MUNICH/BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Deutsche Bahn plans to order thousands of new buses in the coming years - many of them from Munich-based manufacturer MAN. The company says it is the main supplier for the largest bus contract in Deutsche Bahn's history. The framework agreement with MAN covers more than 3,000 vehicles for the period from 2027 to 2032. A large proportion of these will be fully electric. The buses will be used by the regional transport subsidiary DB Regio AG throughout Germany.
For MAN, too, this is the largest bus order in the company's history. "The new framework agreement with Deutsche Bahn is a historic procurement order," says MAN CEO Alexander Vlaskamp. "The fact that a significant proportion of the vehicles will be fully electric impressively underlines the contribution that Deutsche Bahn and MAN are making to the sustainable transformation of public transport." However, the package also includes combustion engines and hybrid models.
"The vast majority of buses" in the current procurement come from the Munich-based manufacturer, says Harmen van Zijderveld, DB board member for regional transport. This is good news for Germany as an industrial location.
MAN has already supplied Deutsche Bahn with many buses in the past – according to the company, almost 5,000 for urban and interurban transport over the past 15 years. Deutsche Bahn's regional transport subsidiary, DB Regio, operates numerous buses throughout Germany. MAN belongs to the VW commercial vehicle holding company Traton./DP/zb
