VDL Citea
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The VDL Citea is a city bus built by
VDL Bus & Coach VDL Bus & Coach is a Netherlands based bus manufacturer. It is an amalgamation of several bus building companies within the VDL Groep. VDL Bus & Coach has manufacturing plants in Belgium and the Netherlands. By 2018 VDL Bus & Coach sold 500 elect ...
. It was released at the
UITP The International Association of Public Transport (UITP, from the french: L’Union internationale des transports publics) is a non-profit advocacy organization for public transport authorities and operators, policy decision-makers, scientific in ...
Mobility and City Transport Exhibition 2007 in
Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
. The series received a facelift in 2010 and further overhaul in 2020. The Citea is sold in three different variants, as low entry bus (CLE, Citea Low Entry), as a light-weight low-entry bus (LLE, Light Low Entry), and as a low-floor bus with tower engine (CLF, Citea Low Floor). A double-deck variant (DLF, Double Deck Low Floor) exists as a prototype and is in trial with
Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe The (German: 'Berlin Transport Company') is the main public transport company of Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It manages the city's underground railway, tram, bus, replacement services (, EV) and ferry networks, but not the urban ra ...
(BVG) since August 2015.


History

The first 10 Citeas were ordered in 2008 by
Connexxion Connexxion is a large Public transport in the Netherlands, public transport company in the Netherlands, operating in the west, middle, east and southwest parts of the country. It is owned by Transdev and Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten. It is a subs ...
. In November 2008, 518 were ordered by the
Roads and Transport Authority (Dubai) The Roads and Transport Authority ( ar, هيئة الطرق والمواصلات), commonly known as RTA, is the major independent government roads & transportation authority in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was founded in 2005 and is responsi ...
, the first Citea were delivered to Dubai on June 29, 2009. In June / July, a Citea CLF 120 was handed over to the first customer in Germany, the HEAG mobiBus from
Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
, another model has been in private ownership since 2011 in Bayreuth / Upper Franconia and operates on the city network. In April 2011, GVB,
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
ordered 70 Citea. In January 2013, VDL received an order for 60 Citea LLEs from
Rheinbahn Rheinbahn is a public transport operator operating in Düsseldorf, Meerbusch and Kreis Mettmann. Its network consists of the Düsseldorf Stadtbahn, a network of 11 Stadtbahn (light rail) lines which are integrated in the Rhine-Ruhr Stadtbahn netw ...
. The two test vehicles of the lightweight model previously achieved higher fuel savings in a two-year test than a hybrid vehicle, which was also tested by the Rheinbahn in the same period. In 2014, the
Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe The (German: 'Berlin Transport Company') is the main public transport company of Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It manages the city's underground railway, tram, bus, replacement services (, EV) and ferry networks, but not the urban ra ...
(BVG) signed a supply contract with VDL for up to 236 VDL Citea, which was to modernise the fleet of
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
's public transport companies by 2019. The first 40 vehicles were delivered in 2015, until 2016, the delivery of another 70 vehicles. In October 2016, the BVG announced not to retrieve all 236 vehicles from the contract. It remains with the 110 previously delivered vehicles. A justification why not all vehicles are retrieved from the supply contract has not been formally named. The Citea SLE and LLE variants are a common sight in the Copenhagen bus traffic scene, used on routes 3A, 9A, 12, 14, 141, 149, 166 and 250S. Due to its cost effectiveness and environmental friendliness, the Citea was named Bus of the Year 2011 at the IAA in Hanover on 23 September 2010.


Hybrid bus

On 1 December 2010, two CLF120 Hybrid hybrid Citeas from Connexxion were presented in Enschede. The hybrid technology came from
Vossloh Kiepe Kiepe Electric GmbH (formerly Vossloh Kiepe) is a German manufacturer of electrical traction equipment for trams, trolleybuses other road and rail transport vehicles, as well as air-conditioning and heating systems, and conveyor device components. ...
. The bus was constructed using TU Darmstadt. In March 2011, three Citea SLF120Hybrid were delivered to the HEAG mobibus.


Electric bus

The Citea SLF Electric is a 12-meter-long, all-electric low-floor bus. The buyer can choose from various electric drives and battery packs. The Citea SLFA 181 Electric is an 18.1-meter-long, all-electric articulated bus. It was first presented to the public in May 2015 as part of the World Congress of UITP in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
. In order to recharge the 1380 kg lithium ion battery with an energy content of 122.6 kWh in operation, the Citea SLFA Electric has a pantograph fast charging system. The pantograph is installed on the roof of the front car above the second axle. At the final stops they can be recharged with up to 250 kW charging power. The bus has 43 seats and 82 standing places. The Citea SLFA Electric is used since 2016, inter alia, on the E-bus line 133 of the Cologne transport operations (8 vehicles). At Hermes in
Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Schiphol Busnet also uses these buses, as well as R-Net lines between Schiphol and Amsterdam/Haarlem. On 8 June 2020, as part of the efficiency mission in electric vehicles, R-Net 436 serving Rotterdam and the Dutch island of "Goeree-Overflakkee trialled out with a trailer hitched to the back of a VDL Citea SLF-120 consisting of electric batteries mounted on the roof. The trailer also known as a range extender which consists of a hydrogen tank which performs an endothermic chemical reaction with the use of fuel cells that power the electric motor. In order to save space in the main bus, the fuel cells and tanks are provided in the trailer rather than in the bus itself. With this technology, the buses can cover a range of up to 350 km.


References


External links

{{commons category-inline Double-decker buses Low-floor buses Citea Vehicles introduced in 2007