At the end of July, VDL Bus & Coach and Transdev SZ, based in Siegen in Germany, agreed on a contract for 40 vehicles of the Ambassador type. All the vehicles will be delivered in 2010.

"This is the largest order to date in the history of VDL Bus & Coach Deutschland. The fact that we were able to close this order with such a strong partner not only fills us with pride, but also demonstrates that, thanks to our strategy and products, we are well on the way of becoming a Public Transport brand that must be taken seriously in Germany", says Boris Holtermann, Public  Transport Manager at VDL Bus & Coach Deutschland.

40 Ambassadors

All the Ambassadors will be brought into operation this autumn and winter on the occasion of the change of the official timetable in the Wetzlar region. The vehicles have a length of 12 metres and are fitted with a Euro 5 engine that complies with the EEV emission standard.

The Ambassadors have a total of 40 seats, two folding seats or one wheelchair place, and 40   standing places. With the Ambassador, Transdev opted for the innovative, lightweight concept of a low-entry bus, particularly suited to the difficult conditions in city and regional transport. The low empty weight of the bus results in a very favourable fuel consumption. An additional advantage of  the Ambassador is that the entrance and exit doors are easily accessible for wheelchair users and passengers with baby carriages due to the low-floor construction.

Partnership

Director Peter Wisgerhof of Transdev SZ has high expectations of both the vehicles and the partnership. "We are pleased to be able to do business with a manufacturer who shares our strategies and visions. We are therefore aiming for a long-term and successful partnership, which, on the basis of trust and reliability, we are sure will lead to mutual success. With their low lifecycle costs, the Ambassadors will certainly contribute to this."

Transdev

The French Transdev concern ranks among the world players in  the  area  of  Public Transport. The core activities of the concern are the exploitation and development of public transport services and systems. From a small French enterprise, Transdev has developed into one of the major international suppliers in the field of passenger transport since its foundation in 1990, and has an annual turnover   exceeding 2.51 billion euro. In the meantime, Transdev is responsible for the transport of more than one billion people per year worldwide, and the numbers are steadily increasing.

In Europe, Transdev is the market leader in the field of integrated systems for city transport. As   a   result of the takeover of SZ Verkehrsbetriebe GmbH & Co. KG in 2006 and the acquisition of Verkehrsbetriebe Westfalen Sd GmbH in 2009, Transdev now also has a base in Germany, and the   company is operating in the bus transport sector in several German states and from several locations,  employing about 600 people.  This has made Transdev Deutschland into a prominent company within  the Public Transport sector.

Moreover,  thanks to successful participations in public tenders,  the company is also experiencing organisational development. The company is operational both in villages in the country and in cities,   and can not only call  upon a number of carefully selected partner organisations, but has also its own vehicle park consisting of about 360 buses.