The 500th electric bus entered the Mosgortrans park. It will carry passengers on the M4 route from the Lake Station to the Oktyabrskaya metro station. The manufacturer of the machine is Kamaz.
According to Sergei Sobyanin, in recent years, real revolutionary changes have taken place in Moscow public transport: old commuter trains have replaced “Ivolgi” and “Swallows”, a new train “Moscow” has appeared in the metro, modern and comfortable “Vityazi” runs on the tram lines. Cardinal changes are taking place in the bus parks of the capital.
“Two years ago, you remember this story, we launched the first electric
bus. Everyone thought it was fantastic, that he wouldn’t go anywhere, he wouldn’t work. Here it is, the reality: 500 electric buses is the largest park among European cities,” the Mayor of Moscow said.
According to him, the city is not chasing quantity – it’s all about the quality of new cars. “The electric bus is a first-class car, convenient for both drivers and passengers, very comfortable. We will continue to work, increase the volume of supplies so that our entire mosgortrans fleet will be replaced by electric buses,” Sergey Sobyanin said.
Electric buses are not only more comfortable than buses, but also help to solve the environmental problems of the metropolis. “We see how the environment is changing, because passenger transport and personal transport are becoming better. After all, cars add every year in terms of ecology. And we should not be behind, but ahead. To form fashion, to create environmental trends in the first place,” the Mayor of Moscow added.
Sergey Sobyanin reminded that in today’s situation public transport passengers need to comply with security measures. “Now the most important thing in transport is to observe the glove-mask mode. It is also very important to take care of yourself. In addition to the fact that the transport should be clean, tidy, disinfected. And everyone should remember that it is necessary to take care of themselves and others,” he said.
The Mayor of Moscow spoke with marina Shibaeva, the driver of the 500th Moscow electric bus. She said the new machines made it much easier for her and her colleagues. “I worked on a trolley bus. And of course, there’s a big difference in operation. The bars do not fall, you do not need to look out for the contact network: everything is normal or not properly. You don’t need to change the coals up. It is much easier to work – we came, hung the validator, recorded, received the documents, filled out and calmly went,” Marina Shibaeva said.
According to her, passengers are also happy with the new public transport, it happens, they are specially waiting for electric buses at stops, skipping buses of the same route. And drivers like the comfort and ergonomics of the cab, the convenience of control, a fast set of speed and a smooth stop of the car. It takes 10 to 15 minutes to charge the electric bus at the final stop – that’s exactly the time during which drivers rest between flights. And in the cold season, according to Marina Shibaeva, the electric buses performed quite well.
“They are improving every year, we listen to your comments, suggestions, refine the model. In Moscow, we will create our own assembly plant and will refine the Moscow model with some nuances and so on. The machine that was two years ago still has differences in design from today’s,” Sergey Sobyanin added.
The first electric buses took to the streets of the city in autumn 2018. Under the terms of the contracts, in 2018-2019, domestic manufacturers Gaz and Kamaz delivered 300 electric buses to Moscow. Another 300 electric buses are planned for delivery this year, 200 of them have already entered the line. Thus, the capital’s fleet of electric buses became the largest in Europe. By comparison, there are 300 electric buses in London, 259 in Paris, 200 in Berlin and 164 in Amsterdam.
Today, electric buses serve 36 routes. Since the beginning of the work, they have transported more than 55 million passengers and traveled more than 22 million kilometers on the roads of Moscow.
The Moscow electric bus can accommodate 85 passengers, it provides for 30 seats. Due to the low level of the floor, the presence of a ramp, a storage area and places for visually impaired people with a guide dog to use electric buses is convenient for everyone, including low-mobility passengers.
The Moscow electric bus is an eco-friendly mode of transport. It has climate control, USB connectors for charging mobile devices and media screens.
Electric buses are replenished for six to 10 minutes with ultrafast charging stations at end stops. There are already 100 charging stations in the city. The power reserve is 40-50 kilometers.
The design of the electric buses is constantly improving. This year the city buys the third generation of electric buses. Compared to previous versions in them:
Separate climate control for drivers and passengers;
The thermal veils of doors and side windows have been modernized;
– the flooring is replaced with a more durable, the pattern imitates the parquet board;
– in the center of the cabin there are soft panels on which passengers can lean when they go standing;
An automated passenger counting system has been installed;
The circular cameras are built in.
There are loudspeakers to inform visually impaired passengers about the direction of movement;
– Equipped with a multimedia electric bus control system – the driver can control the work of the car directly from the tablet on the dashboard. Online data is transferred to the servers of Mosgortrans. In the future, this will make the management of transport automatic.
The use of the new mode of transport can reduce operating costs, simplify the maintenance of rolling stock (life – 15 years on the terms of the service contract), reduce the level of harmful emissions, reduce the level of noise and vibration in the cabin by 30 percent compared to buses.
Under service contracts, manufacturers are responsible for the full functionality of rolling stock and charging stations for 15 years of operation. In addition, suppliers take on all the risks and costs of purchasing parts and components.
Transport experts praised the launch of electric buses in Moscow. Last year, innovative transport was awarded the national “Formula of Traffic” award in the category “Best Solution in passenger transport.” The Moscow electric bus also received the national “Car of the Year in Russia 2019” award.
In the future, Mosgortrans intends to refuse purchases of diesel buses (except for transport for mobilization needs) and to purchase only environmentally friendly electric transport, including electric buses and trams.
Next year, another 400 electric buses will be delivered to Moscow. By the end of 2023, it is planned to increase the fleet of electric buses to 2,300 units, which will make up a third of the capital’s land transport fleet.
Taking into account trams, about 40 percent of the capital’s land transport will pass on electric traction. And by 2030, the entire Mosgortrans park should become green, that is, absolutely environmentally friendly. Cities such as St. Petersburg, Vladivostok and Samara follow Moscow’s example. Tests were conducted in Khabarovsk and Kaliningrad.
Electrobus: Made in Moscow
In 2019, the Government of Moscow and Kamaz signed an agreement on the implementation of a project to create the production of electric buses in the capital on the basis of the Sokolniki Car Repair and Construction Plant (SVARS).
Now work is underway to modernize the production facilities of the plant with an area of six thousand square meters.
The production cycle of this plant will include about 20 assembly operations, including the installation of doors, traction equipment, seats and handrails, interior finish, as well as – just as importantly – computer diagnostics, setting up and rolling electric buses. The production cycle will only include environmentally friendly operations.
The company will create about 100 new high-tech jobs for specialists, whose responsibilities include monitoring automated processes.
Production of electric buses in Moscow will reduce the time of assembly, delivery and maintenance of transport and save on logistics. As a result, the cost of the electric bus will decrease by five to seven percent.
It is expected that the Sokolniki car repair and construction plant will produce 400 electric buses annually. The first electric bus of the Moscow assembly is to come off the assembly line in early 2021.
In addition, this winter manufacturers plan to present a prototype electric bus-harmonica with a capacity of at least 135 passengers and with 38 seats.
Image and press courtesy of mos.ru