Rome, 23 February 2018
Busitalia (FS Italiane Group) won the first tender for the concession of Public Transport Services in the Netherlands.
Qbuzz, wholly owned by Busitalia, was awarded the concession in the municipalities of Drechtsteden, Alblasserwaard and Vijfheerenlanden (DAV). DAV area is located between Utrecht and Rotterdam and accounts for around 400.000 inhabitants.
The concession, which is worth around 48 million euro annually for a duration of 8 years, includes the regional railway line between Geldermalsen and Dordrecht (known as MerwedeLingelijn) and bus services in the area.
Qbuzz will invest around 45 million euro in electrical buses as well as train fleet upgrade. These investments will speed up and improve comfort and sustainability of the connections from Dordrecht, Papendrecht, Sliedrecht, the main DAV cities, to Rotterdam and the rural areas.
Qbuzz is the third public transport operator in Netherlands. It manages public transport in Utrecht and Groningen-Drenthe areas, recording revenues for 200 million euro in 2017. The fleet is less than five year old for its 40%: in total 614 buses and 26 tram. In 2017 Qbuzz moved nearly 90 million passengers and it employed 1700 people.
Busitalia’s revenues are 460 million euro in 2017 and with Qbuzz in the group its transport offer reaches more than 130 million bus/km annual, around 2 million train/km and 36 thousand nautical miles, with a 3.000 bus fleet, 45 train, 44 tram, 8 motor vessel and employing more than 6.000 people.
Busitalia operates public transport services in Veneto, Tuscany, Umbria and Campania. In addition to the buses services, it operates tramline in Padua, the former Umbrian Central Railway line and the ferry boat on Trasimeno Lake. Busitalia Fast provides long haul bus connection in Italy and abroad.