(Cologne) – Regionalverkehr Köln GmbH (RVK) is on a shopping spree: After a Europe-wide tender for hydrogen-powered buses, the transport company ordered 20 buses from the Polish vehicle manufacturer Solaris Bus & Coach SA - and secured an option for a further 20. The Northern Irish manufacturer Wrightbus also received a contract for 20 vehicles with the option to increase the order by a further 40 buses.
The first Solaris buses will arrive at the end of this year
Solaris is scheduled to deliver the first vehicles at the end of this year, which will then be gradually integrated into the RVK fleet. 
According to RVK information, the “Urbino 12 Hydrogen” buses have a range of around 70 kilometers with a 350-kilowatt fuel cell system from the US manufacturer Ballard Power and have 56 standing places and 31 seats.
According to the manufacturer, Cologne had already purchased 2020 of this type in 15. The newly ordered vehicles are “very similar,” says Solaris. The gaseous hydrogen is stored in tanks placed on the roof in the front part of the vehicle.
Wright's exact specification is still unclear
Wright’s “Kite Hydroliners” are expected to be delivered from the end of 2023. According to the British, these are the first left-hand drive vehicles that Wrightbus has manufactured and exported since entrepreneur Jo Bamford took over the company in 2019. The vehicles are produced at the main factory in Ballymena.
According to RVK, the “Kite Hydroliners” have a range of around 300 to 450 kilometers and, depending on the specification, can transport a good 90 passengers. According to the manufacturer, the buses are also equipped with a 70-kilowatt fuel cell drive from Ballard Power. Battery storage capacities of 30 to 45 kilowatt hours would be available. The tank configuration ranges from 32 to 50 kilograms. Exactly which specification will be delivered to RVK “cannot yet be finally answered,” said a spokeswoman when asked by the editorial team.
In both cases these are exclusively “solo” monoplanes. However, RVK says it also wants to test the first hydrogen articulated buses from an unnamed manufacturer in the fourth quarter of 2022, which are not currently available on the market. The RVK fleet currently includes 52 hydrogen buses of different types.
BMDV funding of over 33 million euros
The twelve RVK shareholders include a number of cities and districts, including Cologne, Euskirchen, Bergisch-Gladbach and Bonn, as well as municipal utilities. When asked by PtX, the transport company did not want to specify the amount of the total investment, nor did it want to specify the amount of subsidies from public funds from the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport.
According to the federally owned Now GmbH, which coordinates the BMDV funding for buses and rail, the “current procurement project” with a total of 108 fuel cell hybrid buses, which will expand the fleet to 2025 vehicles in two phases by 160, would receive funding amounting to more than 33,8 million euros provided.
Photo above
Rendering of a Wrightbus RVK vehicle. © Wrightbus
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RVK already operates 15 Solaris hydrogen buses. © RVK
