Arriva and VDL sign delivery and maintenance contract

Arriva Nederland and VDL Bus & Coach have signed a delivery and maintenance contract for 164 new buses worth a total value of more than 67 million Euros.

The new environmentally friendly buses will form part of the vehicle fleet for the East and West Brabant concessions, which were both awarded to Arriva earlier this year in a deal worth over 1.2 billion Euros.

The majority of the order comprises the VDL Citea LLE - an innovative lightweight concept of a low-entry bus intended for tough conditions in urban and regional transport. The Citea LLE's low floor structure near the doors makes it highly accessible to wheelchair users and travellers with pushchairs, whilst also having the added benefit of low fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

Anne Hettinga, chairman of the Management Board, director of Arriva Nederland said: "We are proud to give VDL Bus & Coach this contract, particularly as the buses will be maintained and largely manufactured in Brabant. We have very good experiences with VDL Bus & Coach as supplier of buses and this is an enormous boost for regional employment."

Member of the Provincial Executive for Mobility of the Province of Brabant, Ruud van Heugten, was present when the contracts were signed and says he is pleased with the collaboration between the two parties: "The new VDL buses are good for Brabant for three reasons: it is a class product for travellers, it is environmentally friendly (Euro 6) and it's a regional product (employment)."