Source: Eltis 

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted Rheinbahn, the public transport authority in the Düsseldorf region, a multi-million euro loan to become more efficient and environmentally friendly.

Rheinbahn operates in an area of over 520 square km, with more than a million people living within the Greater Düsseldorf area. A contract for the loan, worth € 150 million, was signed in the city on 11 July.

The loan will fund a four-year investment programme. Included in the programme is the purchase of 40 new trams and 87 new buses, measures to improve accessibility, and systems to provide real-time information for public transport passengers and operators.

 

'The EIB loan will enable Rheinbahn to cope better with the ever-increasing demand for a means of transport that will have a minimal impact on the climate and at the same time facilitate travel for those living in the area,' said EIB Vice-President Wilhelm Molterer.

The EIB has also provided a long term loan to the Polish capital Warsaw, worth 1 billion Polish złoty. The loan will be invested in an urban renewal programme, including schemes for urban mobility, social and health infrastructure, and public spaces.

For more information on the EIB loan to Düsseldorf, a press release is available on the EIB's website (in English, French and German).

For more information on the EIB loan to Warsaw, a press release is also available on the EIB's website (in English, French, German and Polish).

Source: Eltis

Škoda’s electric Perun bus has completed a nationwide tour of the Czech Republic in Plzeň as a demonstration of the possibilities of electric public transport.

A number of cities across the Czech Republic had the opportunity to test out the new bus, including Brno, Olomouc, Opava and Zlín, all in the east of the country. The bus will soon be travelling to Kraków in Poland to showcase how electric buses are now able to compete with their conventionally-fueled counterparts.

The bus is powered using a battery with a typical one-charge range of about 150 km. Škoda has been increasing investment in recent years in various types of environmentally friendly vehicles, such as electric trolley and battery buses and buses with hybrid-electric engines.

Two buses of the same model will return to Plzeň as part of a longer demonstration from 2015 to 2016 within the EU-funded ZeEUS project, which promotes the electrification of urban public transport. Further demonstrations will run in Bonn and Münster (Germany), Cagliari (Italy), Barcelona (Spain), Stockholm (Sweden) and Glasgow and London (United Kingdom).

For more information, visit newstix.de (in German).