The order that has now been awarded to the three manufacturers is worth 185 million euros and contributes to De Lijn’s goal of achieving an emission-free fleet by 2035. The first electric buses from the order that has now been announced are to be delivered by the end of 2026. According to the daily newspaper De Tijd, 140 12-metre-long solo buses were ordered from BYD. This is likely to be another order from the framework agreement between De Lijn and BYD for the delivery of up to 500 electric buses agreed at the end of 2023. Iveco and VDL are also to contribute 100 and 50 articulated electric buses, respectively.
The high ambitions of the Flemish public transport company are also reflected in an order made public in February for “600 to 900” electric bus charging stations worth 24.2 million euros. The contract awarded to SPIE-Ekoenergetyka is part of a framework agreement from November 2023 for up to 1,600 depot charging points over a period of eight years. De Lijn has been exclusively procuring electric buses since 2022. The company also recently withdrew its five hydrogen-powered buses and announced a BEV-only strategy.
This now requires a constant supply of BEVs: last year alone, the public transport company announced that it had ordered 100 electric buses from Irizar and 181 MAN electric buses in addition to the up to 500 electric buses from BYD. This was followed in November 2024 by an order for 32 articulated electric buses from Iveco. This was the next firm order from another framework agreement for the delivery of up to 500 electric buses by 2030.
sustainable-bus.com, tijd.be (paywall)
