- Austrian company Retter-Linien GmbH takes delivery of 18 UL business vehicles
- Eight UL vehicles to cover regular-service and school bus routes for bus operator Regionalbus Leipzig GmbH
- Setra MultiClass – robust engineering and fuel-efficient engine
The company Retter-Linien GmbH, based in the Austrian town of Neunkirchen, is putting 18 new Setra buses on the road. The 16 S 415 UL business and two S 417 UL business vehicles form part of a wider contract covering a total of 35 rural-service buses to be delivered between now and 2016. The fulfilment of this major order, which will also include low-floor LE business buses, over the course of the coming year will mark the end of a complete changeover of the company’s fleet to Setra models.
There were several reasons for this purchasing decision, according to Hermann Retter: “The UL business rural regular-service buses are designed with efficiency in mind, making them good for our business in all sorts of ways. Their outstanding fuel efficiency and long maintenance intervals, as well as the sense of spaciousness they offer, are all extremely impressive. Our customers often comment on the quietness of the buses, all of which are fitted with easy-care flooring with an elegant stone-effect finish.” According to the Managing Director of Retter-Linien GmbH, passengers, drivers and service employees are all equally impressed with the vehicles: “The Setra buses also score highly for ease and convenience of operation, cleaning and maintenance.”
At the official handover ceremony, Dr Thomas Rohde, Managing Director of EvoBus Austria GmbH, expressed his delight at this major order and took the opportunity to emphasise the qualities of the new UL business vehicle generation: “The UL business forms part of our strategic product initiative for Setra. It extends the range of vehicles designed specifically for rural regular-service operations, yet also manages to incorporate all the strengths of the tried and tested Setra MultiClass.”
Retter-Linien GmbH, which operates 90 percent of local public transport routes in the wider Neunkirchen area and, as part of this, carries up to 6000 schoolchildren on a daily basis, makes a conscious point of investing in the latest vehicle technologies and environmental standards – and has therefore turned to Setra to help deliver its objectives. Hermann Retter particularly appreciates the high value retention of the vehicles from Ulm: “Quality pays off, at the end of the day, even if the buses aren’t kept for all that long. In our case, for instance, they are replaced after six years at most in operation.” The experience of the Retter group of companies over the last three years or so with the environmentally compatible and fuel-efficient Euro VI “BlueEfficiency Power” engine generation has been very positive, with the engines being thoroughly tested in their Setra ComfortClass 500 touring coaches on routes right across Europe.
Retter-Linien GmbH is a division of Retter Reisen GmbH in Pöllau, a travel company founded in 1989, and is based in Neunkirchen, some 60 kilometres to the southwest of Vienna. The family-run company, which attaches great importance to sustainable business practices and a high level of customer comfort, was awarded the official Austrian Ecolabel in 2014.
Bus operator Regionalbus Leipzig GmbH also investing in Setra rural-service buses
Regionalbus Leipzig GmbH has recently boosted its fleet with the addition of eight Setra MultiClass vehicles. Managing Director Andreas Kultscher took delivery of three S 415 UL and five S 419 UL buses at the Setra Customer Centre in Neu-Ulm. The order is the outcome of a Europe-wide tendering process won by the brand. Andreas Kultscher: “The Euro VI-engined Setra buses are accessible for passengers with disabilities and meet in full the requirements of our specification in relation to engineering, environmental compatibility, maintenance and service as well as the criteria for obtaining support from the State of Saxony. They also offer the level of comfort we stipulated, as we are particularly concerned to provide comfortable seats as well as flat-screen monitors that can be used to keep our passengers informed.”
The S 415 UL is fitted with 49 seats, while the S 419 UL can accommodate up to 65 seated passengers. The new vehicles will be used primarily on regular-service and school bus routes in the wider Leipzig area, whereby each will cover around 50,000 kilometres a year.
Bus operator Regionalbus Leipzig GmbH currently operates 82 routes throughout the entire district of Leipzig, five of which are urban and 77 regional transport routes. The company, which at present employs around 230 people at its locations in Colditz, Deuben, Grimma and Zwenkau, was established in 1992, since when considerable effort has been put into further developing the quality of its vehicle fleet.
In late 2013 the company, at that time still known as Personenverkehrsgesellschaft Muldental GmbH, or PVM, took delivery of ten low-floor Setra S 415 NF buses.
The Setra MultiClass – flexible and economical
Setra MultiClass vehicles are characterised by their outstanding flexibility of use and economy on both urban and rural regular-service routes. Bus operators can choose from a total of 12 models in this Setra product segment. All vehicles were updated to Euro VI engines as far back as 2013. In autumn 2013 the brand expanded its product range with the addition of three UL variants – in the guise of the 12.20-metre-long S 415 UL business, the 12.70-metre S 416 UL business and the 13.38-metre S 417 UL business – all with equipment specifications that are geared towards efficient and economical running, so ensuring competitive operation in rural-service and school bus operations.
Launched in 2014, the two low-entry variants S 415 LE business, with a length of 12.33 metres, and S 416 LE business, 13.04 metres long, take the combination of low-floor and raised-floor technology into a new dimension. In addition, the vehicles feature a host of state-of-the-art safety systems such as Brake Assist (BA), guarantee roll-over resistance in accordance with ECE-R66 and meet all European statutory requirements.
