The Belgian transport operator Maatschappij voor het Intercommunaal Vervoer te Brussel (MIVB/STIB) has decided to put 172 new Mercedes-Benz Citaro Euro 6 buses on the roads of Brussels.
A total of 93 single and 79 articulated buses will be fitted with DIWA.6 automatic transmission from Voith. After VVM-De Lijn and Société Régionale Wallonne du Transport (SRWT), MIVB is thus the third Belgian operator to opt for the Voith transmission within a very short space of time.
VVM-De Lijn will in future run 27 Van Hool AG300 as well as 160 IvecoBus Crossway LE buses with DIWA.6 transmissions in the Flanders region of Belgium. SRWT went for 143 Van Hool buses with Voith transmissions for operation in Wallonia. Together with the order from MIVB, a total of 502 vehicles with DIWA.6 transmissions will be operating in Belgium.
"MIVB has decided in favor of our DIWA.6 transmission, because it not only complies with environmental aspects, but also meets all aspects of comfort," stated Frans de Béthune, commercial vehicles manager Belgium and Luxemburg at Voith Turbo. "Particularly smooth acceleration due to our intelligent start-up management and the reduction of gearshift jolts thanks to the DIWA principle have won over the customer." The vehicles will be delivered between June and December this year and operate on the country's public transport routes.
MIVB has been relying on Voith transmissions for many years. Nearly 400 buses of the fleet drive with DIWA transmissions today. Some of them have been successfully in service for almost 20 years in the demanding start-stop traffic of Brussels's city center. The number of passengers in the Belgium capital has risen by more than 80% during the last ten years - another argument for putting more efficient buses on the road.
