The regular operation of trolleybuses to Václav Havel Airport is to begin at the turn of 2022 and 2023.
Dopravní podnik hl. In the coming days, the City of Prague (DPP) will announce a competition for the purchase of 20 large-capacity three-section trolleybuses, which will run on line 119 from the Veleslavín Railway Station to Václav Havel Airport. The line has to pass during two years of electrification.
The announcement of the competition was announced by DPP in a press release; The estimated value of the contract is 628 million crowns. The first car should be delivered by the winner of the competition in the autumn of 2022.
The required trolleybuses should be 23-25 meters long, with a capacity of 40-55 passenger seats, with a design speed of at least 70 km / h. The guaranteed range of battery-powered vehicles should be at least 11 km. Battery life has been set at a minimum of 60 months or 450,000 kilometers. The vehicles are to be equipped in accordance with the valid standards of Prague Integrated Transport.
DPP assumes an average annual trolleybus run of 90,000 km. The charging of trolleybuses will take place using two-pole technology from the installed charging trolley, which DPP will build at both turning points. They will be built at Nádraží Veleslavín and at the Airport, they will also be on about half of the route of line 119 from Nádraží Veleslavín to Terminal 3. In the section between Terminal 3 and the final at the Airport, trolleybuses will use energy from batteries.
„In 2022, we will start building an overhead line to electrify line 119 to the airport. In the spring of 2023, we will deploy new emission-free and barrier-free trolleybuses. They will be up to 25 meters long, which will significantly improve passenger comfort, locals will appreciate that they will be quiet and overall we will facilitate traffic by not adding additional bus connections, “ said Adam Scheinherr, Deputy Mayor for Transport and Chairman of the DPP Supervisory Board.
Preliminary interest of five producers
According to the head of the Bus Operation unit, Jan Barchánek, DPP will probably be the first operator of this type of trolleybus in the Czech Republic “Before their normal deployment on line 119, however, we first have their homologation for operation in the Czech Republic according to legal regulations, which, among other things, means a fault-free run of the prescribed number of kilometers in trial operation without passengers, and then with them. We assume that we could start the homologation of the first vehicle in the autumn of 2022, if there are no complications during the public contract or delivery. We anticipate the full deployment of large-capacity three-section trolleybuses on line 119 in the spring of 2023. We believe that in this time horizon the vast majority of the original demand for air transport will be restored after the current coronary crisis,“Added Barchánek.
Due to the competition, DPP has already announced preliminary market consultations. In them, he addressed leading trolleybus manufacturers, namely Škoda Electric, SOR Libchavy, Ekova Electric, Solaris, Van Hool, the Swiss manufacturer Carrosserie HESS and the Turkish company Bozankaya. Škoda Electric, Solaris, Van Hool, Carrosserie HESS and Cegelec actively participated in the preliminary market consultations.
Price will not be the only criterion
The competition will take place through a negotiated procedure with publication, which is open to all manufacturers who meet the technical and qualification requirements. “This form allows us to further negotiate the submitted offers of participants and thus obtain the most effective and suitable solution for DPP. Thanks to this, we can, for example, negotiate post-warranty service after submitting offers, “ added Barchánek.
The price will have a weight of 50% in the evaluation, DPP will take into account the costs of the economic cycle. Other criteria will be the length of the vehicle warranty, the average annual cost of prescribed vehicle maintenance, the average annual cost of out-of-warranty and post-warranty vehicle service, the cost of a replacement traction battery and the average annual cost of supporting and developing the vehicle’s handling and information system and energy management functions.
The preparation of the necessary infrastructure for the electrification of line 119 is proceeding according to schedule. The project recently received a positive environmental impact assessment (EIA). DPP is currently finalizing project documentation for merged construction and land management. DPP expects to start construction of the overhead line during 2022.
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