buses. There is an abundance of glass, particularly around the staircases, and a deep lower front windshield. Its asymmetric styling and prominent round headlights look nearly retro in style.

The rear dome is most distinctive, almost totally panelled except for a curved glazing feature over the rear staircase. Unlike any other bus, it must surely meet the mayor’s wishes for an iconic design.

Wrightbus has its own well-established reputation for design and styling. Several British prepared to invest in up-market features have demonstrated that by making the passenger area more friendly and inviting more people will be tempted to travel by bus. The agency will recover the additional price in revenues.

Thomas Heatherwick traveled widely and looked at many buses old and new. His result looks very tasteful and of good quality with not a screw-head in sight. The vehicle has 40 seats on the upper deck, 22 downstairs and space for a further 25 standing passengers. The seat trim is in a warm-looking, hardwearing moquete. The stylish bronzed-color handrails are for passengers moving or standing in gangways. Some of the interior panelling is in the same traditional burgundy color as the original Routemaster but the lighting uses modern and longer-lasting LED.

Before entering service, the first of the prototypes underwent extensive proving at Millbrook testing grounds about 50 miles north of London. The facilities include the ability for test drivers to simulate one of Transport for London’s typical routes. They reckoned to achieve a fuel consumption of 11.6 mpg, which compares to approximately 5.8 mpg for a conventional diesel double deck bus. An imperial gallon is slightly larger than a U.S. gallon.

On the other hand, the price of the NB4L is equivalent to $520,000, compared with around $290,000 for a standard diesel bus. It will take a long time to recover that much higher initial cost, even allowing for the high price of diesel in the United Kingdom and other European countries.

Major political questions arise with Mayor Johnson standing for re-election in May. It is gearing up to be a very close contest with his predecessor, Ken Livingston who introduced the bendi-buses but also made many other major improvements to bus services in London. If Johnson is re-elected, will there be further orders for Borismasters, as some people call them, despite the higher price? If Ken Livingston wins he is far too shrewd a politician to bring back the bendi-buses, but would he sanction orders for a bus, which was very much a pet project of his predecessor? BR

Doug Jack is with Transport Resources in the United Kingdom.

A general view of the EBSF prototype outside the offices of Volvo Bus Corporation in Gothenburg.

The International Union of Public Transport (UITP) is coordinating a major project in the European Union (EU) to develop the European Bus System of the Future (EBSF). The EU has extended funds to the 49 organizations taking part, which include all the main bus manufacturers, component and systems suppliers, as well as universities and research organizations.

System is the key word in this project. It is not about the development of a new generation of buses in isolation, but about raising the image of bus services and improving the total transport experience for passengers.

Many European cities are old with historic centers and consequent challenges like narrow streets and limited parking for private cars. One of the main objectives is to improve point-to-point journey times for passengers by a combination of features. Buses must be easily accessible, so passengers can get on and off quickly. Other measures, like automatic ticketing, dedicated bus lanes and priority at traffic lights and intersections can all contribute to more rapid journeys.

Volvo Bus Corporation unveiled its interpretation of the EBSF in its home city of Gothenburg, Sweden in December. Volvo already has experience with 60-ft articulated and 80-ft bi-articulated buses running on one of the busiest routes in the city. Those vehicles have an unusual layout, with the engine mounted on the offside, behind the first axle, driving into the second axle, therefore simplifying the articulation systems for the single or double trailers, each of which has a further non-driven axle.

Despite the long wheelbase, the Volvo prototype is quite maneuverable.

At first sight, the Volvo prototype looks quite unusual. It is based on a standard articulated single deck underframe with the engine mounted offset in line at the rear, driving into the third axle. The prototype uses a standard 9-liter engine driving through a ZF fully automatic six-speed gearbox to a drop center rear axle.

However, the front axle is farther forward, and the driver’s seat is located centrally over the front wheels.

On a normal Volvo city bus there is usually one double-width door ahead of the front axle and a second similar door just ahead of the second axle, plus one or two doors in the trailer section, depending on customer preference.

On the prototype, the two double-width single-piece doors slide outward. The front door moves forward, the rear moves backward, creating enough space for four passengers to enter at once, while a passenger in a wheelchair could be taken on and off by a ramp at the forward of the two doors. This layout looks like it could challenge the heating system, especially in the depth of winter in Gothenburg when icy winds blast in from the North Sea. There are also two double-width doors in the trailer section.
Volvo, Chalmers University and the local public transport authority, Vasttrafik, carried out extensive trials and found that the novel layout gave a superior and more even flow of passengers in and out compared with existing layouts, thus reducing time spent at bus stops.

The contribution by Chalmers University is very interesting. Engineers developed a wooden mockup of the layout of the interior of a bus, with door positions, seats and ticketing equipment. They monitored the behavior of different types of passengers ranging from students to mothers with strollers and people carrying luggage. They applied this research to different potential bus layouts to come up with what they believed was the optimum flow of passengers on and off the vehicle.

By relocating the front axle farther forward, Volvo has also been able to provide more seats in the front section of the bus. Total capacity of seated and standing passengers, increased by 25 percent from 116 on a standard articulated bus to 147 on the prototype without any increase in overall length. One novel feature is the use of tip-up seats in the front area that can lock into the closed position at peak periods to create more standing capacity.

At the front of the bus a large one-piece windshield is almost vertical and does not look aerodynamic. However, as city buses never reach high speeds, this is probably not a consideration.

I have reservations about locating a driver in a separate compartment. Some of the most successful European bus companies are investing heavily in driver training, teaching them to be friendlier to passengers. The Volvo location makes communication more difficult, but not impossible. While the driver is still visible, some might argue the partition gives protection from unruly or unpleasant passengers.

The central driving position also assumes the vehicle will operate much of the time on a dedicated right of way, free from obstruction by other vehicles. While the driver could see over a parked car, it would be more difficult to see round an obstruction like a van or a truck.

The long wheelbase in the front section of the vehicle will impair maneuverability, particularly on tight turns, which means routes will need to be checked carefully. However, that should not be a problem on a Bus Rapid Transit system where the right-of-way should be able to accommodate the layout. The longer wheelbase should also provide a more comfortable ride for drivers and passengers.

The prototype vehicle will enter service on the busiest route in Gothenburg currently served by 20 bi-articulated Volvo buses every five minutes.

Seven cities around Europe are taking part in the EBSF project, looking at different solutions and problems. These include passenger information systems, advanced traffic management, lighting which indicates whether there are any available seats, remote diagnostics, preventive maintenance, increased service efficiency, ease of getting on and off the vehicle, and real-time information advising on other modes of transport.

The research program is due for completion in September with a full report published thereafter. It should make interesting reading, but with the current deep economic crisis in some European countries, it might be many years before new systems become widespread.

It is also significant that the Volvo prototype can accommodate gas and hybrid drive systems. In Sweden there is strong interest in biogas because it is a renewable source of energy. Neighboring Norway has abundant supplies of natural gas in the North Sea.
Most other European countries share an interest in hybrid buses. Volvo has developed its own ISAM parallel system for used not only in buses but also local distribution trucks and construction equipment, giving the company economies of scale in production. More than 350 Volvo hybrid buses are now in service in several European countries, and the company has sent prototypes to India, Brazil and Mexico.

The two wide adjacent doors in the front section with the tip-up seats visible behind them.

Some people see hybrid as simply a step towards all-electric buses. At the moment, batteries do not have sufficient range for a full day’s work on a large transit bus. Volvo recognizes that challenge and has set up a joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation in China to develop battery technology and all-electric vehicles. Already, buses can connect to overhead power points that provide a fast booster charge at the end of each route and at busy stops along the line. Regular fast charging is helping to extend the mileage range. Because Volvo built the EBSF prototype on a standard platform it will be easier to introduce new technology and drive systems as they become available and at customers demand. BR

Doug Jack is with Transport Resources in the United Kingdom.

The two-axle Enviro 400 is a very popular Alexander Dennis model in the UK.

The British market for city buses fell back badly in 2010, not just because of the global financial crisis, but also two of the major groups cut back heavily on their normal procurement of new vehicles. The effect was still felt in the first half of 2011.
Recovery came in the second half and forward order books for 2012 are looking healthier with a recent boost by the British government’s decision to give a further $40 million US toward the purchase of hybrid buses, which will make up much of the difference between a standard diesel bus and a hybrid version.

Since 2004 Alexander Dennis (ADL) has concentrated on its design, manufacture of double deck buses for British, and export markets, as well midibuses, which have proven very popular.

Colin Robertson became chief executive officer for Alexander Dennis in the spring of 2007 following a number of senior executive positions with Terex, including a stint in the United States. Within a matter of weeks of his arrival ADL bought out Plaxton, the only remaining builder of luxury coach bodywork in the United Kingdom, giving the enlarged company a turnover in excess of $350 million US per annum. As it turned out, Plaxton gave ADL valuable additional capacity to build city buses.

The Plaxton Elite comes across as very luxurious.

Under Robertson’s leadership, ADL further modernized its product range, including hybrid buses with BAE Systems. This program has been so successful that ADL is currently the largest producer of hybrid buses in Europe with nearly 500 in service or on order at the turn of the year.

Proven very reliable even in the heaviest of traffic in London, some of the earliest deliveries already have accumulated nearly 200,000 miles with savings in fuel consumption of around 30 percent.

ADL and BAE Systems are working closely on further refinement of the hybrid drive system. They plan to introduce a stop-start function very soon and anticipate that it will give a further 10 percent saving in fuel consumption.

During his press conference at the recent exhibition in Birmingham, UK, Robertson stressed the importance of export business to compensate for the fluctuations in the British market. ADL has developed a new version of its 40-foot Enviro 500 double deck bus, which is 13.5 feet in height for the North American market. The floor is only 14 inches above ground, helped by the use of smaller wheels and tires. A Cummins ISB engines fits vertically in line coupled to fully automatic Allison gearboxes. The engine can be either four or six cylinder depending on overall length and the customer’s power requirements.

The 49-ft Volvo with a Plaxton Panther body is popular on express services.

ADL describes the new product as a “Go Anywhere Double Deck” that opens up new opportunities across North America for transit routes previously hindered by low bridge constraints and the need for special height permits.

Robertson was delighted to announce orders and options for a total of 220 of these new 99-passenger vehicles to operators in Ottawa and Toronto for Q3 2012 delivery. ADL also is delivering the shorter two-axle Enviro 400 double deck buses with open tops for sightseeing to Hawaii.

ADL already has double deck fleets running in New York, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver.
“I believe that after a brief rebound the global economy is back on its heels,” said Robertson, speaking to the economic state. “The persistent stagnation in Europe and renewed weakness in the U.S. means that global output from the developed world for the medium-term will not be better than anemic – and the risk of another slowdown is very real. Those who stand still, in good or bad times, are dead in the water.”

Robertson has driven a major cultural change in ADL with results clearly seen in the product range. He says his company has re-calibrated the way it plans, resources, designs, engineers, manufactures and provides whole-life support for its customers.
Financially, ADL has performed extremely well. The group has increased its output 60 percent from 2009 to 2011 with a record order book equivalent to $560 million US. Robertson forecasts that number rising to $700 million in 2012, justifying his claim ADL is the fastest growing bus manufacturer in Europe. The icing on the cake is the fact that the company is also become debt free.

The Enviro 200 midibus is built to various lengths and currently holds 70 percent of the UK market in this weight range.

Dennis chassis are assembled in a factory at Guildford, which is about 25 miles south west of London’s Heathrow Airport. They are designed for close integration with the group’s bodywork, but can also be supplied to other bodybuilders.

All models use Cummins engines of various different sizes, coupled to Allison, Voith or ZF fully automatic gearboxes. Axles are a mixture of Dana and ZF, making it relatively easy to source these components in North America for customers needing to comply with Buy American requirements. Bodywork can be supplied in kit form for assembly by local labor.

The Alexander factory at Falkirk in Scotland principally builds double deck city bus bodywork, not only on ADL chassis, but sometimes also on Scania. Other products include a full-size, heavy-duty single-deck transit bus body.

All the construction is in Alexander’s own time-tested bolted aluminium system. Although aluminium is much more expensive than steel, the savings in weight are particularly important with a double deck bus. There is also complete resistance to corrosion and the ease of recycling, an important factor with Europe’s end-of-life regulations which are affecting all kinds of automotive products.

The assembly of midibus bodywork was transferred two or three years ago to the Plaxton factory at Scarborough on the north east coast of England. These are also built in the same bolted aluminum and range in length from 29 to 38 feet. The Plaxton factory has traditionally built luxury coach bodywork, principally on Volvo chassis, but also on Iveco, and more recently on Scania.

Plaxton is also the principal supplier of coaches to the British operations of megabus.com. Although they run some double deck coaches on UK services, the main work horses are 49-foot tri-axle coaches mounted on Volvo chassis.

Most coaches in the UK are built to an overall length of 40 feet on two axles. Plaxton is the market leader. When megabus.com introduced its tri-axle giants, many wondered whether they would be able to work in our congested towns and cities, with narrow streets and tight corners. They are in fact remarkably maneuverable, with the third trailing axle also steering, giving great operational flexibility. Two tri-axle models can handle almost the same number of passengers as three 40-foot coaches with considerable savings in running costs.

With ambitious plans to grow further, ADL says it is heavily committed to new product development and is not resting on its laurels.

Doug Jack is with Transport Resources in the United Kingdom.

The latest generation of Neoplan Skyliner double deck coach.

By Doug Jack

Every second year for one week in October, the small city of Kortrijk in the west of Belgium becomes the global hub of the bus and coach industry. BusWorld began as a tiny local exhibition in 1971 and has nearly outgrown the Xpo Centre in Kortrijk. More than 340 exhibitors from 32 countries displayed, including 70 either complete vehicles or bodywork on chassis.
An all-time record 31,680 visitors from 118 countries filled hotels in a 30-mile radius in spite of many parts of the world suffering severe economic problems.
Busworld Kortrijk coincided with the birth of the seven billionth global inhabitant. All those people will travel during their lives, and that augurs well for the long-term prospects for buses and coaches.
Headquartered in the Netherlands, the VDL Group secured the coveted “International Coach of the Year 2012” trophy with its New Futura coach family, chosen after a series of comparative tests by a jury of 17 European trade journalists. They were impressed with the overall build quality, especially the interior trimming. Its DAF (Paccar) engine and automated gearbox make the coach very driveable.

The new Scania Citywide bus has an aluminium structure.

Belgium-based Van Hool introduced a large stand of new products. Its new TX series replaces the popular T9 range of integral coaches. The new TX family features approximately 60 improvements compared with the previous T9 models, ranging from more aerodynamic styling to a number of safety and comfort features for drivers, tour guides and passengers.
Two examples of Van Hool city buses were a hybrid bus for the principality of Monaco and the new ExquiCity Bus Rapid Transit vehicle in the form of an articulated trolleybus for the Italian city of Parma.
Van Hool took orders for 140 of the new TX family before the show opened. On top of that, Megabus.com is taking delivery of 60 double deck coaches for its network in the United States, and ordered a further 80 similar vehicles for delivery in 2012, plus 11 for the British network.
Both Volvo and Scania launched new city buses. To save weight and improve fuel efficiency, Volvo built the underframe, front and rear frames of its Volvo 7900 in steel with the rest of the bus bolted aluminium.
Scania builds its city buses in Slupsk in Northern Poland. The Citywide is available either with a full-length low floor and transversely mounted rear engine, or as a low-entry model with a conventional rear axle and the engine mounted vertically in line.
Solaris celebrated 15 years of manufacturing buses in Poland. The company has a well-deserved reputation for innovation, including various types of hybrid buses, all-electric trolleybuses and vehicles that can run on compressed natural gas or biogas. The latter is particularly popular in Sweden because it is a totally renewable source of fuel.

The new Van Hool TX range includes this model with a ramped, theatre style, floor.

Solaris exhibited its Urbino Electric midibus, built to an overall length of just over 29 feet with a Vossloh-Kiepe electric motor mounted at the rear, driving into the rear axle. Two packs of lithium-ion batteries mounted on either side of the motor capture and store electrical energy. Only the system’s power electronics and a legally required brake resistor mount on the roof. Solaris says this has a range of up to 70 miles when fully charged and can recharge in four hours. The company is working on plans to extend the range and reduce the recharging time.
Another Solaris exhibit was an Urbino 18 Hybrid MetroStyle powered by an Allison parallel hybrid system originally developed for BRT systems in France. The doors are wider than normal, also super-single tires fit on the middle axle to give a wider interior gangway.
Temsa, the Turkish builder, extended the popular Safari coach family with a 45-foot tri-axle model. The company has also added city and surburban vehicles to its new MD range. Many of the structures are of stainless steel, which is increasingly popular in Europe because of its resistance to corrosion.
Omer Sozutek, International Development Director, says Temsa is introducing 40- and 45-foot models to the United States, thus becoming the only manufacturer able to supply 35-, 40- and 45-foot length motorcoaches.
The European Union will move to Euro 6 emission limits for new buses and coaches placed in service beginning 2014. MAN showed its popular Lion’s City bus with a Euro 6 engine. While these engines require larger cooling systems than the present generation, MAN showed the Euro 6 unit can be installed without any loss of space for passengers.
Nowadays, Neoplan is a wholly owned subsidiary of MAN and concentrates on building top-end luxury coaches. One of the stars of the show was the fifth generation double deck Skyliner coach. This beautifully finished product will go into volume production early next year.
Castrosua is a leading Spanish builder of city bus bodywork. Two years ago it developed its own complete integral hybrid bus. At Kortrijk it showed this bus with a gas fuelled engine developed primarily to meet the requirements of Madrid. Tata Hispano offered the same gas hybrid combination for Madrid.
Another Spanish builder UNVI showed an open top double deck body for city sightseeing mounted on an Alexander Dennis chassis with a BAE Systems hybrid drive. This is believed to be the first open top hybrid double deck bus built — at least in Europe. At present, many sightseeing services operate conversions of older double deck buses with older and more polluting engines, running most of the time in lower gears through historic city centers. The stop-start driving is ideal for hybrid technology.
BMC, based in Izmir, Turkey, showed a hybrid low-floor city bus, with a Cummins engine and a Siemens drive system. Also from Turkey, Otokar had a large stand including a full low-floor city bus fitted with a number of safety features, such as closed circuit television. The authorities in the main cities in Turkey are keen to reduce the large numbers of minibuses, which operate on fixed routes like shared taxis. They are a major cause of congestion and pollution, but it will be a gradual process to replace them with larger vehicles.
Though headquartered in France Iveco Irisbus is a wholly owned subsidiary of the new Fiat Industrial, which became operational January 2011. Its exhibits included a hybrid Citelis city bus with the BAE Systems drive. Following a series of demonstrations in several European countries, some of the first orders are from the Paris operator RATP.
Mercedes-Benz and Setra occupied adjacent stands. Along with the Citaro city bus another important exhibit was a Travego luxury coach with a Euro 6 engine. Hartmut Schick, head of Daimler Buses was predicting a slight increase in his company’s sales in 2011, compared with the previous year, but said conditions in a number of markets were still difficult. Speaking of North America, he says the city bus sector is weak and there is no support for hybrid buses. On the other hand, coach sales have improved with Setra now able to offer two models in different market sectors.
The third generation of Mercedes-Benz fuel cell buses with hybrid drive systems are running in Hamburg, with more due to enter service shortly in Switzerland and Italy. The company says the fuel cells are more efficient and therefore vehicles require fewer storage tanks.
I stayed in Busworld Kortrijk for the duration but still did not have enough time to get around to all the exhibitors. The next edition is in October 2013, which gives BUSRide readers time to start saving to come to Belgium and this incredible exhibition.

Doug Jack is with Transport Resources in the United Kingdom.

A Belkommunmash low floor trolleybus negotiates heavy traffic with the Kremlin in the background.

The distance from London to Moscow is 1,560 miles, less than half the distance from London to New York. Yet the three-and-a-half-hour flight takes one to a completely different and fascinating part of the world.
I made the trip this year because I could not pass up the opportunity to visit Comtrans, said to be the largest commercial vehicle exhibition in the world, held in the Crocus Expo Center adjacent to a motorway that encircles Moscow. The journey from the center of the city was an opportunity to observe the various types of vehicles in Moscow.
Like many former Soviet cities, Moscow has an extensive metro network with some of the most splendid stations anywhere in the world. There are also trams and trolleybuses. Although buses are used on some city center routes, they generally act as feeders to the metro and trolleybus networks. The services are frequent, but a typical cross-city journey may involve two or three changes of transport at major hubs.

A Scania with a Chinese built Higer A80 luxury coach body.

In the old days it was practically impossible to obtain any statistics about the Russian market, but that has changed, thanks to ASM Holding. It reported that registrations of new buses and coaches of all sizes rose to 23,227 units in the first half of 2011 compared with 18,229 in the first half of 2010. That represented a healthy increase of 27.4 percent, but it sent out an alarming signal to the domestic manufacturers.
Their share of new registrations declined from 74.35 percent to 55.04 percent. All the gains were by new imports, some assembled in Russia, and a small number of used imports. This last category included relatively young coaches still carrying the names and colors of their previous German owners.
Registrations include all sizes of buses

A low-entry RoAZ city bus built in Rostov-on-Don is powered by a Deutz engine.

with a large number of minibuses that typically seat 16-18 passengers in a very cramped layout. They run on fixed routes at regular intervals in the cities, charging higher fares than full-size buses and trolleybuses because they offer faster point-to-point journeys. With minimal driving standards and little control from the authorities, they seem to be very popular.
There are various reasons for the rise in imports to Russia. Geographically, Chinese and Korean bus builders are closer than domestic builders in European Russia to customers in the vast Asian region of the country. Six of China’s leading bus and coach manufacturers made this point very clear. Between them they added models in all the main segments of the Russian market from large luxury coaches and midi coaches to low-floor city buses.
Another factor is the municipalities that buy most of the city buses are short on money. Although this situation is improving, they have tended to buy basic 25-foot vehicles with high floors.
With five subsidiaries that build different sizes and types of buses and coaches, the GAZ Group is by far the largest domestic manufacturer. One of those subsidiaries, LiAZ, the Likino Bus Factory, has developed full low floor rigid and articulated buses with

A hybrid NefAZ bus with a Cummins Euro 5 engine and Voith drive system.

the option of compressed natural gas (CNG) engines.
Russia will move to Euro 4 engine emission standards for vehicles put into service beginning January 2012. Many of the importers can already meet the more strict Euro 5 standards. The step from Euro 3 to Euro 4 proved significant, because there was a change from traditional mechanical engines to electronic control systems.
With Russia aspiring to Western standards in all sorts of products, the major challenge for the GAZ Group is to update the powertrains in all its models. It also sees the need for new and more stylish designs. Sadly, most GAZ designs look rather plain and dated. It is hardly a defense to say that vehicles have to stand up to tough operating conditions, because importers are winning significant market share.
The largest factory in the GAZ Group is the Pavlovsky Avto Zavod, or PAZ. It builds up to 10,000 medium size buses per year, seen all over Russia in urban, rural and school services, work transport and for the armed services. As the same boxy shape has been around for years, it was good to see a more stylish midi coach with a large one-piece windscreen and bonded glazing.

A Volgabus body on a Cummins powered Avia chassis.

Transport for workers in the oil, gas and mineral industries in the remote northern regions is a major challenge in Russia. Bus travel requires traversing rough gravel roads in all climates. The largest vehicle on the GAZ stand was a rugged Ural truck chassis/cab, with three driven axles and air suspension to improve the ride quality, along with double glazing and additional heating and ventilation for the tough Arctic conditions.
KamAZ is the largest truck builder in Russia, with Daimler having a 15 percent holding. On buses, KamAZ works closely with the Neftekamsk Avto Zavod, trading as NefAZ. One of itsexhibits was a hybrid bus, using a Cummins Euro 5 engine and a Voith DIWA hybrid drive system. Russian manufacturers have announced two or three other hybrid buses previously, but the concept is still very much in its infancy.
It is hard to understand why Russia wants hybrid buses with so many cities still running large trolleybus systems inherited from Soviet days. Three or four Russian manufacturers build in small volumes, as well MAZ and Belkommunmash from neighboring Belarus. A number of low-floor trolleybuses run the streets of Moscow, with a greater number of old high floor models still in use.
Even the older vehicles appeared well maintained and free from minor accident damage. Labor rates are still relatively low in Russia. The larger bus fleets have central workshops where they can carry out the heaviest of repair and maintenance work. Russian fleets have not caught on to the Western philosophy of service exchange units, which minimizes vehicle downtime.
Volzhanin is one of the smaller bus builders, which trades as Volgabus. It offered a very interesting example of international collaboration at its stand. Several years ago Ashok Leyland of India bought Avia, a manufacturer of light and medium trucks in the Czech Republic. Volgabus had taken an Avia chassis powered by a front-mounted Cummins engine and fitted a simple body intended for suburban and rural transport. A large segment in Russia uses vehicles of this type. It also caught the attention of two executives from a factory of Ashok Leyland in Dubai. One can hardly get more international than that.
Russia is becoming an increasingly important market for Western European manufacturers. Many private companies want top quality products and are prepared to pay for them. One of the most popular makes, Neoplan, earned the Bus of the Year Award for its Cityliner coaches.
Russia permits vehicles up to 49-feet long on three axles, which are well suited for service on the long wide streets. One of the vehicles on the MAN stands was a tri-axle interurban coach. The floor is about 32 inches above ground with a reasonable amount of luggage space in under floor lockers.
Many of the smaller stands offered a wide variety of components and equipment, much of it imported. Suppliers came namely from Western Europe, Turkey and China. While Russia has undoubtedly opened up over the last 20 years, it is still not the easiest country in which to do business. It is in need of strong, well-connected local partners. Nonetheless, with registrations for all vehicle sizes forecasted to exceed 55,000 this year, no one can ignore Russia. BR

Doug Jack is with Transport Resources in the United Kingdom.

It is once again time to bring BUSRide readers up to date on the activities of Irizar, a very interesting and progressive company headquartered in the Basque country of northern Spain in the small town of Ormaiztegui. It is a beautiful region, which prides itself on being the workshop of the country.

Twenty years ago Irizar was one of a number of Spanish companies building inter-urban and touring coach bodywork on all the main makes of European chassis. At that time, it was building around 250 bodies per year, and there were serious concerns about its ability to survive in the industry.

New management came in and quickly decided the key to long-term survival would be as a global player. In Europe that meant entering as many markets as possible, usually in conjunction with Scania, keen on becoming a more widely recognized coach brand without having to design and develop its own complete coach products.

Outside of Europe, the new Irizar team looked at countries with a tradition of people traveling by coach, usually due to usually inadequate rail networks and airfares beyond reach of most passengers.

Since 2008, Irizar has operated in Spain as an independent cooperative, a structure only retained in Spain where the company currently employs 735 people. Another 2,465 work in normal limited companies in China, Morocco, Brazil, Mexico, India and South Africa.

Irizar has four subsidiaries in Spain. Hispacold is a leading manufacturer of air conditioning. Masats makes doors, luggage lockers and other components. Both supply not only Irizar, but also many of the company’s competitors. JEMA is a leading company in the power electronics sector, and INT is its latest acquisition, a company that produces information systems currently in use on trains, but with potential applications for coach drivers and passengers.

I talked to Gotzon Gomez, export sales director, and one of eight Irizar board members in Spain. An industrial engineer by training, he joined Irizar in 1996 and spent his first two years in production. He moved to Brazil in 1998 when Irizar established its subsidiary in that country. His experience as managing director also included the establishment of Irizar South Africa, supplied from the plant in Brazil. Gomez is also responsible for the introduction of the first Irizar. He returned to the headquarters in September 2009 to take up his current position.

Last year, despite difficult conditions in a number of markets, because of the global financial crisis, Irizar still managed to build around 1,400 bodies in Ormaiztegui.

The plant is highly efficient, building four main families of coach bodies on a wide variety of chassis in various lengths and heights.
The range starts with the i4 inter-urban family. The long-running New Century and the new i6 bodies fill the main volume segments in the coach industry. The PB, which stands for New Project in the Basque language, is the top sector coach body.

The assembly floor consists of three parallel lines on one side, a wide avenue through the middle, and two and a half parallel lines on the other side. In a highly organized logistics operation, vehicles delivering components and sub-assemblies on a just-in-time basis to the stations where they are required use the avenue. This saves time requires accurate timing and strong discipline on the part of suppliers.

There are 14 stages on the main lines and they move once every 24 hours. The fourth to sixth stages have paint spray booths, capable of carrying out some very elaborate schemes, including dramatic graduated colors.

The factories in Brazil, China, Mexico, Morocco and South Africa build products that are broadly the same as those in Spain, although not necessarily the full range of the parent factory.

The Moroccan plant also builds the Irea city bus body. Vehicles produced in India and mounted on Ashok Leyland chassis are more heavily adapted for local conditions. Gomez says Irizar has the flexibility to build to maximum widths of 96-inch, 98.5-inch and 102-inch, depending on regulations in its many markets.

Irizar can also adapt to requirements in individual markets. For instance in South America, customers on long distance coaches prefer a much softer seat than in Europe. The factory has even built sleeper models with 16 fully flat beds in a tri-axle 49-foot coach. Almost as comfortable are coaches with two large reclining seats on one side of the gangway and single seats on the other side.

Although Irizar builds city bus bodywork only in Morocco, it is working on a project with JEMA, academic partners, and the bus company in San Sebastian, to produce an all-electric bus, with a target introduction of 2015. Irizar feels that hybrid buses might just be an interim stage. Battery technology is improving all the time, and offers zero emission operation on city streets.

Last year, despite financial problems around the world, Irizar built 4,200 bodies, despite many of their smaller customers finding it practically impossible to obtain finance for fleet renewal. There was a 20-percent improvement in output in the first half of 2011, compared with the previous half year, but Gomez is still cautious with his forecasts. While he thought there would be an overall improvement, there was weak demand in some of the company’s important markets in Southern Europe.

Two years ago Irizar launched integral versions of its i4 interurban coach and the PB and since introduced the new i6. Although the Century coach family continues in production, Irizar’s current practice is to use model numbers rather than names. Gomez says the Irizar brand is all-important.

I asked him why Irizar had taken the decision to develop its own complete integral vehicles. After all, it has a good working relationship with all the main chassis manufacturers, particularly in Spain, where the company regularly enjoys a 40-percent share of the interurban and coach market.

“We are increasingly finding they want to sell their own complete coaches,” says Gomez. “It can be difficult being both partners and competitors. We have customers who are loyal to Irizar, therefore we cannot run the risk of being shut out of any of our markets. We will continue to work with the chassis manufacturers in Spain, but will develop the integral range on a market-by-market basis. We think the integral product is complementary, which will help us increase our overall share in a number of countries.”

For European customers, Irizar is using DAF (Paccar) engines, which have an excellent reputation for durability and economy. ZF supplies the gearboxes and axles. The integral model saves weight compared with a chassis and body combination. This is an important factor, especially on touring coaches with large baggage loads.

I asked Gomez if Irizar had any plans for the United States. A number of years ago the company supplied 80 to 90 bodies on a chassis built in the U.S. but proved less than ideal for the market.

Since then, Irizar has have opened a factory in Mexico to build integral coaches. Paccar will take around 6,000 DAF engines from the Netherlands this year, for Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks. Some of the essential building blocks for a U.S. coach are falling into place.

“The issue is not technical, but strategic,” says Gomez. “We realize that units like ZF axles are not well known in the United States, but there are other potential suppliers who would be more acceptable. DAF engines meet EPA-10 and a service network is in place through Paccar. There are no tariff barriers between Mexico and the States. In the medium term, I am sure that we will go into the U.S., but it must be a step-by-step process.”

It had long been a dream of Dr. Ferdinand Piëch, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen, to create a European automotive giant, active in all products from cars through to heavy commercial vehicles.
While some industry observers said that he wanted to rival Daimler, compared with Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen has a far more extensive range of cars, through its various brands.
After many twists and turns Piëch finally achieved his goal. He had secured a controlling interest in MAN, having previously achieved the same position in Scania, two of Europe’s best-known commercial vehicle brands.
Scania, an old established Swedish company based near Stockholm, has a well-deserved reputation for the quality and particularly the driveability of its buses and trucks. It also has a very long and proud record of profitability, even through the recent financial crisis that severely affected many markets. For the first six months of 2011, Scania reported 15 percent return on sales.
Although Scania only builds trucks and buses, for many years it had a joint venture with Volkswagen, importing its cars and vans into Sweden until 2002. The following year, Volkswagen bought 34 percent of Scania and increased its stake to nearly 70 percent in 2008.
Scania assembles interurban and coach chassis in a compact unit attached to the main truck facility in Sweden, with bus chassis assembled at its Omni plant in Northern Poland. The company also assembles some bus and coach chassis at its factories in Brazil and Mexico. Built to the same dimensions and standards as those in Sweden, these separate plants can help each other in sudden times of high demand.
Headquartered in Munich, Germany, MAN claims to have been engineering the future since 1758. The company is best known for its extensive range of buses and trucks built not only in Germany, but also Poland and Turkey, with joint ventures for trucks in China and India.
MAN launched an unsuccessful bid to take over Scania in 2006. Volkswagen quickly bought up to 20 percent of MAN, which bought just over 14 percent of the voting shares of Scania.

The Neoplan Cityliner has proven popular in Europe.

In March 2007, Volkswagen raised its stake to 29.9 percent in MAN and there was speculation it planned to merge MAN and Scania.
The first serious move by MAN was unexpected. Volkswagen assembled trucks and bus chassis in Rosende, Brazil, but brought in a very high percentage of each product.  Suppliers made the engines, gearboxes, axles, frames and truck cabs.
This was an important step in MAN’s ambitions to become a global player. But this would be a completely different type of operation from the MAN and Scania factories in Europe, which manufactures a very high percentage of vehicles in-house.
Volkswagen announced in June its plans to increase its shareholding in MAN, with the Executive and Supervisory Boards rejecting its initial offer.
However, on July 4th, an easy date for you to remember, Volkswagen announced that it had secured more than 56 percent of the shares in MAN.
Prior to that, Volkswagen had been encouraging both companies to look for synergies. They suggested that there could be savings in research and development, purchasing, and perhaps on some components.
The directors of MAN and Scania were both opposed to any higher degree of integration, because they valued their independence and customer loyalty. In fairness to Volkswagen, it has successfully managed a large portfolio of car brands, including Volkswagen and Audi in Germany, Skoda in the Czech Republic, Seat in Spain and the famous Bentley in the United Kingdom. It has also recently taken control of Porsche.
There may be some commonality in platforms, but each brand has its own dealers throughout Europe, and even further afield in some instances.
On buses and coaches, distinction between the MAN and Scania philosophies is quite clear.
MAN builds complete integral city buses in Poland, available with diesel, gas or hybrid drivelines; and interurban and medium segment coaches, including some Neoplan models, in a factory in Ankara, Turkey. It builds top segment luxury coaches in Plauen, Germany, and promotes them under the premium Neoplan brand. All MAN structures are in steel to thoroughly protect against corrosion. There are also chassis derivatives of most models, built in a factory at Salzgitter in Germany, ironically not far from the Volkswagen headquarters in Wolfsburg.
MAN is very good at packaging the drivetrain on its low-floor city buses, benefiting from engines smaller than Scania. Their horizontal position lends to a superior interior layout. With the exception of midibuses, Scania has an equally extensive a product range manufactured and supplied in another way. The company is principally a supplier of chassis and works with a wide number of bodybuilders around the world. It builds city and suburban buses under the Omni brand in Northern Poland. Totally different from MAN, the structures are of bolted aluminium, which is much more expensive than steel, resistant to corrosion and lighter in weight, which saves on fuel.
The manufacture of interurban coaches for European markets is primarily sub-contracted to the Finnish bodybuilder, Lahti under the OmniExpress brand. Scania has also collaborated closely with Irizar of Spain on interurban and luxury coaches in a number of European markets. More recently, Scania has started to import Higer coachwork from China as a complete Scania product for the medium segment of the European coach market.

This version of the Lion’s City bus is used on rural routes.

Scania is pursuing a strategy to gradually reduce the number of bodybuilders and strengthen relationships with those it sees as longer-term strategic partners.
With Volkswagen holding a controlling interest in MAN and Scania, an investigation by the European competition authorities will ensure the two companies do not have a dominant position in any of the European markets, which could distort competition — an unlikely risk, considering Daimler, Volvo-Renault and Iveco-Irisbus. Alexander Dennis, VDL and Van Hool also hold strong positions in their domestic markets.
Volkswagen has had representatives on the board of Scania for some time, and knows how that business works. The reasonable profits by Scania in recent years from its bus and coach operations have not escaped its notice. On the other hand, MAN has noted that its bus and coach operations vary from slight profits to losses, which, although not horrific, are nevertheless a cause for concern. There have been costs in rationalizing the model range, but should now start to bear fruit.
Volkswagen will be able to achieve savings in research, development and purchasing. MAN and Scania are both well down the line on developing engines which will meet Euro 6 emission standards that come into force for vehicles licensed on or after Jan. 1, 2014. Until now, both have preferred to meet emission standards by Exhaust Gas Recirculation, whereas all the other main European players use selective Catalytic Reduction.
Electronics and Telematics are potential areas for research collaboration. Sharing those development costs would make sound sense.
It is too early to say how long the competition authorities will take to assess the potential merger, but if all goes well, they could give MAN and Scania approval by the time of Busworld Kortrijk in October.
While MAN and Scania make most of their own major components, the combined negotiating power of both companies will be more than enough to send shivers through suppliers of many smaller proprietary parts, for instance, wheels and tires. Imagine securing those accounts.

Doug Jack is with Transport Resources in the United Kingdom.

Five years ago in BUSRide, I wrote on my visit to the Mercedes Benz plant in Hoşdere just west of Istanbul in the small part of Turkey that lies in Europe.

It is hard to realize the automotive industry in this country only began in the 1960s. Mercedes-Benz was in at the start with local partners, building its first bus in 1968 and exporting two years later.

The original factory was in a cramped industrial area of Istanbul before moving its final assembly to Hoşdere in 1995. When I first visited, it was in open countryside with only an army camp as a near neighbor. Mercedes Benz invested further to move all manufacturing operations to Hoşdere by 2005. The company now occupies 430,000-square-yards and includes an in-house electricity generating plant.

When I last visited in 2006, I did not hesitate in describing it as the best bus factory in the world. At that time, it was building a range of buses and coaches on a line system and docking stations so that luxury coaches requiring more work and material would not hold up city buses with simpler specifications.

I returned to Hoşdere at the beginning of June to see it is even better than before. A combination of factors makes me confident about my earlier opinion. Let me explain what has happened since my previous visit.

The Hoşdere factory works closely with the two main German factories, namely the Mercedes Benz city bus plant in Mannheim and the Setra factory in Ulm. Setra was already building some interurban versions of the Citaro bus range.

The decision came down for the three factories should work even more closely, and to common manufacturing standards to better able to handle major international orders.

As part of this strategy, production capacity at Hoşdere increased to 4,000 vehicles per year, which exceeded the capabilities of the docking system. In any case, the large air-operated docking platforms, worn and needing replacement, prompted the management team to undertake a complete appraisal of the production process.

An inspector uses a mirror on the end of a stick to look underneath a vehicle.

The Hoşdere factory builds four basic models with a number of variations of each. The Conecto is a low-floor city bus available in solo and articulated versions. The Intouro is a multi-purpose coach. The very popular Tourismo coach features two axles on the 40-foot model; three axles up to 45-foot, 6-inch. The Travego is top of the range, designed principally for express coach services in Turkey with enormous luggage capacity under the high floor.

All the vehicles feature complete integral structures, carefully designed to maximize strength and minimize weight.

To treat against corrosion, the structures receive a total immersion in large chemical treatment tanks. Small holes drilled in pillars allow the liquid to penetrate the insides of the steel beams. No further welding takes place after this stage.

The anti-corrosion plant works around the clock. While it might seem expensive, with the high volumes the treatment system makes sound economic sense. The price of mild steel in Europe is currently just under $1,000 per ton, compared with aluminium at around $6,500 per ton. The treated frames structures come out ready for paint in any color combination or standard white for application of transfers by customers.

To move the structures around, the factory designed electric motors to fit in the location of the front and rear axles. These portable lifts are in two heights, one high enough for employees to work on the underside of a structure.

Vehicles proceed rearward down two parallel lines and transversely at the end for installation of complete drivelines brought in from Germany. They then move forward on two parallel lines until the final stage for the installation of seats and final inspection.

The massive logistics store located next to the assembly lines supplies as many as 20,000 items at any one time — as small as a fastener or as large as a complete engine.

The store picks parts for each vehicle three to four hours before required on the lines, places them in trolleys for a tow into position. They also regularly replenish the line-side racks of fast moving parts such as nuts, bolts and fasteners. The lean system ensures workers at each station will have all the materials they need for their allotted 60 minutes before the vehicle moves to the next station and the next trolley of parts.

Assembly workers do not walk through the factory carrying parts from stores. Working instead to Japanese Kaizan quality principles, the lean operation creates space round the vehicles, which reduces the risk of any accidental damage during assembly. Notice boards situated at various stages along the lines monitor quality, rectification of any defects, and present other information to help employees. Suggestions are also strongly encouraged.

A super high-deck tri-axle Travego coach straight out of the paint shop. Note the homemade electric carriers for moving shells.

Despite the economic crisis, the factory built more than 3,000 vehicles last year. Fortunately, Turkish banks are more tightly regulated than those in some Western European countries. Production was building up to a target of more than 3,300 this year, with output scheduled to rise to around 13-14 vehicles per day in the second half of the year. The general yardstick in Western Europe is one bus per employee per annum. Yet, Hoşdere is exceeding two per annum.

The next surprise is the headcount. The factory is building complete vehicles, including a wide range of seats with total manufacturing headcount of 1,900, of which around 1,500 are blue collar. The average age is 30 to 35 years, and around 72 percent have a higher education, mainly in technical colleges.

The total cost of hourly labor in Turkey is around one fifth of that of Germany or most other Western European counties. The company provides bus transportation to and from the factory for the majority of workers, and offers free meals, as well as extensive sport and recreation facilities for employees to enjoy with their families on weekends.

A more recent addition is a well-equipped laboratory with equipment capable of testing practically any component that goes into the vehicles. The facility is also open to suppliers wanting to improve their products.

Last year, Hoşdere produced nearly 1,800 vehicles for export. Most went to the demanding markets of Western Europe. On the Turkish market, two out of every three coaches carry the Mercedes-Benz badge.

However, Hoşdere also has a research and development center that employs a further 300 people, and not just on projects for the bus factory. Hoşdere is also the Center of Excellence in Daimler Buses for jigs and tools.

The timing of the improvements to Hoşdere and the new manufacturing processes may well be inspired. The price of fuel is still very high in most European countries. The future for buses and coaches therefore looks very good. If my calculations are correct, Hoşdere is in a prime position to supply top quality products at competitive prices.

If you think I am biased, the management also invited a very good friend and business associate. He spent much of his career building and selling buses and coaches and has been in many factories around the world. As we left Hoşdere, he simply said, “That was incredible – that is the benchmark for building buses.”

The new Citaro articulated buses by Mercedes Benz can handle a large flow of passengers.

The interior of a 40-fooj18t Citaro features a very comfortable driver’s seat.

Having built nearly 35,000 versions of its popular Citaro city bus range since 1998, Mercedes-Benz raised the bar with its launch of the new generation Citaro in May from Mannheim, Germany.

Before I go any further, let me clear up possible confusion about brands. The parent company is Daimler AG, of which one of the subsidiaries is Daimler Buses. Some senior executives in that organization have global responsibilities that include Orion in North America, the Polomex joint venture in Mexico, and a very large chassis manufacturing operation in Brazil.

The wholly-owned subsidiary, EvoBus GmbH, EvoBus, with factories in France, Germany, Spain and Turkey, sells Mercedes-Benz city buses and Setra luxury coaches.

Beginning January 2014, the new and more stringent Euro 6 emission limits will be standard, a factor that helped persuade Mercedes-Benz to develop the new Citaro.

Looking forward, the interior space of an articulated Citaro is ample.

“The general view is this will take a combination of EGR and SCR,” says Hartmut Schick, head of Daimler Buses. “We will need a chemical factory at the back of every bus.”

Schick says the company wanted to include safety and weight-saving features as well.

The Citaro launched with two models and has evolved into a wide range of models needing replacement as Euro 6 takes effect.
Andreas Renschler, a member of the Daimler AG Board of Management and responsible for Commercial Vehicles, hosted the launch in the historic plant in Mannheim where Carl Benz built the first bus in 1895. Renschler described it as the unofficial capital of bus production. He says the world needs the bus because it is unbeatable in at least three ways. First, no other form of transport comes close to the bus in terms of safety. Second, buses out-perform other forms of transport in terms of eco-friendliness. The CO2 emissions of a modern coach are a third lower than the equivalent figure for trains. Thirdly, buses are incredibly flexible. They do not need tracks or stations and they had unbeatable whole life cycle costs.

He predicted growth in the bus business because more and more people are moving to urban centers. In just 20 years, around 60 percent of the global population will live in towns and cities. Buses already have a 46 percent share of the market, making them the backbone of public transport.

Renschler says Mercedes-Benz buses are universally reliable, as the company sets global benchmarks for new technologies.

Mercedes Benz made the engine and auxiliaries in the new Citaro very accessible.

“Our buses lead in terms of active and passive safety,” he says. “No other manufacturer has more vehicles on the road with alternative drive systems, including nearly 3,200 hybrid buses from Orion and Mercedes-Benz, and the totally emission-free Citaro FuelCELL hybrid buses.”

He described the new Citaro as a design that will grace any city street, a cab that drivers will never want to leave, and an unparalleled safety package.

While the new Citaro looks similar to the current model, it shows many innovations. The structure still built of mild steel are fully immersed in chemicals that resistance corrosion.

Although not a legal requirement on European city buses, the structure meets the new and more stringent rollover legislation for coaches, which will come into force in 2014. Though the gross vehicle is 200 pounds lighter, it will increase 60 pounds with the installation of the Euro 6 engines.

The driver sits at a lower level in the current Citaro, which is not ideal for eye-to-eye contact with standing passengers. On the new Citaro the raised platform in his compartment provides space for batteries underneath, which at the same time improves weight distribution. The strengthened frame beneath the driver gives him protection in the event of a frontal collision.

The new Citaro has independent front suspension to enhance ride and handling, as well as Electronic Braking System and the option of Electronic Stability Program. The latter will become mandatory on coaches, but Mercedes-Benz also believes it could be beneficial on city buses, especially on snow and ice.

The new Citaro will not replace the current generation overnight. There are nearly 30 variations of the family, with low entry and full low floor layouts, 34-, 40-, 45- and 60-foot articulated. The four axle Capacity is performing well in Istanbul. Options include diesel, CNG, hybrid and fuel cell hybrid, not to mention left and right hand drive.

Transit authorities are already placing orders for the new Citaro with deliveries to commence in September. The two ranges will continue in parallel production to accommodate orders and tenders for the current Citaro family as well. The changeover is likely to take two years, leading up to the introduction of Euro 6.

The 40- and 60-foot articulated pre-production models were available for demonstration drives. Some of the local road surfaces were quite rough, but I travelled on the 40-foot model and was most impressed by the ride and comfort. The interior trim was practical and easy to clean, formed in ABS to car quality standards. Care had been taken to use light but strong materials to save weight. There were plenty of handrails for standing passengers. A person in a wheelchair could get on and off the bus by a ramp at the second door. The doors operate electrically, saving weight and maintenance.

The timing of the launch of the new Citaro looks good. Renschler says the current market environment in some European countries is difficult.

“However, we have been in the business for more than 100 years,” he says. “We always look beyond economic cycles.”
He predicted that the bus business would pick up from the middle of this year, and that Daimler would sell more than 40,000 buses and chassis this year (excluding North American school buses).

Planning is difficult in the large domestic German market. Public authorities normally go to tender at the beginning of the calendar year, pressuring delivery on orders before the end of the year; which means output in Mannheim is traditionally lower during the first half of the year.

Mercedes-Benz has responded to the cyclical nature of the business in a very clever way. It reached agreement with the workforce to pay a standard weekly rate. Normally, they work fewer hours than the standard rate in the first half of the year. The company can now bank those hours to use during the second half of the year, when the workload requires extra hours. This suits the workers because they have a regular weekly income, and it suits the company because it can respond when customers want delivery on tight lead times.

The narrower European maximum width of 98.5-inch makes the new Citaro is unsuitable for North American markets. However, Orion has access to Daimler’s global bus design and production technology, so some of the innovations might filter through to your market in due course.

The first major public unveiling of the new Citaro will likely take place at Busworld Kortrijk later this year, where other European manufacturers also will introduce new products. So why not come across the pond to Belgium and see what we are doing in Europe?

Doug Jack is with Transport Resources in the United Kingdom.