22 duurzame dubbeldekker bussen in Zweden

On 12 December 2021, Keolis, in close cooperation with Swedish public transport authority Västtrafik, started operating the commuter bus service between the cities of Gothenburg and Borås in the west of Sweden. As part of this 10½-year contract, 22 alternative energy double-decker buses will serve 1.3 million passengers per year on a network that spans over 65km - a first for Keolis in Sweden. With this new milestone, the Group reinforces its presence in Sweden, where it operates 1,600 fossil-free buses throughout the country.

Keolis Sverige, Keolis’ subsidiary in Sweden, started operating the 65km-long commuter route between Gothenburg and Borås as part of a 10½-year contract awarded to Keolis in December 2019. Gothenburg is Sweden’s second largest city with over 550,000 inhabitants. Boras, with over 65,000 inhabitants, lies 70km east of Gothenburg. The network serves 1.3 million passengers per year, with the existing fleet replaced by 22 brand new double-decker biodiesel Volvo buses1.

The buses, fitted with 75 seats each, offer passengers a comfortable on-board experience where they can connect to Wi-Fi and use the USB sockets for their portable devices. For the youngest passengers, there are integrated child seats. Each bus is 14.36m long and 4.25m high.

The route, which runs between central Gothenburg and central Borås, includes a stop at the transport hub in the events district of Korsvägen, home to the Swedish Exhibition and Congress Centre, the Gothia Towers hotel, the Universeum science centre, the Museum of World Culture, the Scandinavium arena, the Liseberg amusement park and the University of Gothenburg.

Ahead of the start of services, Keolis Sverige provided special training for its 45 drivers and mechanics for the safe operation and maintenance of the double-decker buses in their depots in Gothenburg and the newly built depot in Borås.

Bernard Tabary, CEO International, Keolis Group: “We are delighted to be entrusted with the operation of this new contract for double-decker commuter buses in Sweden, the first of its kind for Keolis, thereby continuing our sustainable cooperation with Västtrafik in yet another network. We are looking forward to providing a mobility offer that is both clean and safe and playing our role in the energy transition to enhance the everyday life of Swedish residents.”

Recent successes for Keolis in Sweden

This fossil-free double-decker bus contract follows a number of recent milestones in sustainable shared mobility for Keolis in Sweden:

In May 2021, Keolis was awarded a nine-year contract by the public transport administration Uppsala to operate a completely new bus fleet running on biogas and biodiesel from June 2022.
A first fully electric bus contract in Gothenburg awarded on 16 April 2021 by the Västtrafik PTA also comes into force in June 2022. The network comprises fully electric articulated buses.
Since January 2021, Keolis has also been testing a Navya-built autonomous electric vehicle service in Gothenburg’s Lindholmen Industrial and Science Park and is continuing 5G autonomous trials remotely with its partners2 at Kista Science Center in Stockholm.

Keolis Sverige has been present in Sweden since 2003 and operates 1,600 fossil-free buses in four regions of the country, covering 82 million kilometres every year. Keolis has over 4,500 employees in Sweden.