Wupsi launches "green line" between B-Gladbach and Leverkusen

The signals are green for the municipal transport operator Wupsi – the company that operates the majority of bus routes in Leverkusen and many routes in the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis is set to deploy ten MAN Lions City E buses on route 222 between Bergisch Gladbach and Leverkusen. Six MAN e-buses will start from the Leverkusen depot, and four from the Bergisch Gladbach location.

Further Details

Six battery packs with a total capacity of 480 kWh on the roof of the 12 m MAN electric solo buses provide the necessary energy. The buses were extensively tested at Wupsi beforehand – during this, the manufacturer’s specified range of 206 km on a full charge was confirmed.  

“The buses made an excellent impression. The range specified by the manufacturer MAN could be confirmed, and the infrastructure also works,” says Marc Kretkowski, Managing Director of Wupsi.

The MAN Lion’s City E buses are equipped with air conditioning and hybrid heating. 32 USB ports enable electronic devices to be charged from all seats.

The MAN electric solo buses are fueled at depots equipped with both standard charging stations and fast chargers. According to Wupsi, a full charge takes about 2.5 to 3 hours with 150 kW.

Pedestrian protection has also been considered. Since July 2021, electric vehicles must emit a warning noise at speeds up to 20 km/h. Therefore, the buses are quiet but not completely silent when in operation.

“The last few months have once again highlighted that turning away from fossil fuels is inevitable. Besides the aspect of climate protection and independence from third parties, the new buses also have other advantages: noise levels are significantly reduced, which benefits both passengers and residents,” says Mayor Uwe Richrath.

A Lot of Preliminary Work

Introducing the e-buses required some additional work: At the Bergisch Gladbach depot, the connection capacity had to be increased by the grid operator, and electrical systems had to be expanded and supplemented. To supply the chargers with sufficient power, new power lines were also laid at both depots.

Accident positions will be created in the coming weeks, and a new depot management system will also be introduced, according to the press release. The workshop was also upgraded – a new high-work station will be built in the next few weeks so that the batteries can also be serviced from above.

Both the workshop staff, the control center, and the driving personnel have been appropriately trained over the past few weeks.

Through the electrification of bus route 222, around 650,000 km can be covered electrically each year, saving annual greenhouse gas emissions of 680 tons of CO₂, according to the transport company.

The Financing

To finance the switch to alternative drives, Wupsi was able to acquire both federal and state funding.

“Buses with alternative drives are currently still more expensive than diesel buses. In addition, there are the acquisition of the charging infrastructure and the necessary conversion measures. We are therefore pleased that Nahverkehr Rheinland (NVR) can make an important contribution with the funding to ensure that e-buses will also operate in Leverkusen and Bergisch Gladbach in the future,” says Michael Vogel, Managing Director of VRS and NVR.

The state of NRW covers 60% of the additional costs compared to diesel buses, with another 20% funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment. A large portion of the infrastructure costs and training is also financed by the state and federal governments. In total, the funding amounts to around 4 million euros.