Environment: New natural gas buses on the road in Grenchen
Green, greener, Grenchen. When it comes to environmentally friendly public transport vehicles, the energy town with a population of 16,700 is setting a good example. The bus company Grenchen und Umgebung (BGU) has now put two new gas buses into operation and celebrated the anniversary of "10 years of gas buses in Grenchen" at the same time. The first gas bus was put into operation in November 2006 [...]
The first gas bus was put into operation in November 2006. Today, 13 of the 15 BGU buses already run on gas. By 2017, all of them will be. BGU boss Hans-Rudolf Zumstein: "We are very satisfied with the gas buses. We have been able to run every route so far. If there have been any problems, they have never been related to gas operation." While the first vehicles were equipped with converted diesel engines, the two new buses have optimized gas engines. Compared to their predecessors, the vehicles consume up to 20 percent less fuel and emissions are up to ten percent lower than those of a diesel engine.
Enough space for 80 people and two wheelchairs
The two Mercedes Citaro NGT low-floor buses have three doors. They can transport around 80 passengers. There are 31 seats available. There is also space for two wheelchairs. The buses cost around CHF 400,000 each. Gasverbund Mittelland is covering around ten percent of the costs. To ensure that the environmentally friendly buses are recognizable at first glance, Philipp Remund and his team have taken care of the visual design of the vehicles. The hood on the roof of the buses, under which the gas cylinders are housed, was covered with a green film showing the familiar natural gas leaf with the words natural gas/biogas.
www.erdgasfahren.ch
www.bgu.ch
www.gvm.ch
www.remundag.ch
Photos: Andreas Toggweiler (Grenchner Tagblatt), Remund AG
