The Rhein-Sieg Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (RSVG) is the transport company of Germany’s second largest district, the Rhein – Sieg Kreis (between Bonn and Cologne). The transport area extends from Bonn in the west to Waldbröl (Gummersbach district), 52 kilometres away, and from Linz in the south (in the neighbouring state of Rhineland-Palatinate) to Cologne in the north. RSVG was founded in 1972 as a merger of the ‘Siegburger Verkehrs Gesellschaft (SVG)’, the ‘Verkehrsbetriebe des Rhein-Sieg-Kreises (VRSK)’ and the former ‘Rhein – Sieg Eisenbahn (RSE)’, which is not to be confused with the private railway company known by this name today. The old RSE had already built a network of narrow-gauge railway lines in today’s district (and beyond) before 1900, which is how the line to Waldbröl came into being. After the closure of the last railway line in the 1960s, the old RSE became a bus-only operation. It was based in Beuel am Rhein, which became a city in 1952 and has been a district of Bonn since 1969.
RSVG put its first electric buses into operation at the turn of June / July 2024. Six vehicles of the type ‘K 9 UD’, also known as ‘BYD eBus-12’, were supplied by the Chinese manufacturer BYD. However, they were not built in China, but at the BYD plant in Hungary.
Initially, the vehicles were only used to train drivers. However, this changed on 15 July and since then they have also been on the road. RSVG press officer Matyschok names the following eight routes on which they will initially be travelling: 510, 520, 522, 525, 527, 530, 541 and 578. Depot manager Zimmer adds: ‘They will be travelling to the big city (Bonn) as well as to rural areas, and they will also be travelling to the Bergisches Land region. This allows us to gain experience of how they perform where. However, their deployment should not be limited to these lines. On the contrary, they should eventually be used everywhere, i.e. on all lines.’ However, with six coaches on eight lines, it is not always possible to have one of these coaches travelling on each of these lines.
Zimmer continues: ‘We naturally asked companies that have been using BYD buses for some time, such as NEW in Mönchengladbach or “DB Regio Bus Mitte” in Mainz (for transport for Frankfurt’s TraffiQ), what experiences they have had with their BYDs. Their reactions were very positive.’
BYD quotes a range of 400 to 450 kilometres for the vehicles – depending, of course, on how much heating is required in winter and how much cooling the air conditioning system needs in summer. RSVG is a little more cautious in this respect, stating a range of 340 to 360 kilometres. But even that is very impressive for electric buses for the time being. To explain: the neighbouring company SWB in Bonn assumes that the buses cover an average of 350 kilometres a day in city traffic. And that shows that the new BYDs from RSVG can already be used without restriction today.
Accordingly, the new RSVG electric buses are pure depot chargers that are plugged into the power socket during the nightly break in service. Recharging on the route is unnecessary given the range of the buses. The maximum possible charging power is 150 kW, but charging is usually slower and at ‘only’ 40 kW. There are charging points at two locations at the depot in Hennef: two in the area of the depot entrance and exit, the others in the area of the brake test stands. Charging is via cable and CCS combo plug.
The new RSVG electric buses have three double-width doors at the front, centre and rear. Depot manager Zimmer: ‘A few years ago, we introduced the rule that 12-metre-long solo coaches should have three doors and articulated buses four. This has proved successful, and that’s why we’re sticking to it. Changing passengers at the stops is simply quicker if they don’t have to walk so far to the next door.’ Incidentally, RSVG is right on trend with this door arrangement: more and more transport operators are starting to provide their buses with more doors.
Technical data – BYD K 9 UD:
- Length: 12,000 mm
- Width: 2,550 mm
- Height: 3,300 mm
- Wheelbase: 5,900 mm
- Maximum passenger capacity: 90 passengers, 32 seats in the three-door RSVG version
- Two wheel hub motors
- Motor output: 2 x 150 kW = 300 kW
- Battery capacity: 422 kWh
- Cell chemistry: lithium iron phosphate (LiFePh)
- Recharging: either via cable and CCS combo plug or via roof-mounted pantograph
- Total weight: 19,500 kg
