Setra bags Austrian order for rural-service buses

Setra, which is the German bus division of EvoBus GmbH, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler AG, has bagged a sizeable order for buses from Austria.

The Austrian company Stern & Hafferl Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH, based in Gmunden near Linz, is expanding its fleet with 21 new Setra MultiClass 400 rural-service buses. Fourteen model S 415 UL business rural-service buses and seven model S 417 UL business buses will be deployed on regular service routes in the Steyr/Kremstal region. Stern & Hafferl Verkehr has one of the largest bus fleets in Upper Austria. The fleet comprises 110 vehicles in various categories.

The family business, one of the largest private transport companies in the province, had previously won the tender put out across Europe by the Upper Austrian public authorities. The S 415 UL business vehicles have 45 seats and 36 standing places; the S 417 UL business buses provide seats for 59, and standing places for 15 passengers.

The S 415 UL business, S 416 UL business and S 417 UL business two-axle vehicles incorporate all of the strengths of the established Setra MultiClass range, and score highly in terms of robust individual components which guarantee a long service life and high level of availability. In addition, they feature a host of modern safety standards such as Brake Assist (BA), guarantee roll-over resistance in accordance with ECE-R66 and meet all European statutory requirements.

Thomas Rohde, managing director of EvoBus Austria GmbH, said: "We are proud that the Setra brand is making an important contribution to the long-term success of Stern & Hafferl with the economical Setra MultiClass UL business vehicles. This large order is, for me, clear proof of the effectiveness of the revised vehicle concept, which offers flexible solutions for all the relevant criteria and requirements in public contracts."

With its economical ‘business’ variant, Setra has extended its range of rural regular-service buses with three models of differing lengths. In conjunction with robust vehicle technology and a fuel-efficient drive system, the Euro VI vehicles are perfectly configured for extremely economic deployment on long-distance routes, for school bus services and also for occasional transfer journeys.