Local services
The replacement of the solo buses at DKV has been completed. The last ten modern diesel Mercedes-Benz buses have arrived at the company. Together, they will replace 69 new buses in Debrecen’s public transport system, the development of which is one of the city administration’s strategic objectives. The scheduled replacement of the entire DKV bus fleet will be completed by the end of next year.
The new Mercedes-Benz Conecto buses are 12 metres long and can carry a total of 107 passengers each. The state-of-the-art vehicles are air-conditioned, equipped with WIFI and a camera security system, and powered by EURO6 diesel engines, which have 20 per cent lower carbon dioxide emissions than the old Volvos.
“The development of public transport is a strategic area for the city administration,” László Papp said at the handover of the ten new buses. Plans include upgrading tram lines, replacing the trolleybus fleet and increasing the number of the current 12 electric buses, which other green improvements could complement.
“An important element of Debrecen’s development package number two is the development of solar parks, and we would like to put the energy generated by solar parks and energy storage at the service of DKV with the help of batteries so that electric traction vehicles can be even more efficient and cost-effective,” the mayor pointed out.
DKV will receive 40 new articulated Mercedes-Benz vehicles to replace the entire bus fleet in 2024. This means that the modernisation programme, which started in 2022, can finally be completed next year.
“In terms of the age of the entire fleet of solo buses, the oldest one is from last January, but when we will finish replacing the articulated buses, we can say that the average age of the buses running in Debrecen will be less than two years,” CEO of DKV Zrt. Szabolcs Tóth said.
The symbolic keys of the new buses were handed over by Csaba Úti, Deputy Head of the Transport Division of ITK Zrt., to the Mayor of the city, who immediately handed them over to the CEO of DKV. The ten new Mercedes-Benz buses will be put into service next Monday, while the last of the old Volvo buses will be taken out of service by DKV on 1st of October 2023.
Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu
