After Lucerne and Lausanne, Biel: Hess will deliver 18 trolleybuses, 14 articulated (18m) and 4 Lightram (12m)

Just days after finalizing an agreement with TL of Lausanne for the supply of 53 trolleybuses, Carrosserie Hess,, won a tender from Verkehrsbetriebe Biel, Switzerland for the supply of 18 new trolleybuses, including 14 18-meter articulated and four 12-meter single-case (Lightram 12 DC model) trolleybuses.

Hess to deliver trolleybuses to Biel

The trolleybuses will be equipped with autonomous running system using batteries and will receive the newly designed, Hess-designed body. The vehicles will be put into service at the end of 2027. The investment amounted to 201, 62 million Francs, excluding VAT. The new trolleybuses will benefit from a 5-year maintenance contract, valid from June 2026 to December 2031.

Moreover, there is an option for up to 50 additional trolleybuses; according to various options, 15 single-box, 30 double-box and 5 maxi three-box trolleybuses can be ordered, the latter of which can be used on the new Line 1 now under study, starting in 2029. This is an excellent project, which will lead to the town of Biel, population 56,000, having a zero-emission fleet.

The current fleet consists of 20 articulated trolleybuses , 10 of which were delivered in 2008 and 10 in 2018, working on routes 1 and 4, while there are 33 buses, 17 of which are articulated, and put into service in 2008 and 2016. VB’s goal is the total electrification of the fleet, which is to consist practically exclusively of trolley buses, with the newest buses from 2016 serving as back-up or reserve.

Hess confirms itself as an increasing leader in the production of trolleybus vehicles, which can be of different sizes thanks to the modular system and the special location of the inverters and traction batteries, located on the roof of the first element. Biel’s tender brings to 122 trolleybuses ordered from Hess in less than two months.