TMB tests a UNVI double-decker e-bus prior to delivery of 18 units

TMB Barcelona has been testing a double-decker electric bus by UNVI, prior to delivery of 18 units awarded to the same bodybuilder last year.

Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) launched a tender in July 2024 for 23 new battery-electric buses, which by the end of 2025 will replace other vehicles currently in circulation and which will be reaching the end of their useful life: 18 will be double-deckers and 5 minibuses.

A unit with similar characteristics to the double-decker vehicle previously awarded to the company UNVI, with its headquarters in Galicia, has now arrived to analyse its performance and assess its suitability for service on lines such as those of the Barcelona Bus Turístic before formalising the contract.

The tender establishes the supply in different phases during 2025. The 23 vehicles are 100% electric and zero-emission: 5 minibuses between 6 and 7.2 metres long have been ordered; and 18 double-decker vehicles, up to 13 metres long, for the Barcelona Bus Turístic service. The base budget for the tender amounts to 19.2 million euros and is a TMB purchase financed through the programme contract with the Barcelona Tourist Bus Service.