Transportation Revolution: Osnabrück has electrified all five Metro bus lines

In January, for the first time, all 62 electric articulated buses of the Osnabrück Public Utilities were running on all five MetroBus axes of the city – a milestone on the path to a completely electrically operated bus network.

"We are something like the unofficial electric bus capital of Germany," rejoiced Mayor Katharina Pötter, who is also the chair of the supervisory board of the public utilities.

In October 2018, the first electric articulated bus from the Dutch manufacturer VDL arrived at the public utilities. Punctually on December 30 of the past year, the last of the 62 ordered vehicles was delivered.

"The partnership with VDL is exemplary in many ways," says Dr. Stephan Rolfes, head of mobility at the public utilities.

Nearly 4 million electric kilometers driven

From the outset, the availability of the electric articulated buses was extraordinarily good and absolutely comparable to that of their diesel counterparts. At the end of March 2019, the MetroBus line M1 was switched to pure electric operation; this was followed by the MetroBus axes M2, M3, M5, and lastly – though not yet completely – M4. As of March 1, the total mileage of the electric articulated bus fleet amounted to nearly 4 million km.

"In just the first two months of this year, the now 62 electric buses covered more than 500,000 electric kilometers – charged with green electricity from the region," Rolfes continues.