Volvo Buses will be one of the main providers of public transport solutions and buses in Chile’s capital city after winning an important tender. The total solution includes one of the largest orders Volvo Buses has ever secured in Latin America with 472 conventional and 92 articulated buses. The buses will be operated by RedBus and Metropol but owned by Volvo.
“We are very proud to be supporting Santiago in renewing its public transport system and in this new operational model with a split between operator and owner. Our total solution will offer comfort and safety for passengers. But that’s not all – we are also providing a complete service solution so the operators will benefit from maximum uptime and efficiency,” says Anna Westerberg, President of Volvo Buses.
Since 2006, Volvo Buses has closely collaborated with Santiago to help improve people transport solutions. Today, there are 1.614 Volvo branded buses in operation in the city. The bus system transports around 3.8 million passengers per day from 32 municipalities in Santiago’s metropolitan region, covering an area of around 680 km². On a weekday, close to three million transactions are performed across more than two thousand buses.
“The objective is to ensure maximum vehicle uptime throughout the buses’ lifetime. We will train the drivers and maintenance staff, in addition to telematic systems for online bus and operation management,” says Fabiano Todeschini, president of Volvo Buses Latin America.
92 Volvo B8R articulated buses with low floor chassis, capacity for 180 passengers and rear 8-litre engine form part of the order. The remaining 472 buses are Volvo B8R low floor models for 78 or 95 passengers depending on configuration. Each bus will be equipped with the latest onboard technology, electronic disk brake system, electronic suspension, Volvo Buses’ fleet management and safety zone management systems, alongside other features.
The Volvo B8R chassis will be produced in Curitiba (Brazil) and Borås (Sweden). The bodies will be provided by preferred partners Marcopolo and Caio.
