The City of Sofia announced that the municipal operator “Stolichen Avtotransport” EAD signed a BGN 66.55 million (about EUR 33,5 million) agreement with German company MAN Truck and Bus AG for the delivery of new articulated buses running on natural gas to renew public transportation fleet of Bulgaria’s capital city. MAN won the tender procedure despite an appeal by Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Co., which was ranked second.
The first batch of buses is expected by end-May, while the last one should arrive in Sofia by the end of 2014. The 126 buses are fully air-conditioned and have low floors, which makes them readily accessible to all passengers. The deal also includes personnel training, diagnostics equipment and a new CNG filling station, reported online media Publics.bg.
The delivery of the articulated buses is one of the most recent projects for upgrading the ageing public transportation fleet of Sofia. Within other projects, 20 new trams, 50 trolleybuses and 10 metro trains are being delivered.
Polish company Pesa has already delivered a couple of new Pesa Swing 122NaSF low-floor air-conditioned trams. A few of them have been covering the less deteriorated tram routes of Sofia for the last two months. More of the new trams should be launched once an overhaul of selected tracks takes place in spring.
