Arriva orders 167 electric buses from Yutong and Irizar for East Brabant in the Netherlands

Arriva Netherlands will introduce 167 new electric buses—128 from Yutong and 39 from Irizar (the first ever awarded in the country) —into service in East Brabant from December 2026.

The start of the new concession will see Arriva Netherlands take responsibility for bus services across several municipalities in East Brabant, including Waalwijk, Loon op Zand and Heusden, with operations structured to meet the sustainability and quality requirements defined by the provincial transport authority.

The fleet strategy combines newly ordered battery-electric buses with vehicles retained from the current concession, resulting in an almost fully zero-emission operation across the region.

Arriva to buy Yutong and Irizar e-buses

Arriva has confirmed the purchase of 128 battery-electric buses from Yutong and 39 battery-electric buses from Irizar for deployment within the East Brabant network. These vehicles will be complemented by 83 electric buses already in service from the current concession, supplied by VDL and Volvo, Arriva states.

The Irizar buses are designated primarily for urban services in Tilburg and ’s-Hertogenbosch. In Tilburg, Arriva plans to operate 18-metre articulated vehicles on high-frequency city routes, while 12-metre Irizar buses will be used in ’s-Hertogenbosch, where the historic city centre imposes tighter spatial constraints. For higher-capacity interurban corridors branded as Bravodirect lines, Arriva has ordered 44 Yutong buses in 13- and 15-metre configurations. Regional services will be covered by 40 low-entry 12-metre Yutong electric buses.

In addition to the electric fleet, Arriva will procure 32 new six-metre neighbourhood buses based on the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter platform. These vehicles will initially operate with conventional powertrains.