Keolis awarded new contracts in Denmark

Keolis will run Copenhagen's bus network

Keolis’ subsidiary in Denmark, Keolis Danmark has this month begun operating and maintaining the Greater Copenhagen region’s bus network. The ten-year contract with a possible two-year extension is expected to generate a total income of more than €100 million for the operator.

The contract was awarded in February 2020 by Movia, East Denmark’s Public Transport Authority. The network’s fleet of 59 buses features 42 electric buses that Keolis says will save more than 4,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. 

The network was launched on 27 June 2021 and includes 24 routes. It serves five towns on Zealand, the largest and most populous of Denmark’s islands with 2.5 million inhabitants, as well as the island of Falster.

The fleet comprises 59 buses, 42 of which are fully electric. Keolis says the 5.9 million kilometres the partially electric fleet is expected to cover per year will translate into savings of some 4,500 tonnes of CO2 annually. For the launch, a new depot has been built in the south of the island (in Korsør), and three other depots have been equipped with the infrastructure needed to recharge the electric buses simultaneously. Night-time charging takes six hours, providing the vehicles with a range of around 350 km, depending on operating conditions. 

In addition, the operator has confirmed that160 drivers and maintenance personnel have all received special training focusing on safety, eco-driving and recharging, as well as preventive and corrective maintenance so they can operate and maintain these new buses. 

This launch comes after the recent commissioning of 20 fully electric buses which began running on the Odense network in May 2021. The operator claims these zero-emission buses will save around 1,020 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

In April 2020, FynBus extended Keolis’ contract for the Odense buses that the Group has been managing since 2015 for another four years – from August 2023 until August 2027. The contract provides for the operation and maintenance of 70 buses – 20 of which were replaced by fully electric vehicles between April and May 2021. These new buses are expected to save around 1,020 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.