Nobina to test electric buses on Norway’s highest passenger density route
Nobina Norway is to participate in a two-year long test programme of electric articulated buses together with the PTA Ruter in Oslo. Test driving of electric buses will start in 2017, with the aim of switching to fossil-free public transport as a step in achieving Oslo City’s ambitious greenhouse gas emission targets for 2030.
Nobina will purchase two electric articulated buses which will operate between Snarøya-Grorud on route 31, in Oslo, which – with 50,000 passengers per day – is the bus route with the highest passenger density in Norway. The 18 m-long, depot-charged articulated city buses will enter into traffic in November 2017 at the latest.
“We look forward to the chance to test drive these climate-friendly and quiet buses together with Ruter. Route 31 has approximately 15 million passengers per year, and so it will be a good test for measuring passenger satisfaction and operational functionality. Nobina possesses broad experience of electric buses from other markets, which we can now use again also in this test. We’re pleased to be participating in the work that Ruter is conducting for a better climate”, says Sjur Brenden, Head of Marketing at Nobina Norway.
The tests will be carried out within the scope of existing traffic contracts and will take place over two years. In total, six buses will be rolled out in the test programme, two of which will be operated by Nobina.
The major rollout of quiet, fossil-free buses is planned to start during 2020, with the goal that 60 per cent of all buses in the Oslo area will be electric-powered by 2025. The objectives are to make public transport more attractive and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Oslo by 50 per cent up to 2020 and by 95 per cent up to 2030.
Nobina has been operating electric buses in Sweden since 2006 and currently has 12 electric buses in Sweden, making Nobina the most experienced electric bus operator in the Nordic region.