Large-capacity Škoda-Solaris vehicles 24 meters long will run from Prague Airport
DPP will be the first operator of large-capacity three-cell battery trolleybuses Škoda-Solaris 24m and three-cell vehicles in the Czech Republic. The manufacturer of the chassis and complete body is the Polish-Spanish company Solaris Bus & Coach, traction electrical equipment, including electric motors, comes from the workshops of Škoda Electric from the Škoda Transportation group.
PRESS RELEASE The winner of the public tender for the purchase of 20 new three-section battery trolleybuses was the Czech-Polish-Spanish association of Škoda Electric companies from the group @SkodaTransport Solaris Bus & Coach and Solaris Czech. https://t.co/zxzDbZ90Aw pic.twitter.com/zTptggRfpY
– Dopravní podnik hl. m Prague, joint stock company (@DPPOficialni) February 18, 2022
Škoda-Solaris 24m is a city, fully low-floor three-section battery trolleybus with five double-leaf doors, full-vehicle air conditioning and a transport capacity of 179 passengers. The vehicle has four axles with second and third axle drive. The entire area of the trolleybus intended for standing passengers is 100% low-floor, the passageways inside the trolleybus are without stairs. The landings and steps under the seats are as limited in the vehicle as possible to ensure maximum accessibility. The vehicle has a total of 52 seats. The passenger compartment and exterior lighting of the vehicle uses LED technology. In the space of the second door, a space is created for the transport of two prams, or two wheelchairs or one pram and one wheelchair. These spaces are standard equipment for fixing and fixing the wheelchair, a folding backrest and a rear support plate.
The large-capacity Škoda-Solaris 24m trolleybuses will be used by DPP primarily on the future trolleybus line Nádraží Veleslavín – Prague Airport as part of the planned electrification of the current bus lines on 4,119. Line No. 119 will be electrified using the so-called dynamic charging system. The overhead contact line should be built on approximately half of the lines, specifically in the section Nádraží Veleslavín – Terminal 3. In the remaining sections, the battery trolleybuses will run in the battery mode route. In addition to dynamic charging when driving under the trolley, the trolleybus batteries will also be charged statically at the Veleslavín and Václav Havel Airport turnoffs. This will create contact tracks for charging and balancing the batteries, as well as preheating the interior before leaving in the area of the Řepy garages, from where line no. 119 is sent.
With the electrification project of line 119, DPP is losing ground to the international research project E-BRT, which is being prepared within the framework of the European research program Horizon and coordinated by the International Public Transport Association UITP “In two years, holiday returns will not be as difficult as before. With a heavy suitcase or backpack, a crowded, uncomfortable bus will no longer be waiting for us. A three-section trolleybus will arrive at the stop. They will be comfortable, quiet and offered a smooth ride. No coding. With its driving characteristics and comfort, it is closer to a tram than a bus. In addition, thanks to modern technology, they will have to run new wires along the entire length of the line and, for example, existing public lighting poles,“Said Adam Scheinherr, Deputy Mayor and Chairman of the DPP Supervisory Board, adding:”For us, the beginning of this year is really marked by electromobility and modern technologies. We started building the infrastructure for the first regulatory trolleybus line in Prague from Palmovka to Miškovice. We already have 15 articulated battery trolleybuses for it. The first electric buses run in Prague and by the end of February there will be a total of 14. We have obtained a joint permit for electrification lines No. 119 to Václav Havel Airport and now we have the winners of a public contract for the purchase of three-section trolleybuses on this line.”
“I am very pleased that we have managed to complete this public contract and sign a contract for the purchase of 20 three-section trolleybuses. They are the Prague destination for the second planned trolleybus line, which will connect Veleslavín Railway Station and Václav Havel Prague Airport from March 2024 instead of buses. However, it is possible that the first three-section trolleybus will not appear earlier on the trolleybus line 58 during the test run. We should receive the first vehicle intended for test runs next year, the remaining 19th by mid-February 2024“Said Petr Witowski, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of DPP.
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“It is great that Prague is returning to trolleybus transport, which began to write its history here as early as 1936, and even then Škoda trolleybuses were present. Trolleybuses are a key means of transport in many European cities and their introduction to Prague Airport will provide passengers with a comfortable and especially quiet journey to the center of Prague. In addition, trolleybuses will replace diesel buses on this line, thus significantly reducing carbon emissions. I believe that this will be an inspiration for other cities and large-capacity trolleybuses will also appear on their backbone lines,Said Tanya Altmann, Senior Vice President, Bus Mobility Solutions at Škoda Transportation.
“We congratulate the city of Prague on investing in modern and emission-free vehicles. Trollino 24 is our answer to increase the capacity of the busiest lines in crowded cities. The commissioning of 20 two-joint trolleybuses will be the optimal solution for Prague. I am convinced that these above all, elaborate, richly equipped and emission-free vehicles will remain the business card of the Czech capital,Said Petros Spinaris, Solaris Member of the Board, Sales, Marketing and After-Sales Services.
“The capacity connection of the airport terminals with the center of Prague will increase the comfort for passengers and employees who come to the complex or need to get on the metro. At the same time, we appreciate that this mode of transport contributes to reducing CO emissions2. Prague Airport is very active in decarbonisation, it is one of the main pillars of ESG’s corporate strategy, within which it strives, among other things, to involve its partners in reducing emissions.“Added Jiří Kraus, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Prague Airport, which is responsible for, among other things, the environment.
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Škoda-Solaris 24m is a fully emission-free vehicle, heating and air conditioning are classically electrically powered. Trolleybuses also include all the Quality Standards of Prague Integrated Transport, will be a complete check-in and information system and will deliver PID in a new unified design. Trolleybuses will also provide users with equipment for automatic passenger counting, a camera system including interior monitoring, a frontal accident camera, side and reversing cameras, in addition to a camera that captures trolleybuses. Řepy will be the home garage for large-capacity three-section trolleybuses.
The delivery also includes an energy management system that allows DPP to remotely monitor, control and plan charging and evaluate energy operations (battery status, charging cycles, including charging current value, compliance check, etc.). The area of energy management optimization will be one of the monitored points of the E-BRT research project.
An interesting feature of the trolleybus is the equipment with two maintenance-free traction machines with a nominal power of 160 kW, which are located in the side boxes in front of the second and third axles. In addition, the vehicle is equipped with 7 additional auxiliary motors used, for example, to cool traction motors, roof units or to drive air conditioning compressors. Electrical equipment, including control electronics and traction battery is located on the roof of the vehicle. In the event of icing on the overhead contact line, the two trolleybuses will also have an automatic antifreeze solution spray system. An integral part of all cars will also be the possibility of emergency charging from a standard 3 × 400VAC / 32A or 63A network with a cable connection according to the CCS-2 standard. Trolleybuses will also have a whole system of automatic download of pantographs at the end of the overhead contact line and an indication of the beginning of the overhead contact line. Due to the two steerable axles, the vehicle’s steering system includes two separate power steering hydraulic circuits that control the front and rear steered axles.
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The warranty period of each of the new three-section trolleybuses is 8 years, except for the traction batteries, which includes the warranty period of 15 years. During this warranty, the vehicle must be able to run on the traction battery min. 11 km with the use of heating or air conditioning under operating and climatic conditions in the conditions of hl. m of Prague in accordance with the PID Quality Standards with reaching the maximum permitted speed, full occupancy of vehicles and stopping at all stops, including passenger check-in, at intersections and other obstacles. The declared service life of large-capacity trolleybuses is at least 15 years. The expected annual run-up of each trolleybus will be up to about 90,000 kilometers, which, with a route length of 17.9 km to and from the back, means providing approximately 10,000 connections per year, and thus an average of almost 28 connections per day by each trolleybus.
The total value of the public contract for the purchase of 20 three-cell Škoda-Solaris 24m battery trolleybuses, including four chargers and seven sets of hardware and software for fault diagnosis, is 623,216,860 crowns excluding VAT, which is five million lower prices than according to the tender documentation.
Basic technical data about the Škoda-Solaris 24m trolleybus:
- Length: 24,700 mm
- Width: 2,550 mm
- Height: 3,500 mm (with retracted pantographs)
- Wheelbase: front 5,900 mm / middle 6,000 mm / rear 7,350 mm
- Total maximum weight: 38,000 kg
- Top speed: 70 km / h
- Number of axles: 4
- Number of axles supported: 2 (second and third)
- Number of steered axles: 2 (front and rear)
- Number of doors for entry and exit: 5
- Number of doors for entry and exit: 5
- Boarding height: 320 mm
- Total number of seats: 52
- Total number of passengers: 179
- Number of engines: 2
- Traction electric motor power: 160 kW
- Traction battery capacity: 60 kWh