Solaris Urbino 18 IV hydrogen at the loading terminal|© Urban Transport Magazine/b
Aschaffenburg is located in the north-west of the state of Bavaria and, with a populace of around 72, 000, becomes part of the Rhine-Main cosmopolitan region. The bus solution run by Stadtwerke Aschaffenburg (StwAB) along with Verkehrsgesellschaft Bayerischer Untermain (VAB) forms the foundation of neighborhood public transport in the city of Aschaffenburg. The community energy company is in charge of transportation operations, while the city of Aschaffenburg itself serves as the transportation authority and finances the bus solution. In overall, the municipal energy company operates 15 city bus paths (lines 1– 12, 14, 15, 16, which attach the local bus terminal (ROB) with the city areas and surrounding area. During the day, the most vital connections run every 10– 20 minutes. In the evening, when there is no routine service, the service is supplemented by a call-and-collect transport system (ASTflex) to guarantee mobility outside operating hours.
Electric and hydrogen buses
In order to straighten its fleet with the present pattern in the direction of electrical mobility, Stadtwerke Aschaffenburg is originally placing 13 crossbreed buses right into service, complied with by the initial fully electric battery buses in 2022 These three Solaris Urbino 12 electrical IV buses have a battery ability of 440 kWh, and the maker guarantees a variety of 240 to 280 kilometres.
The further conversion of the fleet was achieved with the purchase of 12 hydrogen buses. 10 Solaris Urbino 12 hydrogen and two Urbino 18 hydrogen verbalized buses gotten here in Aschaffenburg in 2024 The solo buses are furnished with 70 kW gas cells and 30 kWh batteries, while both verbalized buses have 100 kW fuel cells and 2 30 kWh high-power batteries.
All H ₂ automobiles are furnished with a/c, USB billing outlets, an automatic traveler counting system and a passenger communication system as criterion. Safety and security attributes consist of interior and exterior monitoring electronic cameras and the MobileEye Guard+ aid system, which cautions of items or people in the vicinity of the lorry.
A contemporary hydrogen filling up station has been developed at the depot, which is also readily available to other customers, consisting of the city’s public utilities. There, the vehicles can be refuelled at 350 or 700 bar. This takes around 10 minutes per bus for approx. 25 kg of hydrogen. The hydrogen is provided by vehicle up until a connection to the Midal-Süd interregional H ₂ pipe, which is presently unfinished, can be established in the longer term.
Public financing
The expense of each of the 3 electric buses was around 560, 000 euros. The local utilities got federal funding of just under one million euros for this and for the charging infrastructure. The Federal Ministry of Transportation supplied about 3 8 million euros in financing for the procurement of the hydrogen buses, while the Bavarian state federal government added 1 9 million euros for the building and construction of the hydrogen loading terminal.
The fleet presently consists of 48 Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses of different kinds, consisting of 2 verbalized buses and 13 hybrid buses, plus four Solaris Urbino 12 III buses from 2010 and currently the 12 hydrogen buses, making a total amount of 64 vehicles. These buses carry approximately 5 5 million passengers each year.
09 09 2025