Bus

Clean energy buses: RATP places a new massive order to renew the Île-de-France Mobilités fleet

The second large-scale order from the Bus2025 programme aims to pursue the renewal of the bus fleet operated by RATP towards electricity and biogas. This ambition fits Île-de-France Mobilités’ desire to remove diesel buses from its network and to make the Île-de-France region into a global reference for very low carbon urban public transport. 3.9 million full or partial journeys are made every day by bus in the entire region.

The consultation for the purchase of standard electric buses, for a maximum budget of €825m over 4 years, led to signing 5 framework agreements with Bluebus/Bolloré, Irizar, Iveco, Man and Solaris. The first subsequent contracts were awarded upon signing the agreements, for a period of 2 years, in order to fulfil the 2022 and 2023 deliveries.

The contracts represent a potential maximum of approximately 450 buses and were awarded to Bluebus/Bolloré (158 vehicles); Irizar (113 vehicles) and Iveco (180 vehicles).

They complete the contracts awarded last March for standard and articulated biogas-powered buses. The consultation, with a maximum budget of €575m over 4 years, led to three contracts being signed. The first two were awarded to Man, for a maximum budget of €255m and €91m respectively, and the third one to Iveco, for a maximum budget of €229m.

This new step in the Bus2025 programme is proof of RATP’s desire to become a committed stakeholder in sustainable development. Its commitment is recognized and supported by the European Commission, which recently awarded a new grant to convert bus depots operated by RATP in the Île-de-France region to electricity and biogas. In total, the Bus2025 programme received €50.7m in 2020 and 2021 from the European Commission.

Île-de-France Mobilités and RATP have already awarded several contracts for the purchase of electric or biogas-powered buses (including, in 2019, the largest European call for tenders for electric buses, for a potential order of approximately 800 vehicles). A total of 3,700 vehicles have been or will be purchased through the programme between 2015 and 2025.