Solaris Urbino 9 is a series of buses from the Solaris Urbino series, designed for public transport, produced by the Polish company Neoplan Polska, then

Solaris Bus & Coach Solaris Bus & Coach is a Polish producer of public transport vehicles ( buses, trolleybuses and trams), with its headquarters in Bolechowo-Osiedle near Poznań. It is a subsidiary of Spanish CAF. Solaris owns four production sites: its main fac ...

in Bolechowo near

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. Solaris Urbino 9 is the smallest vehicle from the Solaris Urbino family series.

History

Neoplan Polska

On 2 August 1994, ''Neoplan Polska'' company was established in

. 5 September of the same year, the first

low-floor buses 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. ...

Neoplan N4020 (15 metre long) were ordered by

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. 5 October 1995, the day after signing the contract for the supply of buses to

, it was decided to build a factory in Bolechowo near Poznań. Between 1996-2000 ''Neoplan Polska'' built the Neoplan N4000-series buses. In 1999, the company even as ''Neoplan Polska'' started to independently produce buses under the brand ''Solaris'', but the offer was not yet available for the short 9 or 10 metre buses. Therefore, the Neoplan K4010TD low-entry midibus with two doors was built with a length of 9.5 metres. However, only 3 were built and all were sold to

Świdnica Świdnica (; german: Schweidnitz; cs, Svídnice; szl, Świdńica) is a city in south-western Poland in the region of Silesia. As of 2019, it has a population of 57,014 inhabitants. It lies in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, being the seventh large ...

. The Solaris Urbino 9 replaced three of the shortest in the Neoplan N4000-series: N4007, N4009 and N4010. In 2001

Neoplan Neoplan Bus GmbH is a German automotive company that manufactures buses, trolleybuses and coaches. It is a subsidiary of MAN Truck & Bus SE. History Foundations The company was founded by Gottlob Auwärter in Stuttgart in 1935, and man ...

was taken over by

MAN A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

, but ''Neoplan Polska'' became a separate company as

, which has preserved the company tradition and assets - including models of the buses - of the Polish branch of Neoplan.

Solaris Urbino 9

In 2000 ''Neoplan Poslka'' completed its Solaris Urbino family with a midibus. They had produced a total of 21 of the 9-metre buses, which were all sold to small Polish towns. The largest quantity of the vehicle was purchased by

Ostrołęka , image_flag = POL Ostrołęka flag.svg , image_shield = POL Ostrołęka COA.svg , pushpin_map = Poland Masovian Voivodeship#Poland , pushpin_label_position = bottom , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = ...

, which forms most of the local MZK public transportation bus fleet in the city. Due to the lack of a third door, this model was not very useful for public transportation services. Another reason for the failure of the model was the high price compared to other vehicles of this size. For this reason, the bus was extended by a metre and had an added back door. The new vehicle, which began production in 2003, was named the Solaris Urbino 10. In 2006,

released the Solaris Alpino bus, which is about 75 cm shorter and 15 cm narrower than the Solaris Urbino 9. Due to the narrower body structure the Solaris Alpino has a different seating arrangement.

Solaris Urbino 9 in Poland

References

{{Reflist Solaris Bus & Coach Low-floor buses