SWEG takes its first Euro VI buses into service

Modern, environment-friendly regular-service buses operate throughout the entire network of routes served by the SWEG passenger transport company. Also in town centres, the bus plays a special role. It stands for sustainable thinking, economy, safety and comfort. The Citaro with its Euro VI-compliant engine is the embodiment of a modern and, above all, environmentally aware bus service. This is a bus that is wholeheartedly accepted by the population while at the same time constituting the backbone of the local public passenger transport system. In the presence of Baden-Württemberg’s transport minister, Winfried Hermann, and the chief executive of Ortenau administrative district, Frank Scherer, Tammo Voigt, Head of Public Transport Fleet Sales at Mercedes-Benz Buses & Coaches, officially handed over four Mercedes-Benz Citaro Euro VI buses on 12 June to Johannes Müller, spokesman for the board of SWEG. This procurement delivers yet further proof of the company’s commitment to sustainability. For it was only in September of last year that SWEG took two Citaro G BlueTec Hybrid buses into service, since when the vehicles have been in daily operation on bus routes in the town of Offenburg.

“Three Lions in Motion” design concept

One of the four Citaros is a design concept based on the visual appearance of some rail vehicles that will be in future service in Baden-Württemberg. True to the slogan “SWEG with Three Lions in Motion”, the striking design of the bus proudly sports the regional colours of Baden-Württemberg both inside and outside: signal yellow and white. Set off with halftone “Staufer lions” at the sides, the exterior of the Citaro design concept reflects the heraldic devices of the regional coat of arms. The interior, too, boasts the colours and devices of the state of Baden-Württemberg. The dark fabrics of the passenger seats are resplendent with the lion emblem, sometimes with a yellow outline, sometimes with a light-grey one. The signal-yellow grab rails form a contrast to the otherwise dark-toned interior.

The Mercedes-Benz Citaro Euro VI

The two-door rigid bus with horizontal engine combines the Euro VI exhaust emissions standard with a multiplicity of unique features.

This Citaro is powered by the new OM 936h rear-mounted six-cylinder in-line engine with 7.7 litre displacement, a power rating of 220 kW (299 hp) and a maximum torque of 1200 Nm. The engine already complies with the Euro VI exhaust emissions standard. Power is transferred by the ZF Ecolife six-speed automatic transmission. The abundant torque from the engine is an ideal match for the standard rear axle ratio of i = 5.77, which is almost 10% longer-legged than in the Citaro with the previous Euro V engine. This reduces the engine speed and therefore also the fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and driving noise.

Fuel economy

The new Citaro’s outstanding fuel economy is assured, among other things, by a recuperation module (24 volts), which allows the regular-service bus to save fuel in that the free electricity generated on overrun is stored and used to operate the vehicle’s electrical accessories. This reduces the load on the drivetrain and lowers fuel consumption.

The energy storage function is performed by “supercaps”, double-layer capacitors, with a power rating of 6 kW and a capacity of 1 Ah. This process alone reduces the Citaro’s fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by more than 2%.

In the Record Run Buses 2012, the Euro VI engine impressively demonstrated its clear superiority in terms of fuel economy over the already highly fuel-efficient Euro V engine. With a fuel saving of 8.5% in a head-to-head with the comparable predecessor model, the Citaro with Euro VI engine exceeded even the promises of the Mercedes-Benz engineers.

SWEG – at the service of the South West

Modern and regional – that, in a nutshell, is how SWEG sees itself. The passenger transport company’s bus and rail services extend from Weil am Rhein and Lörrach in the south of Baden-Württemberg to the area around Bad Mergentheim in the north-east of the state. The modern fleet comprises some 300 of the company’s own buses and 50 leased units. Every year, approximately 30 vehicles are replaced, involving a capital expenditure of around seven million euros. The majority of vehicles comply with the exacting EEV exhaust emissions standard (Enhanced Environmentally Friendly Vehicle).

SWEG carried 61.3 million bus and rail passengers in 2012 together with its ten public transport companies and five subsidiaries. With a staff of 780, the company is an important employer in the region. Its traditionally good image helps SWEG to win broad acceptance among the population.

Credits: Daimler AG

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Regular-service operation with Mercedes-Benz fuel-cell buses

A secured hydrogen infrastructure is a prerequisite for the successful launch of environment- and resource-friendly fuel-cell technology in mobile use. The commissioning of the hydrogen filling station by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) on its Campus North site coincides with the start of operations for the shuttle service planned for students and employees, in the form of two Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid fuel-cell buses. Ulrich Piotrowski, Head of Sales Mercedes-Benz Buses Region West, was present at the inauguration of the filling station on 11 June and officially sent the shuttle vehicles into regular-service operation.

The KIT shuttle is a dedicated bus route for the students and employees at the KIT Campus South, the former University of Karlsruhe (TH) in the city of Karlsruhe, and the KIT Campus North, the former research centre in Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen. The shuttle service on the 15-kilometre route links the Campus North, Campus South and Campus East stops at 30-minute intervals without any intermediate stops – mobility and innovation.

The FuelCELL concept in the Citaro

Thanks to the improved fuel-cell components – the fuel-cell stacks are identical to those in the Mercedes-Benz B-Class FCELL with a fuel-cell drive system – and hybridisation with lithium-ion batteries (27 kW/h) the Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid saves 50 percent more hydrogen than the predecessor generation, from which it benefits for the planned shuttle service. It has been possible to reduce the number of tanks compared to the earlier tried-and-tested fuel-cell buses from nine to seven reservoirs for a total of 35 kg of hydrogen. And where the FuelCELL Hybrid drive system is concerned, too, the engineers have focused on sustainability: As a power supplier the fuel cell is intelligently linked with several components. Both the battery and electric wheel hub drive and also the integral braking energy recuperation system are networked with one another. The fuel-cell bus has a range of over 300 kilometres and the filling time at the new filling station is a mere eight to ten minutes. This means that the Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid can be used in just as uncomplicated a manner and as flexibly as contemporary diesel vehicles. In addition to this the drive system with the fuel cells is virtually maintenance-free and highly durable.

The award-winning Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid

With these wide-ranging technical advancements purely electric buses with fuel cells as their energy generators are coming a significant step closer to production maturity. The Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid facilitates permanent emission-free regular service between the campus sites and is thus an important element in future mobility. The use of synergies and the Daimler technology transfer from the passenger car to the bus render the fuel cell in the bus fit for the future.

It was this reasoning which last year won the Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid the ecology prize for local public transport in the fuel-cell bus category, the EBUS Award. The Forum for Transport and Logistics e. V. awarded the prize under the patronage of Dr Peter Ramsauer, the Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Development.

Credits: Daimler AG

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Daimler Buses receives order from Austria

ÖBB Postbus GmbH is focusing on vehicles from Mercedes-Benz and Setra as it modernizes its bus fleet. After a Europe-wide advertising Daimler Buses and the ÖBB Postbus GmbH entered into a frame agreement which provides the delivery of vehicles between 2013 and 2017. The orders are open, the exact distribution on the individual models as well but it might be around a volume of about 400 Buses.

ÖBB Postbus operates local public transportation systems throughout Austria and also receives operating contracts from almost all of the transportation networks in the country. “Daimler Buses is a reliable partner of ÖBB Postbus. We’re delighted that the company places such trust in our safe, clean, and reliable high-quality vehicles,” says Till Oberwörder, Managing Director of Sales, Marketing & After-Sales Daimler Buses.
Models supplied are the Mercedes-Benz Intouro, Integro, and Citaro buses as well as the Setra Multi Class 400. All high floor vehicles have a wheelchair elevator in the double broad middle way to enter. All vehicles of Mercedes-Benz and Setra are also equipped with air conditioners for the passenger space and for the driver.

The Mercedes-Benz and Setra buses offer not only outstanding comfort and safety but also great efficiency and excellent sustainability. With a lower engine speed and optimized sound insulation, Mercedes-Benz Citaro, which was named `European Bus of the Year 2013`, won the title against strong hybrid competition. At the Record Run Buses 2012 Mercedes-Benz and Setra showed under a supervision of the examination organization DEKRA that their Euro VI-compliant vehicles consume around 8% less fuel than their Euro V-compliant predecessors.

Credits: Daimler AG

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Buses are gaining momentum: The Citaro Euro VI buses for the City of Trier

Trier’s public utility company has put three new Citaro Euro VI buses into service. The urban buses equipped with Euro VI exhaust treatment technology significantly improve urban environmental quality thanks to emissions that are 80 percent lower than those of their predecessors. At the same time, the fuel expenses of the transport operator are lower because the new buses use more than 8 percent less diesel fuel. This was substantiated in the "Record Run Buses" economy run conducted in autumn 2012 under the impartial supervision of Dekra.

Daimler Buses has delivered some 350 buses equipped with Euro VI exhaust treatment technology to date. By the end of 2013 more than 1700 Daimler Buses of the Mercedes-Benz and Setra brands equipped with environmentally friendly Euro VI exhaust treatment technology are expected to be on the road.

Milestone in bus development, economic efficiency was top development priority

To comply with the Euro VI emission standards, the buses are equipped with complex exhaust treatment technology. They combine the customary Mercedes-Benz SCR technology of AdBlue injection and oxidation catalyst with exhaust gas recirculation and a closed particulate filter. The completely new engine generation and the complex exhaust treatment technology have reduced emissions to the very margin of detectability and thus represent another step in the advancement of diesel technology.

Credits: Daimler AG

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First Citaros delivered in Budapest

The first 56 Citaros were delivered in Budapest on 30 April 2013, right on schedule. Till Oberwörder, Head of Marketing, Sales & Aftersales Daimler Buses, handed over the vehicles in the presence of the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the Mayor of Budapest István Tarlós, the General Director of the Budapest Transport Centre, Dávid Vitézy, and Messrs Mátyás Dósa and Péter Szepesi, operators of the private bus company VT Transman GmbH.

These Citaros are the first vehicles to be delivered from the major contract signed with the Budapest City Authorities last November for the acquisition of a total of 159 Mercedes-Benz Citaros. With the second-generation Citaro, the city has opted for one of the most advanced urban bus concepts available on the market today. In addition, the Citaro is the most successful urban bus of all time. The over 33,000 units sold in just 14 production years express customers’ trust most tellingly.

The complete order consists of over 80 articulated units and 79 solo vehicles of the new Citaro generation. Thanks to Mercedes-Benz BlueTec diesel technology, both the articulated and the solo units comply with the environmentally-friendly EEV exhaust gas standard. Thanks to the buses’ low-floor design, elderly and persons with restricted mobility can easily get in and out of the vehicles or use the wheelchair ramp. Camera monitoring of the passenger compartment and the vehicle surroundings provide that extra quantum of safety to prevent vandalism damage to the vehicle as well as violent assaults on driver or passengers.

As from July the entire Mercedes-Benz urban bus fleet will provide comfortable and environment-friendly public transport in the metropolis on the Danube. Daimler Buses was able to implement a relatively short time of production of the entire slot, by using two production locations – a success of the EvoBus integrated production network. The new Citaro was manufactured in both the Mannheim bus production facilities and the factory in Neu-Ulm.

Daimler Buses is the worldwide leading manufacturer of buses and chassis for vehicles with a permissible gross vehicle weight greater than 8 tons. In 2012 Daimler Buses sold approximately 32,000 buses and coaches as well as vehicle chassis. The product spectrum ranges from urban buses to inter-city buses and touring coaches and from minibuses to double-decker buses and coaches, with the most diverse engines and equipment/appointment variants. European bus and coach business is under the responsibility of EvoBus GmbH, a 100-percent subsidiary of Daimler AG.

Credits: Daimler AG

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Premiere: customer takes delivery of first Mercedes-Benz Citaro Low Entry model

The delivery of the first two Mercedes-Benz Citaro Low Entry (LE) Euro VI models to the company infra fürth verkehr gmbh marks the expansion of the new Citaro family by a total of five Low Entry model variants. Klaus Dieregsweiler, representative for infra fürth verkehr gmbh, took delivery of the symbolic keys to the first Citaro LE from Rüdiger Kappel, brand spokesperson for Mercedes-Benz Buses and Coaches, Germany, at the Mercedes-Benz bus plant in Mannheim on 16 April. The new Citaro LE thus replaces its extremely successful predecessor, while at the same time heralding the introduction of further Citaro Euro VI models.

Growth in the Citaro family

In addition to the Euro VI variant of the Citaro LE, the short variants of the Citaro, namely the Citaro K, and also right-hand drive Citaro models in the guise of the Citaro Solo and Citaro K, are now also available with Euro VI engines. As a result the urban bus family is almost complete, comprising suitable vehicles to meet virtually every possible customer requirement.

Low Entry: passenger-friendly and economical

As the term "Low Entry" suggests, these buses feature a low-floor design from the front section up to and including the centre entrance, and a raised floor behind the centre entrance (door 2). As well as providing a high level of passenger comfort, even for passengers with restricted mobility, this "composite" design also allows the uncomplicated and maintenance-friendly installation of the major assemblies in the rear area.

Tried-and-tested components from low-floor and raised-floor buses

Like its predecessor, the Citaro LE with Euro VI engine combines the advantages of a low-floor bus with those of a raised-floor bus. Both regular-service buses – the Citaro LE and the Citaro – are practically identical up to the area behind the centre entrance door. The low-floor area of the Citaro LE is exactly the same as that of the Citaro rigid bus. At the same time, in the rear section of the passenger compartment, passengers benefit from enhanced ride comfort thanks to the drive axle and transmission being lifted from the rural-service bus and touring coach modular systems. The raised roof also allows standing room at the rear of the Citaro LE. However, the Citaro LE has only been raised where necessary: as the bus features the same front body section as the standard Citaro, the sense of spaciousness is as pleasant and harmonious at the front as it is at the rear. At the same time the Citaro manages to maintain completely its sleek, distinctive exterior lines.

The look of the Citaro LE

Unlike its predecessor, whose side line rose in the rear area, the new Citaro LE is barely distinguishable from the Citaro solo bus. When viewed from the side, the fact that the floor has been raised by 310 mm from the centre of the vehicle is only noticeable as a result of the slightly longer raised roof section extending towards the front. By adopting the front section of the Citaro and not increasing the height in this area, the bus achieves a well-proportioned overall look. The side line has been retained in full. The optionally available roof-mounted air-conditioning system can be fitted in its familiar place, as on the Citaro. Appearance-wise, passengers will scarcely notice any external difference between the Citaro and the Citaro LE. Even the rear is derived from the solo bus. Only the cooling ribs positioned on the right-hand side of the tailgate, and the raised roof transition, are indicative of the LE variant.

A true Citaro - on the inside too

Links with the Citaro family are clearly evident in the passenger area of the Citaro LE, which includes wall-mounted cantilever seats for the urban bus as well as twin seats with aisle-side supporting feet and the classic handrails which curve outwards at the top. The raised ceiling in the rear area exactly reflects the design of the front ceiling area. The cross duct in the transition from the low-floor front section to the raised rear section conveniently accommodates a destination display or a monitor for the rear rows of seats.

While the Citaro LE makes use of the tried-and-tested City Star Eco seating, the rural-service variant of the Citaro LE comes fitted with Inter Star Eco inter-city seats. In the rural-service version, spacious, trough-shaped luggage racks can be fitted from the front end through to the area above the rear axle. The luggage racks also feature grab rails for the benefit of standing passengers. As an option for rural-service applications, service units comprising ventilation nozzles, reading lights and buttons for the passenger stop request system can be integrated into the luggage racks.

As in the previous model, two shallow steps in front of the rear axle, each 195 mm high, lead up to the raised-floor area at the rear. Thanks to the roof being raised by 310 mm here, the feeling of spaciousness at the rear is as pleasant as at the front of the bus. The floor-to-ceiling height in front of the rear platform is a spacious 2.05 m. The raised floor part rises only gently from the second door, and does away completely with steps. This benefits passive safety and makes it easier to clean the vehicle. All the seats in the rear of the bus face forwards, while the rows rise steadily from front to rear like cinema seats. The rear seat bench has sufficient space to accommodate five passengers.

RO 440 rear axle for coach-like ride comfort

Due to the raised floor concept at the rear, the bus is fitted with the RO 440 hypoid axle, a tried-and-tested performer from the Mercedes-Benz touring coach range. The main advantage of the hypoid axle over the portal axle fitted on vehicles with a low floor throughout is the single-stage ratio of the centrally positioned differential, meaning low inner frictional resistance and, as a result, favourable fuel consumption figures and low noise levels. Since there is more installation space available for the rear axle below the raised floor area, an extremely effective suspension system offering coach-like ride comfort can be fitted. The maximum spring travel of the RO 440 axle has increased by 70 percent compared with a portal axle - that corresponds to an increase in travel of 50 mm, from 70 mm to 120 mm.

Powerful Euro VI engines with Power Boost option

The Citaro LE already makes use of the comprehensively revised and extremely economical Euro VI engine series from the Mercedes-Benz Citaro. Forming the basis of the engine line-up is the vertically installed OM 936 six-cylinder in-line engine with a displacement of 7.7 litres. As standard the engine meets the Euro VI emissions standard, and in the recent Record Run Buses 2012 demonstrated the potential to achieve fuel savings of up to 8.5 percent compared with a Euro V engine. The basic engine has an output of 220 kW (295 hp). As an option, a 260 kW (354 hp) variant is also available. The OM 936 works with two asymmetrical exhaust gas turbochargers and two-stage charging, which helps to guarantee a response which is characterised by high levels of torque.

Even better response is promised by the new Power Boost System (PBS). In brief, this technical refinement will be available for the engine rated at 260 kW. The new system is designed to guarantee better "sprint performance" when moving off, particularly on topographically demanding routes. To achieve this, the Power Boost System pumps compressed air from the standard compressed-air system into the engine's intake tract, thereby increasing air throughput in the short term. This in turn results in increased short-term starting torque, which can prove invaluable at bus stops located on inclines.

Like its urban bus counterpart, gear changes are taken care of in the Citaro LE by an automatic transmission, optionally available from ZF or Voith.

The variants of the new Citaro LE

The Citaro LE range comprises two-axle urban and rural regular-service buses. The Citaro LE urban bus is 12 metres long and comes with a choice of two or three doors. The rural-service bus variant in the guise of the Citaro LE Ü (12 metres long) has two entrance doors, while the Citaro LE MÜ (13.1 metres long) is available both with two and three entrance doors. All variants of the Citaro LE are 2.55 metres wide and have a maximum height of 3.315 m at the rear. The Citaro LE urban regular-service bus can carry 101 passengers, while the rural-service bus has a capacity of 83 passengers (plus the driver's seat in each case).

The handover vehicle in detail

In addition to their economical Euro VI engines, the two Citaro LE buses handed over to infra fürth verkehr gmbh also boast a comprehensive package of equipment and appointments. The 50 City Star passenger seats are supplemented with a wheelchair space with grab handle, stop request buttons and a lean-on area with integrated folding seat (mother/child seat), as well as two additional folding seats in the standing platform area opposite door 2. The interior bus-stop name displays consist of two 48 cm (19-inch) TFT monitors in the front and rear of the vehicle. Linked to an integrated on-board information system (IBIS), they are able to display information on the vehicle's progress along the route as well as the next stop. In addition, news items, event notices and advertisements can also be displayed.

In addition to a video monitoring system for door 2, infra fürth has also ordered a reversing camera which can be used not only as a parking aid but also to monitor the area around the rear of the vehicle. The images are transferred to a video monitor in the driver's cockpit. Additional safety equipment includes a fire alarm and extinguishing system in the engine compartment.

About infra fürth verkehr gmbh

The company infra fürth verkehr gmbh is responsible for the entire public local transport system in the city of Fürth. With 8 routes covering a route length of around 1147 kilometres, the transport operator carried around 18 million passengers in 2012. The company's fleet currently comprises 54 vehicles, 48 of which are Citaro models. Among these 48 vehicles is also the milestone 25,000th Citaro, which was handed over to infra fürth verkehr gmbh in a special ceremony in Stuttgart in 2009. The two Citaro LE vehicles with Euro VI engines will be deployed in future on all routes in the Franconian city of Fürth.

Credits: Daimler AG

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Nine Citaro Euro VI solo buses delivered to BLT Baselland Transport AG in Switzerland

On 04 April, BLT Baselland Transport AG in Switzerland took delivery of nine Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses meeting the requirements of the future Euro VI emissions standard. These are the first standard-production regular-service solo buses featuring this clean technology to go into service with BLT in Switzerland.

Emission control system comprising SCR technology plus exhaust gas recirculation

The new Citaro meeting Euro VI is currently the cleanest diesel-driven regular-service bus on the market. An optimised combustion process and a sophisticated emission control system reduce particulate emissions to just three percent of the level specified by Euro I twenty years ago, while nitrogen oxide emissions have been cut to five percent.

In addition to new engines and an extensive emission control system, the Citaro also features a new outer shell. Thanks to a raft of design measures, the buses weigh no more than previously – despite the additional technology on board. They even offer lower fuel consumption – and therefore lower CO2 emissions – than originally expected. Mercedes-Benz has implemented a number of measures to compensate for the additional weight of the Euro VI components, including a lightweight fibreglass-reinforced-plastic (FRP) roof and a weight-optimised rear axle. The Citaro is therefore able to boast the same high payload and passenger-carrying capacity as before.

Credits: Daimler AG

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Fuel cell buses with hybrid technology provide shuttle service at Davos

Two Mercedes‑Benz Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid buses with fuel cell technology will be providing both shuttle and regular services from 23 to 27 January 2013 at the prestigious "World Economic Forum" in Davos.

At the 43rd annual meeting of the charitable foundation, leading international economic experts, politicians, intellectuals and journalists will be discussing the world's most urgent challenges with regard to health and the environment. With this in mind the Mercedes‑Benz Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid buses are an ideal means of transport. PostAuto Schweiz AG will be providing the vehicles for transporting participants.

PostAuto is the first bus company in Switzerland to use fuel cell technology in public transport. Since the end of 2011, five Mercedes‑Benz Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid Postbuses have been employed on PostAuto regular service routes in and around Brugg (Aargau canton). PostAuto is carrying out a long-term test of fuel cell drive systems. The fuel cell Postbuses use only environmentally-friendly and sustainably produced hydrogen as a fuel. PostAuto estimates that 2000 tonnes of CO2 will be saved during the five-year test phase.

Hartmut Schick, Head of Daimler Buses is very enthusiastic about the promising future of eco-friendly fuel cell buses: "I had the opportunity to see operation on the ground. I am very impressed with how PostAuto Schweiz AG has implemented the concept."

Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid

When compared to the fuel cell buses which were tested from 2003 within the framework of the CUTE and HyFLEET:CUTE projects, the new Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid boasts fundamental innovations: hybridisation with energy recovery and storage in lithium-ion batteries, high-performance electric motors with 120 kW continuous power in the wheel hubs, electrified PTO units and further developed fuel cells. These will achieve an increased durability of at least five years or 12,000 operating hours. The fuel cell stacks of the new Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid are identical to those of the Mercedes‑Benz B‑Class F‑CELL with a fuel cell drive system. Both stacks are located on the vehicle's roof as was the case with earlier fuel cell buses. The lithium-ion batteries which, for example, store recovered power during braking are a new addition to the roof. The power provided by the energy reservoir means that the new Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid can travel several kilometres using only battery-electric power. In principle, the concept of the new FuelCELL bus correlates with the Mercedes‑Benz BlueTec Hybrid buses. A diesel generator still provides these with the necessary electric energy. In contrast, on the new FuelCELL buses, it is the fuel cells which generate electrical current for the drive motors which boast zero-emissions.

Thanks to the improved fuel cell components and the hybridisation with lithium-ion batteries, the new Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid saves 50 percent hydrogen in comparison to the previous generation. As a result the number of tanks has been reduced from the nine necessary for the previously tested fuel cell buses to seven and a total of 35 kg of hydrogen. The range of the fuel cell buses is greater than 300 kilometres. Thanks to these diverse technical improvements, purely electric omnibuses with fuel cells for energy generation are a definite step closer to being ready for series production.

CHIC project (Clean Hydrogen in European Cities)
The project, financed by the EU and other partners provides for the integration of 26 fuel cell buses into daily regular bus services in five European cities. The project is based on the step-by-step introduction of fuel cell buses with hydrogen drives and aims to set up bus fleets comprising fuel cell vehicles and the necessary infrastructure. In participating in the CHIC project, Daimler buses is drawing on their previous successful participation in the EU-funded CUTE and HyFLEET:CUTE projects between 2003 and 2009. A total of 36 Mercedes‑Benz Citaros with second generation fuel cell drives more than proved their worth for twelve transport operators on three continents.

PostAuto Schweiz AG
PostAuto Schweiz AG employs over 3000 employees and operates around 2100 vehicles, of which one third are Mercedes‑Benz vehicles. The company transports 120 million passengers annually. The three-tone horn and the yellow Postbuses are part of Switzerland's cultural identity. The company was successful in its application to participate in the CHIC project.

Credits: Daimler AG

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