Carrosserie HESS AG is a

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

and

commercial vehicle A commercial vehicle is any type of motor vehicle used for transporting goods or paying passengers. The United States defines a "commercial motor vehicle" as any self-propelled or towed vehicle used on a public highway in interstate commerce to ...

manufacturer based in

Bellach Bellach is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. History Bellach is first mentioned in 1294 as ''Bella''. In 1307 it was mentioned as ''Bellacho''. Geography Bellach has an area, , of . Of thi ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Their products can be found operating in several countries, including the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

History

The company was founded in 1882, when Heinrich Hess set up business in

Solothurn Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; rm, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the Capital (political), capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the n ...

to build customised car bodies. The company first began building buses in 1919, and production reverted to

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

products in 1933. It produced its first trolleybuses in 1940 for the Swiss cities of

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

and

Biel/Bienne Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; , ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Biel/Bienne (administrative district), Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Swi ...

. In 1961, it commenced building of

articulated vehicle An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivot joint In animal anatomy, a pivot joint (trochoid joint, rotary joint or lateral ginglymus) is a type of synovial joint whose movement axis is parallel to the lo ...

s, some of which were supplied to operators in the United States and Canada in 1975. The company soon began to expand, and businesses were set up in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 1957 and 1978 respectively. The U.S. business was set up in 1996. The company began production of

low-floor Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

buses and

es in 1991, and in 2003 built its first double-articulated trolleybuses.

Products

Buses

*N UB 2-2: A

, two-door bus with 10 m, 11.3 m and 12 m variants, which can accommodate approximately 82, 86 and 95 passengers, respectively. *N UB 2-2-1: Identical to the N UB 2-2 with the addition of an extra door at the rear of the vehicle. *N UA 2-2-2-2: A low-floor, 18 m four-door articulated bus, which has a capacity of around 150 passengers. * Hess LighTram : A 24.69 m

bi-articulated bus A bi-articulated bus or double-articulated bus and sometimes train-bus or tram-bus is a type of high-capacity articulated bus with an extra axle and a second articulation joint, as well as extended length. Bi-articulated buses tend to be emplo ...

with a

duraluminium Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium alloys. The term is a combination of ''Dürener'' and ''aluminium''. Its use as a trad ...

body. Hybrid version available.

Trolleybuses

*Eurotrolley 3: A 9.7m long half-low-floor

with a capacity of approximately 80 passengers. Built for Lyon with Kiepe electrical equipment and a Skoda traction motor. *Swisstrolley 3: An 18m long articulated trolleybus which can accommodate not less than 140 passengers. It and LighTram have a

body. *LighTram 3: A 24.7m long double-articulated trolleybus with a capacity of around 192 passengers. *Trolleyzug: A 23.3m long trolleybus and trailer with a capacity of around 180 passengers.

Bus kits

As well as building complete vehicles, Hess also manufactures bus kits for its worldwide customers. These kits are imported and then assembled on reaching their destination.

Minibuses

Hess also builds smaller buses, mainly for the transportation of school children and persons with disabilities.

Commercial vehicles

Hess builds vehicles designed for commercial purposes, such as vans, some of which are fitted with tipper equipment, loading ramps and trailers.

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hess, Carrosserie Bus manufacturers of Switzerland Trolleybus manufacturers Swiss brands Electric vehicle manufacturers of Switzerland Companies based in the canton of Solothurn