Low-emissions Buses For Moscow And St. Petersburg

Research

Russian bus specialist Volgabus has tapped

a unit of aluminum provider Alcan Engineered Products

to supply major components of low-emission buses

that will drive down the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Alcan Extrusions and Automotive Structures will supply 82 units each of its EcoRange systems to bus operators in the two Russian cities.

The EcoRange body structures will include two aluminum rollover rings each, for enhanced passenger safety. The structures will be made up of high-performance aluminum extrusions and aluminum-bolted connections for fast and easy assembly.

The buses will feature lightweight bodies that help reduce fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

Each bus will be a three-door, three-axle unit with a length of 14.7 meters, and big enough to accommodate 173 passengers. Deutz 210-kilowatt engines with ZF gear boxes and ZF axles will power the buses.

Volgabus, which made the first low-floor buses with aluminum bodies and electronic control systems in the country, will begin producing the low-emission buses in its plant in the Volgograd region in May. Deliveries to Moscow and St. Petersburg are slated for September.

It separately signed in 2006 a deal with Rio Tinto Alcan, a subsidiary of the mining giant Rio Tinto P.L.C., to develop a new family-based line of buses using the EcoRange system. Since then, Volgabus has built over 400 buses using the lightweight body structures for the Russian market.

Alcan Engineered Products manufactures innovative aluminum products for a broad range of markets and applications, including aerospace, mass transportation, automotive, packaging, energy and building.